Paper at the H-Net Teaching Conference on Solarpunk, Sociology, and the Syllabus
"Monk and Robot" and the "Vocation of the Sociologist"
Very pleased to announce that I’ll be presenting a paper of the 2026 H-Net Teaching Conference! My paper will be titled “Speculative Solarpunk and the Sociology Syllabus: Expanding the Sociological Vocation through Literary Forms.”
I’ve been on a kick talking about the ‘vocation of the sociologist’ (something I’ll be talking more about on a SSSP panel this year), and I’m rolling that theme into an upcoming ‘sociology 101’ syllabus this fall.
Here’s my abstract:
The humble syllabus document is the source-of-truth and logistical one-stop-shop for a college course — and yet, it is one which is often a student’s first important run-in with a professor, and one which may serve as a pedagogical guide, and not merely an oppressive checklist with looming due dates.
Given sociology’s posture of making problematic “the norm,” it seems that sociologists may have a well-trained gaze towards the syllabus — and even to how students (who may be taking a sociology class as a mere required course) may be guided, coached, or catechized into a vocation which values the sociological imagination.
To do this, I posit combining a “sociology 101” course with literature that “gets at” deeper and indisputably more-interesting drives than simply completing an introductory course. To this end, I offer my own undergraduate Principles of Sociology course featuring Becky Chambers’ “Monk and Robot” novels.
Combining a textbook with Chambers’ imaginative and speculative solarpunk literature, I offer that such a course may speak to the humane, the emotive, the storytelling-driven, and the inspirational. The “Monk and Robot” series depicts a post-capitalist, post-heteronormative, post-religious-nationalist world, but without opting into uncritical utopia. It offers deep philosophical discussion, narrative arcs that are case studies on anthropocentrism and technology, and communal iterative learning, which students may learn from and apply to their future careers and studies.
Be on the lookout on the H-Net site for more details about the conference!