Minna Bromberg uses folk music, a form which has always entertained and educated its audiences, to provoke and facilitate rigorous discourse among students in small classroom settings, lecture/panel presentations, or special interest group events. Student participation starts with listening to the songs and soon progresses. As many learning theorists have found, (See Note 1) learning involves the slow work of shifting mental models. One important way to point people towards such shifts is by getting them to care about the subject. The live performance of Singing Sociology seems to do just that.

Folk songs derive from larger social, historical, and economic themes. Singing Sociology can be used to expand on such themes already covered in a class or it can be used to introduce new themes into a course. This is especially useful in areas such as Fat Politics or Sea-faring Women where there is not a large body of work that pre-exists. The songs serve as primary sociological texts, unique in that these "song-texts" are revived and re-lived in performance. In this way the texts can be lived contemporaneously by every student. The song/lecture format presents carefully selected songs, contextualizes them historically and culturally, expands upon their themes, and opens a stage for participatory discussion.

Educators wishing to integrate Singing Sociology into a pre-existing program may select one or more themes, indicate a date preference, and submit their current course syllabus to Minna Bromberg. Specific goals will be assessed through phone consultation. Singing Sociology presentations can be tailored to students ranging in age from upper-level high schoolers to graduate students at the university level. Ms. Bromberg is also available to provide extended consultations for programs wanting to develop entire units around one of the sociological themes she covers. The DETAILS section gives descriptions of all the themes and a sample program.

Singing Sociologist seminars can be presented at conferences or weekend workshops outside the traditional classroom. Existing programs have been designed for Women's Groups, Labor Unions, and Folk Music Clubs. These seminars create a place for community and dialog to develop around important issues, promoting personal communication between audience members of a sort that is not fostered by traditional non-participatory lectures.

1: For more on this topic see "What Do the Best Teachers Do?" by Ken Bain and Jim Lang, Searle Center for Teaching Excellence, Northwestern University.