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TRAILS Featured Resources
TRAILS Featured Resources
February 23, 2023

TRAILS, the Teaching Resources and Innovation Library for Sociology, provides a way for you to easily locate peer-reviewed teaching materials, showcase your teaching ideas, develop professionally, and join a community of scholarly teachers. You will find great assignments, syllabi, lectures, and other teaching ideas at TRAILS. Please also consider submitting your great ideas for teaching. The Featured Resources include some of the newest additions to our collection.

-Stephanie Medley-Rath
TRAILS Lead Editor

TRAILS logo with gold star superimposed on the lower right corner. Logo is composed of four vertical bars in varying shades of blue.
Matt Reid
Gender Roles and Yankee Candles
May 5, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Sex and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Image
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
From 2012 to 2014, Yankee Candle had a special line of "Man Candles" which were, as the name suggests, candles specifically marketed towards men. These gendered candles from the well-recognized brand included fragrances such as "Riding Mower", "First Down", "On Tap",...
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Tyler R. Flockhart, Maxine P. Atkinson
Gravestone Assignment
May 5, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This assignment introduces students to the historical importance of symbols in American culture by analyzing gravestones. There are four goals related to this assignment. Students will collect data from gravestone inscriptions, describe, categorize and analyze this...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Holly Straut Eppsteiner
Perspectives on Gender Inequality in the Labor Force: Gloria Steinem & Sheryl Sandberg
April 6, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Work and Labor Markets
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity, Video
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Scholars argue that we have reached a period of "stalled" gender equality at work: the wage gap between men and women persists, and men and women continue to be concentrated in different types of occupations with differential rewards. The literature on work and...
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Emily M. Medley
Adapted Resource to Complement Gender Bingo: Pre and Post Reflections to Optimize Classroom Dynamics and Gender Understandings in the Classroom
April 1, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Sex and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This is an adapted resource to complement the Gender Bingo Game. This Pre- and Post- Gender Reflection Bundle is designed to let students document baselines of knowledge before and after approaching the gender topic from a sociological perspective and before testing...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Nicole Rosen, Aya Christie de Chellis
Understanding Intersectionality Through a Roll of the Dice: What Might the Experience Be?
March 12, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity, Essay
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
The term "intersectionality" was developed by women of color organizations in the 1960s and 1970s and was included in articles written by black feminist scholars Kimberlé Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Women of color further...
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Maureen K. Day
How Social Capital Affects Resource Sharing
February 28, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This is a fun, in-class activity that teaches students the ways social capital affects resource distribution. It is best done after students have been exposed, either through reading or lectures, to the idea of social capital. It does not teach them about social...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PDF
Stephanie Medley-Rath
Considerations For Selecting Open Education and Open Access Readings
February 24, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Teaching and Learning in Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Essay
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Textbook costs are increasing. Students opt to get through a course without the textbook to save money. Faculty recognizing this challenge might consider free alternatives to the conventional textbook to save students money and increase the likelihood of students...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Jessica R West
Intersectionality and Intimate Partner Violence: An Interactive Activity to Assess Prior Knowledge
February 24, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assessment
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Using an intersectional lens, this activity aims to assess student’s preconceived knowledge of intimate partner violence prior to covering this topic in class through the use of audience response systems, such as live polls. The anonymity of the poll will allow for a...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Brett Lehman
An early semester exercise to promote the application of social conditions and the development of a sociological imagination for introductory students in large classes
February 24, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Large
Abstract:
This exercise involves giving students an opportunity to introduce themselves to their classmates through short presentations during one class period at the beginning of the semester. Students are instructed to apply the concepts of social conditions and the...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Sarah D'Onofrio
Using "The House I Live In" to Understand Structural Strain Theory
February 18, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This assignment uses the documentary "The House I Live In" to help students understand the strain faced by impoverished communities of color. Students are encouraged to think critically about the War on Drugs and its role in the growth of mass incarceration. The...
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