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All TRAILS Resources
All TRAILS Resources
May 31, 2023

Browse the entire collection of TRAILS resources here.

Restaurant worker wiping down table with a black and white striped rag.
Jennifer Stevens
Stigma and Reentry: Hiring Restaurant Staff
January 8, 2021
Subject Area(s):
Criminology/Delinquency
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This exercise aims to demonstrate the power of stigma, as defined by Goffman (1963), on the lives of those who have been convicted of felonies in the United States. Inspired by the work of Pager (2003; 2007), students complete an in-class exercise to demonstrate the...
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TRAILS Logo
Kate K O'Neill
Giving Students the Floor
December 28, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Other
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 400
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
This assignment is designed for small, upper-level special topics courses for university undergraduates and graduate students. This assignment functions best in courses with regular assigned readings, and requires that instructors cultivate list of “recommended” or...
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Deeb Paul Kitchen
Constructing Binary Sex
November 24, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Sex and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
All of us participate in constructing the social world. We put things in one category or another. Oftentimes we evaluate and criticize these categories. Other times, we accept them as natural or inescapable. We categorize people and actions, physical objects and...
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Student using a laptop
Candace K May
Theory Application Assignment
November 20, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Theory
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This is a simple assignment that requires students to write a paragraph linking a theoretical concept to a current event. Students learn: how to see theory in their everyday lives; how to apply and write about theory; how to discuss theory with their peers; and, how...
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Shiv Issar
Environmental Sociology (300-level)
November 20, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Environmental Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Assignment, Essay, Syllabus, Website
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
Why is it necessary to study Environmental Sociology? - The world is still experiencing the shock of the Coronavirus Pandemic, and is expected to see its various socioeconomic and psychosocial effects manifest over the next few years. Moreover, in the light of other...
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Samantha Kay Ammons
Rejected Plates: Coding and Finding Themes in Qualitative Data
November 20, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Qualitative Methodology
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
When faced with a pile of data, can students find the underlying pattern within? In this applied activity exercise, students practice basic content analysis methodology using an inductive approach. Students decipher and code 303 personalized license plate...
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Scott T Grether
Analyzing Crime Data
November 20, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Criminology/Delinquency
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This is an inquiry-guided learning activity (Atkinson and Hunt 2008) where students analyze longitudinal crime and imprisonment data and public opinion about crime. Specifically, students will analyze the violent crime, homicide, property crime, and imprisonment...
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Ellen T. Meiser
Understanding Discrimination Through Multimedia
November 20, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Social Psychology
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Audio, Class Activity, Essay, Video
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
“Understanding Discrimination Through Multimedia” is a short-essay activity that employs podcasts, YouTube videos, academic journal articles, and popular readings to help students understand how social structures influence discrimination within our society, and what...
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A woman looking into a mirror
Candace K. May
Revealing the Link Between G.H. Mead’s Social Construction of the Self and Society
November 15, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Theory
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Students greatly enjoy Symbolic Interactionist theories, approaches, and scholarship, which often become a source of recruitment to the sociology major. However, students also struggle with visualizing George Herbert Mead’s I, Me, and Self in action or how the...
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Jacqueline M Zalewski, Miguel Ceballos, Susan Brudvig
The Sociology Majors Project
November 6, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Work and Labor Markets
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
Sociology programs, like West Chester University (WCU), are concerned by progressively lower student enrollment in the major. This is partly because a sociology degree is not analogous to a specific profession or job industry like professional degrees in business...
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