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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.
Hayley Lotspeich
The 99%
November 30, 2023
Subject Area(s):
High School Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
High School
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This assignment is designed to have students identify the role of sociological perspective in understanding the Occupy Wall Street movement as well as the similarities and differences of those participating in the movement. Students will employ sociological...
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Ava Isaac
Who am I? : The Looking Glass Self
November 30, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
In this activity, students will familiarize themselves with the concept of the Looking Glass Self (1902) by participating in a low-stakes classroom sales pitch. Volunteer participants will complete pre- and post-questionnaires asking them to rate their performance...
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Students using post-it notes on the wall to code qualitatitive data
Andrew R. Smolski, Rebecca Shisler, Abbey E. Piner, Angel Cruz, Emma Brinkmeyer
Applied Social Science as Tools for Change
November 13, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Community, Organizations, Formal and Complex, Qualitative Methodology, Race, Class and Gender, Racial and Ethnic Relations, Research Methods, Sociological Practice
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:

Sociology provides important empirical tools for evaluating organizational progress
toward racial equity. In food system work meant to address racial inequality, there is
often an assumption that intent to not be racist translates into equitable...

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Apartment buildings
Bryant Crubaugh
Zoning, Gentrification, and Affordable Housing: A Classroom Simulation and Set of Assignments
November 3, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Community, Political Sociology, Public Policy, Social Change, Urban Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

In this simulation, students work through the legislative process of rezoning a part of a nearby city and grapple with their decision’s impact on gentrification and the provision of affordable housing. The resource provides a specific example in Long Beach, CA...

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A blue geometric design
Anne Nurse
Introduction to Sociology: Flipped and Organized by Core Components
September 20, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

This introduction to sociology course is organized according to Ferguson et al’s (2016) core concepts in sociology.  The classroom is flipped with content taught through readings and videos.  Class time is used to engage in activities and discussion that reinforce...

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A college lecture hall
José Muñoz, Allison Hurst, Wendi Johnson
Report of the ASA Task Force on First-Generation and Working-Class People in Sociology
August 12, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Capstone Courses, Education
Resource Type(s):
Essay
Class Level(s):
College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

The ASA Task Force on First Generation and Working Class Persons in Sociology national study provides timely and valuable insight into potential solutions to meet the needs of these populations. The Task Force completed an extensive mixed method study which...

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A pin on a map
Julia Waity, Jennifer Vanderminden, Jack Resnick
Using virtual mapping to learn about the community
May 9, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Applied Sociology/Evaluation Research, Community, Sociological Practice
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Codification of observed activity and physical data is a valuable skill for any emergent social scientist; one method to achieve this is data-driven community mapping. However, mapping as a method can often be overwhelming and challenging to students who have so...

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A drawing of a hospital building
Daniel Menchik
Medicine in the Wild: Conducting Ethnographic Studies of Medicine in Action
May 9, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Medical Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Medium, Small
Abstract:

This course is an introduction to methods and practices of studying how we moderns organize care in the hospital, and ultimately produce and respond to facts about the people who move through it. The aim is to ground students in the foundational ethnographic...

Cover Page Requires Subscription DOCX
A sign that reads: "Entering Navajo Reservation U.S. Dept. Interior"
Jimiliz Valiente-Neighbours
Introduction to Native Land and Indigenous Peoples
May 9, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender, Racial and Ethnic Relations
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 100, College 200, College 300, College 400
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Recently, land or territory acknowledgements have become more common during formal events and on their websites. Students in K-12 and higher education institutions, however, may not yet be familiar with why the practice is done, much less the concept of native...

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Monopoly board with game pieces ready for play
Brianna Turgeon, Sarah Donley
Intersectional Monopoly
May 9, 2023
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender, Stratification/Mobility
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:

Monopoly simulations are widely used in sociology classrooms to illustrate social inequality. These simulations have been critiqued as being one-dimensional and focusing too much on social class. Alternatively, scholars have developed Monopoly simulations that...

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