Sociology Comes of Age Lesson

Student Climbing Books

It took several years for Auguste Comte's term, "Sociology," to catch on in the academic world and even longer for the field to emerge as a respectable scientific discipline.

Despite the fact that Comte was French, the first university to establish a course in Sociology was American. In 1890, Professor Frank Blackman taught the first Sociology course at the University of Kansas. It was entitled, "Elements of Sociology." Two years later, the University of Chicago opened the first academic department of Sociology. The University of Chicago faculty member who established the department, Albion W. Small, later went on to found the American Journal of Sociology in 1895.

Story of Sociology Timeline

Walkthrough the timeline of Sociology below, paying close attention to the names that appear as you do so.

The topic of major theories and theorists in sociology will be covered in your next unit. It is relevant to point out here that according to the timeline above- sociology's classical practitioners (Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max Weber) came from Europe while the greatest expansion of the field occurred in the United States during the twentieth century when American sociologists began implementing European theories into their research projects. This is especially true with the American sociologist, C. Wright Mills (influenced by Marx and Weber), who argued in 1959 that it was time for man to use his sociological imagination.

Sociological Imagination

Read through the pages below to gain a better understanding of Mills' thoughts on the sociological imagination and how it became a valuable sociological perspective that influenced sociology.

By incorporating a sociological perspective as suggested by C. Wright Mills, sociologists have become better equipped to determine the validity of common sense, find opportunities and impediments within society, increase the ability of individuals to participate in society, and assist members of different cultures to become compatible. This, in turn, has helped the field of sociology grow to what it is today.

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