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All TRAILS Resources
All TRAILS Resources
May 31, 2023

Browse the entire collection of TRAILS resources here.

An arial view of suburban neighborhoods
Elizabeth Klainot-Hess
Class Activity: Analyzing Residential Racial Segregation Using Census Data and an Interactive Map
July 8, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Demography, Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems, Public Policy, Race, Class and Gender, Racial and Ethnic Relations, Social Change, Urban Sociology, Visual Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

In this classroom activity students will use an interactive map based on 2020 Census data to identify and analyze residential racial segregation across the United States.  Using the black-white dissimilarity index, students will describe and analyze residential...

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A Black Lives Matter protest sign above a crowd of protestors
Emma-Claire LaSaine
Ethnic Movements in the United States
July 8, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Asians/Asian-Americans, Collective Behavior/Social Movements, Latina/o Sociology, Political Sociology, Race, Class and Gender, Racial and Ethnic Relations
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

This course sociologically analyzes historical and recent ethnic/racial conflict and movements in the U.S., including the relations between European Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. The class introduces...

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A young girl playing softball
Luis Nuño
Civic Engagement Through Youth Sports
July 2, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Children and Youth, Community, Leisure/Sports/Recreation
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:

This teaching resource integrates civic engagement with sociology and geospatial mapping by encouraging students to observe and interview volunteers in a youth sports league at their local community park. By applying sociological theories in a community setting...

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TRAILS Logo
Jordan Brown
Disney and Disability: Teaching Models of Disability Through Media.
June 23, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Cultural Sociology, Disabilities, Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity, PowerPoint
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

This activity is designed to help students understand different models of disability, particularly the social and medical models, and how people with disabilities (PWDs) are represented in popular media. Students will complete readings addressing the models of...

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A black pen laying across a notebook
Alecea Standlee, Bernard Phillips, Andrew Plotkin, Arnold Sherman, Charles Thorpe
Paradigmatic Sociology: Toward an Interdisciplinary Science of Human Behavior
June 6, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Theory
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
Any Level, College 400, Graduate
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Mills’ The Sociological Imagination was rated by the members of the International Sociological Association as the second most influential book for sociologists published during the entire 20th century, just behind Weber’s Economy and Society....

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Looking down at a wristwatch
Samantha Ammons
Using Time-diaries to Understand Work-family Theory
May 28, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Family, Occupations/Professions, Theory
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 400, Graduate
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

This is an applied theory assignment for an undergraduate/graduate work-family course that addresses how employment, family and leisure come together (or not). The course addresses historical trends, theories, how stratification shapes work-family experiences, and...

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Hands in handcuffs
Jerrod Yarosh
The Fishing Net of Deviance: Catching Ideas and Not Criminals
May 16, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Criminal Justice, Criminology/Delinquency, Deviant Behavior/Social Disorganization, Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems, Theory
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100, High School
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

This resource focuses on introducing students to various concepts and ideas related to the sociological understanding of deviance and is based around the ideas of Richard Quinney (1970). This learning experience utilizes an analogy of a fishing net with different...

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A collection of yellow items, including a bag, sweater, lamp, frame, gnome, and yarn
Marion Cassard
Situated Knowledge: Moving Beyond the Objectivity/Subjectivity Binary
April 23, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Cultural Sociology, Ethnography, Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems, Knowledge, Qualitative Methodology, Race, Class and Gender, Research Methods, Social Change, Sociological Practice, Theory
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:

This activity provides students with a hands-on experience of situated knowledge, demonstrating how knowledge is shaped by perspective and positionality rather than fitting neatly into the objectivity/subjectivity binary. Using physical barriers...

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A group of students around a table with computers at a workshop
Bailey Brown, Amber
Interdisciplinary Methods Exchange: A Joint-Class Guest Speaker Workshop
April 23, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Capstone Courses, Qualitative Methodology, Quantitative Methodology, Research Methods, Statistics
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity, Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Large, Medium
Abstract:

This workshop brings scholars in the social sciences together for a 10-week “Interdisciplinary Research Methods Exchange.” Scholars speak to a group of social science undergraduate majors about their current and prior research, highlighting their background,...

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People worshiping
Matthew E. Wilkinson, Lisa Winters, David W. Criger, Mackenzie Jurain
Durkheim and the Non-Religious Moral Community: An Exercise in Theoretical Application
April 15, 2025
Subject Area(s):
Leisure/Sports/Recreation, Religion, Social Organization, Teaching and Learning in Sociology, Theory
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200, College 300, College 400, Graduate
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

In this assignment, students will explore examples of non-religious moral communities to develop a deeper understanding of key sociological concepts introduced by Émile Durkheim in his study of religion. Specifically, students will identify how Durkheim’s...

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