In my second semester of freshman year, I was placed in an anthropology class comprised mainly of third-year students. I spent my first semester abroad, so the entire concept of ‘real college’ was new to me, and I was nervous. This class was the first one I stepped into on the Boston campus and I wanted to do well. However, when I sat down for the lecture I was instantly met with a slew of words I’d never heard before.
Every head in the room sat there nodding and typing, occasionally looking up to raise a hand and contribute to the discussion, as if this was second nature to them. I typed down whatever I could recognize, but words like “neoliberalism,” “mercantilism” and “postfordism” weren’t covered in my sociology 101 course. I spent the majority of the class googling every word that came out of the professor’s mouth, but once I’d finally understood the topic at hand, the class had already moved on to the next one. I felt completely hopeless for that hour and a half.
I immediately began to spiral; I called my parents, holding back tears, convinced I wasn’t smart enough for this class or even this school. I looked into different majors, panic-scheduled a meeting with my advisor and even made an account on commonapp.org for my seemingly inevitable transfer.
In the end, I stuck with it. I went to office hours, studied each concept and I started to get the hang of it. Just last week, I sat in class listening to my professor rattle off the ten longest words I’d ever heard, and nodded my head, quickly transcribed what he said, and raised my hand to contribute to the discussion. In that moment, I realized I had done what I set my mind to – I finally understood these fundamental concepts that contribute to every aspect of human life.
But I also realized that it was a difficult road to get there. I had to jump through hoops to learn about things that aren’t really that complicated to grasp. These concepts are applicable to people worldwide, and are, in my opinion, important to understand.
People who are unfamiliar with the term ‘intersectionality’ may be unable to properly express why they face discrimination in medical care, or in media industries, or even interpersonal interactions. People who can’t quite explain ‘capitalism,’ or the effects of it, may find themselves lost while trying to figure out what financial policy or lawmakers they want to vote for. And while, yes, these terms are “google-able,” those definitions aren’t always clear or accurate.
The full conceptualizations of these terms are available solely through academia, and most often, the applicable reasoning for knowing these concepts is available through the social sciences. The resources which taught me these definitions and broader ideas aren’t available to everyone; you only really get that same level of access if you’re attending a four-year institution.
Why are concepts like this so inaccessible? What is the point of putting so many barriers between the general population and social sciences? These are fundamental concepts that would be widely beneficial to the very people who don’t have access to the resources to learn them. The most important change comes from those who are most affected by these issues because they know exactly what type of change is needed to remedy their situations. But without the knowledge of these concepts and power structures and technicalities, a crucial piece of the puzzle is missing.
If sociology and basic social science programs were implemented in public grade schools, communities at a disadvantage would be given the opportunity to learn about the systems which put them at a disadvantage. Perhaps equally importantly, privileged students would also be educated about the systems which elevate them, making all of our future generations better equipped to solve these issues.