The Personal Is Political Art: Using Digital Storytelling to Teach Sociology of Sexualities

Abstract

How can sociology instructors provide high-quality education in the sociology of sexualities that captures both the increasing need for digital pedagogical tools and sociology’s continued drive for theoretically rich course content? We present digital storytelling as a highly adaptable instructional tool that is appropriate for a range of undergraduate sociology courses. We outline one specific application of digital storytelling—a staged, semester-long assignment in which students create multimedia presentations to tell stories about how they were socialized into some gendered or sexual role. We also discuss three key learning outcomes from the digital storytelling project: (1) developing students’ sociological imagination and intersectional thinking by connecting their own lived experience to social theory, (2) developing transferable technological skills, and (3) learning to apply sociological concepts outside of the classroom. We close our discussion with potential assignment modifications to improve accessibility.