Using Visionary Fiction to Teach Social Justice in the Sociology Classroom

by Stacye A. Blount

The integration of Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler in coursework provides a platform for students to employ critical sociological thinking skills to examine social issues. This video focuses on how the connection of liberation pedagogy to critical sociological thinking provides a conduit for students to imagine a social justice–oriented society through the lens of visionary fiction. The presenter discusses visionary fiction, social justice, liberation pedagogy, and critical sociological thinking.

Using Visionary Fiction to Teach Social Justice in the Sociology Classroom

References

Brown, Sonia, Stacye Blount, Charles A. Dickinson, Alison Better, Margaret Weigers Vitullo, Deidre Tyler, and Michael Kisielewski. 2016. “Teaching for Social Justice: Motivations of Community College Faculty in Sociology.” Teaching Sociology 44, no. 4 (October): 244-55.

Buechler, Steven. 2008. “What Is Critical about Sociology?” Teaching Sociology 36, no. 4 (October): 318-30.

Butler, Octavia E. 2000 (1993). Parable of the Sower. Updated edition. New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Francis, Consuela, ed. 2010. Conversations with Octavia Butler. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi.

Freire, Paulo. 2015 (1970). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 50th anniversary ed. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

George, Lynell. 2020. A Handful of Earth, A Handful of Sky: The World of Octavia E. Butler. Santa Monica, CA: Angel City Press.

Head, Ian, Walidah Imarisha, and Gabriel Teodros. 2019. “Walidah Imarisha and Gabriel Teodros Talk Science Fiction as Social Justice Strategy.” The Activist Files. Podcast, 44:19, produced by the Center for Constitutional Rights, February 14.

hooks, bell. 2003. Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Routledge.

Imarisha, Walidah. 2016. “What Is ‘Visionary Fiction’? An Interview with Walidah Imarisha.” By Exangel. EAP: The Magazine, March 31.

Imarisha, Walidah. 2020. “Octavia E. Butler, Visionary Fiction, and Social Change.” YouTube video, 58:54, posted by Deschutes Public Library, October 19.

Imarisha, Walidah, and adrienne maree brown, eds. 2015. Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. Oakland, CA: AK Press.

Kane, Danielle, and Kristin Otto. 2018. “Critical Sociological Thinking and Higher-Level Thinking: A Study of Sociologists’ Teaching Goals and Assignments.” Teaching Sociology 46, no. 2 (April): 112-22.

Mills, C. Wright. 2000 (1959). The Sociological Imagination. 40th anniversary ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Stanley, Tarshia L., ed. 2019. Approaches to Teaching the Works of Octavia E. Butler. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.

Stacye A. Blount, associate professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Fayetteville State University (FSU), began her tenure at the university in fall 2010. From August 2014 to July 2019, she served as assistant chairperson. For the 2015-16 academic year, Stacye was selected to receive the FSU Teacher of the Year Award and was tapped to represent FSU for the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors Excellence in Teaching Award (2018-19 academic year). The receipt of these two awards is a testament to her commitment to teaching and learning in sociology.

In collaboration with student leaders and various university offices, Stacye and Dr. Sherree Davis, director of the Office of Civic Engagement and Service Learning, led efforts to establish the Campus Kitchen at Fayetteville State University (CKFSU). FSU was the first HBCU to launch a Campus Kitchen. Her research interests focus on mental health, race, the scholarship of teaching and learning in sociology, and African American debutante cotillions. Armed with a bachelor of science in medical technology degree (current degree name: clinical laboratory science), Stacye is certified as a Medical Laboratory Scientist by the American Society for Clinical Pathology. Prior to pursuing a career in academia, she spent thirteen years in the clinical laboratory science industry.

Nicholle Young is the archives technician at Charles W. Chesnutt Library at Fayetteville State University (FSU). She preserves university history for access. She researches local and regional Black history and assists in community archiving as a part of the mission objective of the Department of Archives and Special Collections. In 2021, Nicholle graduated from FSU and is currently pursuing the master of library science degree at North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC. She is currently working on two documentaries, Experiences of Black Women of Cumberland County and Nobody Gave Me Permission, the latter of which tells the story of Harlem Civil Rights Activist, Ora Mobley Sweeting.