Why teach applied sociology? This paper attempts to answer this question by focusing on a variety of advantages and benefits that an applied approach provides to those who teach in traditional classroom academic settings. The paper begins by drawing on a parable about teaching a teenager to drive and suggesting that learning to drive and learning sociology might have a lot more in common than we might imagine. The issue is placed in the context of current trends in sociology, especially “the scholarship of teaching and learning” and “public sociology.” Four reasons for teaching applied sociology are presented: 1) It promotes more effective teaching and learning. 2) It is grounded in the roots of American sociology. 3) It helps produce change-based research; and 4) Students desire a sociology they can use to engage the world and to help improve it. The paper concludes by arguing that teaching applied sociology provides students better preparation for a rapidly changing global economy.
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