Topic > Web Du Bois and his contributions to sociology

IndexSummaryThe rooting and growth of the great sociologist WEB Du BoisHow WEB Du Bois arrives at sociologyThe mark of Du Bois on sociology and the impact on societyConclusionSummaryW.EB Du Bois is one of the renowned scholars in the fields of history, civil rights activism, and especially sociology. There is an interesting story of his life, deeply rooted in his successful years well spent in his career as a sociologist. W. E. B. Du Bois won numerous awards in the United States and other countries since 1900. His memory lives on at the University of Pennsylvania and Hampton University, where dormitories bear his name. His life was marked by conquests that left him an infinite legacy that would follow him to the grave even after August 1963. The story of a sociologist cannot be considered complete if life is not described in stages accompanied from the biography of his work and contributions to his career. . This article, therefore, discusses this sociologist, presenting his early life and education, his choice of scientific career, his contribution to sociology and his influence, and the implication of his work in contemporary society. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Rootedness and Growth of the great sociologist WEB Du Bois In Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Alfred and Mary Silvina Burghardt gave birth to William Edward Burghardt on February 23, 1868. His father, Alfred Du Bois, was born in Haiti but emigrated to the United States in 1860 and later married Mary Silvina. When WEB Du Bois was only 2 years old, his father divorced Mary Silvina. He returned to his parents' home where he raised him with the support of neighbors and siblings. His mother died of a stroke in 1885, the same year W. E. B. Du Bois enrolled in college. At the local integrated public school attended by whites, Du Bois received good treatment and managed to get through his early childhood education amid hardships. As he approached adulthood, he began writing about racism. Teachers noticed his extraordinary skills and intellect both in and out of the classroom, and motivated him to write even more. He realized he could use the skill to fight for the rights of African Americans. Little did he know that this skill would lead him to become a notable civil rights activist in the United States. He graduated from Searles High School and enrolled in a college in Nashville, Fisk University until 1888. Historically, blacks primarily attended this institution and it was therefore known as a black college. Du Bois received help from the First Congregational Church of Great Barrington and neighbors to pay his college tuition. His life at Fisk College and later at Harvard University was filled with racial segregation imposed through Jim Crow laws in the Southern United States. For example, during his time at the school, black voting was not allowed, and Harvard did not offer degrees to African Americans, especially graduates of Fisk University. Du Bois received his second degree in history from Harvard in 1890. While at Harvard, his passion for sociology grew under the influence of a famous American philosopher, William James, who was then his professor. He obtained a scholarship in 1891 to Harvard's graduate school of sociology where he studied sociology. During his three-year stay at Harvard, he borrowed money from his friends and received gifts from the church to pay his tuition. He subsequently traveled to Berlin, Germany, in 1892, where he met social scientists such as Heinrich Treitschke and GustavSchmoller. In 1985, he became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University.How W. E. B. Du Bois Got into Sociology While in Germany, he discovered something within himself that he had never experienced in the United States. He realized that people could be equal despite their skin color. His interaction with the Germans and the way they treated him as an equal increased his self-confidence and aggravated his thirst for more knowledge about social life. His discovery in Germany was that he was “…just a man of rather privileged student rank…” who white Germans were happy to meet and walk around the world. In contrast, the racial segregation he faced in the South and at Harvard was a severe blow to his confidence in life. These two distinct events pushed him to search more into his inner self and understand life in depth. In 1894, when he began his work at Wilberforce University in Ohio, he met Alexander Crummell, an African nationalist and ordained Episcopal priest who laid the foundational foundation of Pan-Africanism. Crummell had also lectured on American slavery in 1848 in England. He believed that morality and ideas were fundamental to social change. Crummell's thinking influenced Du Bois to a large extent and aroused a greater thirst for his sociological knowledge. Du Bois subsequently moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 1896 where he devoted himself to further sociological research studies. This research became the basis for his "The Philadelphia Negro" which he published three years later. As history would have it, his life was a misery at the hands of poverty, social segregation and oppressive laws, created to weaken non-whites. races. As a child growing up as an orphan and living among the white population as a minority, Du Bois' need to understand life in depth pushed him to his limits and led him to lean into sociology and other fields related to the social sciences. His experience in a society where racial and social segregation hinged on state laws stimulated his thirst for "educated rebellion." He knew that the only way to destroy these vices was through education. It was therefore proposed to reach the highest point of social knowledge from which to approach and reproach the State and society for eliminating these social evils. His career was strongly influenced by the life he lived as a child, in the South and in the universities he attended. His mentors and fellow scholars also contributed to his career choice. Also, sometimes we don't choose our careers. It simply avoids our interests and sometimes it depends on the environment we live in. This happened to Du Bois, and he found pleasure in whatever he did, from raising people's awareness about the rights of African Americans, to nuclear disarmament and his sympathetic fight against capitalism. His altruistic nature comes from his childhood and his experience of university life. Du Bois' Mark on Sociology and Impact on Society W.EB Du Bois is well known for laying the foundation for the study of sociology by publishing several books on racism and oppression. His name can be placed alongside those of Karl Marx, Max Webber and Emile Durkheim in the list of founders of the discipline of sociology. For example, his contributions to sociology through the development of theories of structural racism, double consciousness, and class oppression have left a mark that sociologists have and will always appreciate. His “The Philadelphia Negro,” a sociological case study of the black community in America, has been ranked among the earliest examples of sociology as a social science. This work was there 1963.