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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

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Danielle M Giffort
Teaching Healthcare Students How to Think Sociologically
February 5, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This in-class activity and assignment builds on Adam’s (2010) exercise on the differences between sociological and non-sociological explanations for human behavior but with a focus on healthcare students. As sociology becomes increasingly integrated into the...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PDF
Brandon Bosch
Sociology of Mass Media
February 3, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Mass Communication/Public Opinion
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This class will focus on mass media representations of gender, race, class, and politics, as well as the cultural, legal, economic, and institutional factors influencing the production of media texts. We will also discuss the ways in which media audiences (not just...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Stephanie Medley-Rath
OPEN ACCESS AND OPEN EDUCATION RESOURCES READING LIST FOR INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY
January 25, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Bibliography
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This document provides the detailed reading list of open education and open access materials used in an Introduction to Sociology course. The course is divided into 13 topical modules. Under each module, readers will find the learning goals for the module and under...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Benjamin Drury, Aimee Zoeller, Carrie Foote
HIV/AIDS and Society: Service Learning Syllabus
January 19, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Medical Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Over the last 30 years, nearly 60 million people have been infected with HIV and nearly half of them have died from AIDS. Despite breakthrough treatments, affording long-term survival to many, fatalities continue to mount and AIDS remains one of the top causes of...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PDF Requires Subscription PDF
David C Lane
Marks of Civilization: A Cultural Examination of Tattooing
January 8, 2016
Subject Area(s):
Cultural Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
From Otzi the Iceman, to ancient Egypt, to Moby Dick, to Ed Hardy shirts for sale at the mall, tattooing is a cultural practice that has been a part of human life for over 5,000 years. Despite the existence of tattooing across cultures and throughout history, and its...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Anthony Jack Knowles
Globalization and World Systems Theory: An Introduction
December 21, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Environmental Sociology
Resource Type(s):
PowerPoint
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Understanding the social world from a global perspective is becoming increasingly important for sociologists. World Systems Theory is a useful framework for explaining some of the macro level dynamics occurring around the globe. However, undergraduate sociology...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX Requires Subscription DOCX Requires Subscription PPTX
Tamra L Gilbertson
Teaching Microaggressions in the Classroom: A Multimedia and Popular Education Approach
December 3, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This class lecture and assignment aims to teach students how to recognize and cope with microaggressions. Microaggressions are offensive comments or actions directed at minority and other non-dominant groups that are intentional or unintentional and reinforce a...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOC
Amanda Kennedy
Facts in Fiction: Using Creative and Analytical Writing for Sociological Learning
December 3, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Students of sociology often struggle to see how society impacts their individual identities, decisions, relationships. This assignment invites students to explore "the social" by creating a fictional character. I have the students read the novel, American...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
Julie Collins-Dogrul
Transnational Migration and Latina/o Communities Syllabus
November 30, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Migration/Immigration
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This course helps students examine transnational migration and its effects on communities in the United States and Latin America. The geographical focus is transnational communities that span the United States and the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. The...
Cover Page Requires Subscription DOC
Jessie Ford, Paula England, Jonathan Bearak
The American College Hookup Scene: Findings from the Online College Social Life Survey
November 23, 2015
Subject Area(s):
Sexualities
Resource Type(s):
PowerPoint
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Connecting sociological analysis with topics of timely relevance to students and our society is a valuable feature of our discipline. This extensive PowerPoint presentation provides the foundation for a comprehensive class session on sex in college, hookups,...
Cover Page Requires Subscription PPTX

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