@article{Baxter_Conner_2021, place={Washington DC: American Sociological Association.}, title={Teaching Symbolic Interactionist Theory Through Werewolf}, url={https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/teaching-symbolic-interactionist-theory-through-baxter}, abstractNote={Engaging with symbolic interaction theory can be a powerful experience for students, due to its potential to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions and analyze students’ everyday life. However, some students may have difficulty grasping the significance of the underlying concepts contained within the perspective. This class activity uses the game Werewolf as a student-centered applied-learning activity to teach symbolic interactionist theory and concepts. Werewolf provides a simulation game where students can engage in social interaction that exemplifies symbolic interactionist and dramaturgical concepts including the premises of symbolic interaction, impression management, front stage/back stage, stigma, labeling, and the social construction of reality. Furthermore, since students take part in the interpretive processes within the game they are also better able to understand how symbolic interactionist concepts and meaning making are a continuous process being accomplished through social interaction. Students will gain an understanding of the process of meaning construction, its role in social interactions, and the way that social meanings can result in stigma and labeling. }, journal={TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology}, author={Baxter, Nicholas and Conner, Christopher}, year={2021}, month={Sep.} }