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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.
Daniel R Scholes, Amanda Jayne Miller
Mate choice from sociological and biological perspectives: Sexual selection meets mating markets
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Family
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 200
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Mate choice is a deeply studied topic of both evolutionary biology and sociology due to the complexity of social interactions, the process of conscious and unconscious evaluation of potential mates, the high stakes of successful reproduction, and consequently the...
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Zach Rubin
Panel Discussions – A Gentler Introduction to Debating Social Problems
February 21, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This activity is a group presentation without group work that will take place over the middle segment of the course. It happens in two stages: one where students will create discussion questions for some of your classmates to answer, and one where students will...
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Jeffrey A Gardner, Ashleigh E McKinzie
Embodying Inequality Activity: Teaching Intersectionality with Ethnographic Data
February 19, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Race, Class and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
Intersectionality is an analytic concept that signifies ways that inequalities may overlap to create unique forms of privilege and subjugation (Crenshaw 1989, 1991; Hill Collins 2009; Hill Collins and Bilge 2016). However, intersectionality is a perplexing concept...
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Corrie Grosse, Erica Morrell
Climate Justice / Climate Strikes Teaching Module
February 12, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Environmental Sociology
Resource Type(s):
Assessment, Assignment, Class Activity, Lecture, PowerPoint, Video, Website
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
Students around the world are leading climate strikes every Friday to call attention to and mobilize greater action to limit climate crisis and the harm it poses to all beings, especially already vulnerable, marginalized human communities. These strikes occasionally...
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Dawn Norris, Steven Loring
Speed Dating for Older Adults: Dismantling Stereotypes About Age and Relationships Using "The Age of Love"
February 7, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Aging/Social Gerontology
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
This semester-long project offers undergraduates the opportunity to connect in an innovative way with older adults in their local community by creating a senior dating/friendship/companionship event. The project should be embedded within an upper-level age-related...
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Karen Christopher
Analyzing Masculinities with Digital Media: A Podcast Assignment
February 7, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Sex and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Assignment
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Medium
Abstract:
Kroeber (2005) found that using technology in the classroom can be a "significant symbol" that increases students’ perceptions of both teaching effectiveness and the value of the course. For this assignment, students gain hands-on experience with digital media...
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Kate K O'Neill
Syllabus: Women in the Social Structure
February 6, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Sex and Gender
Resource Type(s):
Syllabus
Class Level(s):
College 300
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
This course is designed to introduce students to fundamental definitions, theories, and perspectives on women in the social structure. We begin by presenting definitions and components of social structures as understood by sociologists and gender scholars. We then...
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Jamie Oslawski-Lopez
Bringing Text to Life: Enhancing Introduction to Sociology with the Memoir "I Am Malala"
January 23, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Assignment, Class Activity, Essay
Class Level(s):
College 100
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
In this Text to Life assignment prepared for undergraduate, Introduction to Sociology courses, students read the memoir "I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick; write an essay that...
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Jennifer McSpadden
Sociological Perspectives Active Learning Assignment
January 2, 2020
Subject Area(s):
Introduction to Sociology/Social Problems
Resource Type(s):
Class Activity
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Small
Abstract:
Teaching the three major sociological perspectives in an introductory course can be challenging. The perspectives can be difficult for students to understand, but applying the perspectives to concrete examples can help clarify them. This active learning exercise...
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Judith A. Linneman
Chili con Questions: A Two-Part Lecture/Activity on Sampling and Related Statistics
December 26, 2019
Subject Area(s):
Research Methods
Resource Type(s):
Lecture
Class Level(s):
Any Level
Class Size(s):
Any
Abstract:
This engaging two-part lecture/activity uses the familiar process of cooking to reduce student fears and insecurities about learning sampling and related statistical concepts in research methods and statistics courses. Using inexpensive and readily available props...
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