Why,Where,and How to Infuse the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory into the Sociology Curriculum

Abstract

The Atlanta Sociological Laboratory is the moniker bestowed on scholars engaged in sociological research at Atlanta University between 1895 and 1924. Under the leadership of W. E. B. Du Bois, 1897–1914, this school made substantive yet marginalized contributions to the discipline. Its accomplishments include, but are not limited to, its establishment of the first American school of sociology, the first sociology program to institutionalize the use of the insider researcher, the first sociology program to institutionalize the practice of method triangulation, and the first sociology program to institutionalize the acknowledgment of limitations in its publications. Despite these accomplishments, the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory remains unknown to most professional sociologists. This article examines why the accomplishments of this school should be incorporated into the sociology curriculum, where this school should be incorporated into the sociology curriculum, and how this school can be incorporated into the sociology curriculum.

Keywords

W. E. B. Du Bois black sociology history of the discipline race and ethnicity

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Chase

Thomas N.

1896. Mortality among Negroes in Cities. Atlanta: Atlanta University Press.

Chase

Thomas N.

1897. Social and Physical Condition of Negroes in Cities. Atlanta: Atlanta University Press.

Du Bois

W. E. B.

Dill

Augustus Granville

. 1913. Morals and Manners among Negro Americans. Atlanta: Atlanta University Press.

Bois

Burghardt

William Edward

[1899] 1970. The Philadelphia Negro. New York: Schocken.

Du Bois Burghardt

William Edward

1994. The Souls of Black Folk. New York: Penguin.

Du Bois Burghardt

William Edward

. 1968. The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: International.

Durkheim

Emile

. 1915. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. New York: Free Press.

Gabbidon

Shaun L.

1996. “An Argument for Including W. E. B. Du Bois in the Criminology/Criminal Justice Literature.” Journal of Criminal Education 7(1):100–12.

Gabbidon

Shaun L.

1999. “W. E. B. Du Bois and the ‘Atlanta School’ of Social Scientific Research, 1897–1913.” Journal of Criminal Education 10(1):21–38.

10.

Gilman

Charlotte P.

[1923] 1976. His Religion and Hers. Westport, CT: Hyperion.

11.

Green

Dan S.

Driver

Edwin

. 1976. “W. E. B. Du Bois: A Case in the Sociology of Sociological Negation.” Phylon 37(4):308–33.

12.

Hamilton

Richard F.

Form

William H.

2003. “Categorical Usages and Complex Realities: Race, Ethnicity and Religion in the United States.” Social Forces 81(3):693–714.

13.

Henslin

James M.

2002. Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.

14.

Henslin

James M.

2012a. Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.

15.

Henslin

James M.

2012b. Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Allyn & Bacon.

16.

Kendall

Diana

. 2001. Sociology in Our Times. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

17.

Kendall

Diana

. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

18.

Kornblum

William

. 2000. Sociology in a Changing World. San Diego, CA: Harcourt.

19.

Kornblum

William

. 2012. Sociology in a Changing World. 9th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

20.

Macionis

John J.

2002. Sociology. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

21.

Macionis

John J.

2011. Society: The Basics. 11th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

22.

Macionis

John J.

2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

23.

Massiah

Louis

. 1995. W. E. B. Du Bois: A Biography in Four Voices. [VHS] San Francisco, CA: California Newsreel.

24.

Odum

Howard W.

1951. American Sociology: The Story of Sociology in the United States through 1950. London: Greenwood.

25.

Schaefer

Richard T.

2001. Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

26.

Schaefer

Richard T.

2011. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

27.

Small

Albion

. 1916. “Fifty Years of Sociology in the United States, 1865–1915.” American Journal of Sociology 21(6):721–864.

28.

Weber

Max

. [1922] 1963. The Sociology of Religion. Boston: Beacon.

29.

Wortham

Robert

. 2005. “Du Bois and the Sociology of Religion: Rediscovering a Founding Figure.” Sociological Inquiry 75(4):433–52.

30.

Wright

Earl

II . 2002a. “The Atlanta Sociological Laboratory, 1896–1924: A Historical Account of the First American School of Sociology.” Western Journal of Black Studies 26(3):165–74.

31.

Wright

Earl

II . 2002b. “Using the Master’s Tools: Atlanta University and American Sociology, 1896–1924.” Sociological Spectrum 22(1):15–39.

32.

Wright

Earl

II . 2002c. “Why Black People Tend to Shout! An Earnest Attempt to Explain the Sociological Negation of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory Despite Its Possible Unpleasantness.” Sociological Spectrum 22(3):325–61.

33.

Wright

Earl

II . 2005. “W. E. B. Du Bois and the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory.” Sociation Today—The Official Journal of the North Carolina Sociological Association: A Refereed Web-based Publication 3(1). Retrieved March 31, 2012 ( http://www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v31/outline5.htm ).

34.

Wright

Earl

II . 2006. “W. E. B. Du Bois and the Atlanta University Studies on the Negro, Revisited.” Journal of African American Studies 9(4):3–17.

35.

Wright

Earl

II . 2008. “Deferred Legacy! The Continued Marginalization of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory.” Sociology Compass 2(1):195–207.

36.

Wright

Earl

II . 2009. “Beyond W. E. B. Du Bois: A Note on Some of the Lesser Known Members of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory.” Sociological Spectrum 29(6):700–17.

37.

Wright

Earl

II Calhoun

Thomas C.

2006. “Jim Crow Sociology: Toward an Understanding of the Origin and Principles of Black Sociology via the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory.” Sociological Focus 39(1):1–18.

38.

Zuckerman

Phil

. 2000. Du Bois on Religion. Oxford, UK: Rowman & Littlefield.

39.

Zuckerman

Phil

. 2002. “The Sociology of Religion of W. E. B. Du Bois.” Sociology of Religion 63(2): 239–53.

40.

Zuckerman

Phil

. 2004. The Social Theory of W. E. B. Du Bois. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

9.64 MB