Why Sociology Degrees Matter In Challenging Times
By: Robert Harper
Featuring: Tim Pippert, Joel Torstenson Endowed Professor - Augsburg University Department of Sociology
This morning, it was an honor to be invited back to speak to the Augsburg University Sociology Class of 2025. This was my third year in a row sharing my journey from sitting in the seat they’re in nearly a decade ago (2016), to where I am today.
My favorite Sociologist, W.E.B Du Bois called us to never underestimate the importance of those who are able to understand empirical data. He warned us of the times we live in today, where folks use incomplete data to jump to conclusions — he called it “Car Window Theory”. For example, conservatives have strategically crafted this “Black Men for Trump” narrative that you too often see as a headline in today’s news following the 2024 Presidential election. A critical thinker, utilizing their empirical mind would not be deceived into believing that Black male voters disproportionately favored Donald Trump — and would be wise enough to know that 8 out of 10 Black men voted for Kamala Harris. While 3 in 10 Black men under the age of 45 voted for Trump, according to the Associated Press, the narrative is strategically being weaponized to show Trump in a more favorable light among the Black community.
The task in front of these Sociology students, as Du Bois saw it, is to measure the interactions between social patterns that structure human action and chance. That task is more important now than ever before because President Trump, his administration, and his supporters want us to ignore those patterns or be blind to them altogether. The good news: not even the President of the United States can determine an entire nation’s trajectory. History suggests that movements are bigger than any one individual, regardless of their title, wealth, or status. It will be up to young socially-conscious leaders to decide the direction of our nation — many of whom will be graduating with Liberal Arts college degrees, concerned about how the job market will value the skills that they paid so much money to acquire throughout college.
While Donald Trump may not lack capital in its typical sense, one form of capital that he doesn't have is a form of capital coined by Du Bois in the 1930’s — “Liberation Capital”. He said “the providers of liberation capital, most often members of the oppressed group, work together to formulate new research methodologies that facilitate the collection and analysis of critical evidence leading to new theoretical perspectives on the social conditions faced by the oppressed group, as well as programmatic innovations to be used as weapons for liberation” (The Scholar Denied, 2015). While DEI is at the center of social and political attacks, it will be the task of Sociologists, social entrepreneurs, and others concerned with social justice to determine whether liberation capital can be used to overcome the oppressive powers exercised by those with capital in the basic sense, money.
With the changing landscape, leaders are forced to change their means, but that doesn’t mean we must abandon our ends; justice. Eddie S. Glaude said “Means matter. Otherwise those who fight for good today turn out to be the tyrants of tomorrow. Processes that are liberating today end up tightening the vice grip of our domination” (We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For, 2024). So, while some choose to paint DEI-advocates as tyrants, we must be innovative in crafting new methods to advance the principles we value: diversity, equity, inclusion, and equal opportunity.
I only hope that the 15 scholars in the room for today’s discussion felt inspired enough to be up to that task. If so, they’ll join me and countless others who are fighting for the future my ancestors once fought tirelessly for.
