A Critical Reflection of the Habitus and Its Potential for the Polarized Classroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT Within an increasingly polarized political society, the American university system is a space that is no exception. The authors approach the complex and dynamic issue of community engagement within a polarized space using their unique standpoint of attending and teaching at predominantly white institutions in the American rural Deep South. This piece takes into consideration the perceptions of the student and the instructor that contribute to a continuation of polarized space that inhibits not only our ability to build community but also our ability to “do sociology” in the classroom, promote critical thinking, and use our sociological imaginations to truly explore nuances. Given the two-fold issue of instructors and students often perceiving each other to be at odds within an increasingly politicized society, this commentary offers three pieces of advice on (1) transforming critical thinking for both the instructor and the classroom, (2) avoiding potential pitfalls within polarized spaces, and (3) offering hope for the future through suggestions on applying community-engagement in the classroom. This advice will transform the classroom to fit the ideals of community-engaged sociology and remind us that sociology should not simply be taught from a top-down approach, but rather utilized as a tool for social change.