Embodying Sociological Imagination: Pedagogical Support for Linking Bodies to Minds

Abstract

Drawing on insights from sociologies of the body, feminist perspective and experiential learning, I discuss a way to enhance the teaching of critical social analyses with explicit attention to experiential and somatic learning modalities. A sociology course designed to explore alternatives to normative concepts and practices of power, conflict resolution and change illustrates a pedagogic framework that assists students in not only realizing the explanatory power of critical social analysis and deconstruction, but also facilitates an experience of sociological analysis as an empowering and embodied tool of mindful reconstruction in evervdav life