Common concerns in required theory courses are student disengagement when encountering difficult texts and hesitation to engage in theorizing. To address these challenges, we have developed an interactive exercise, which we call the theory forum. Students work in groups to develop questions from the perspective(s) of one or more theorists, and…

Undergraduate students often have trouble interpreting cultures other than that with which they are familiar in a way that takes into account the symbols and meanings that explain behaviors, objects, and ideologies. Instead, many fall into the trap of making ethnocentric assumptions and coming to conclusions that are informed by their own cultural…

This article offers strategies for teaching about rationality, bureaucracy, and social change using George Ritzer's "The McDonaldization of Society" and its ideas about efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control. Student learning is facilitated using a series of strategies: making the familiar strange, explaining…

The sociological imagination is a useful tool for teaching about plagiarism and academic integrity, and, in turn, academic integrity is a good case to help students learn about the sociological imagination. ?We present an exercise in which the class discusses reasons for and consequences of dishonest academic behavior and then examines a series of…

Content analysis is a valuable research tool for social scientists that unfortunately can prove challenging to teach to undergraduate students. Published classroom exercises designed to teach content analysis have thus far been predominantly envisioned as lengthy projects for upper-level courses. A brief and engaging exercise may be more…

In this article, the authors describe a class activity that uses a combination of strategies to overcome obstacles students face when learning about the reproduction of inequality in everyday life. Based on Schwalbe et al.'s (2000) piece on "generic social processes," and following the idea of "making the strange familiar and the familiar…

A traditional debate format, in which a small group of students is given the task of presenting arguments for or against a particular issue, can promote pro and con dualism that is both incomplete and counter to developing a sociological imagination. In this article, the authors describe their efforts to avoid this kind of dualism through the…

In-depth interviewing is now a common method in sociology. Although there are many potential benefits of in-depth interviewing assignments for both majors and nonmajors, few have developed tools one can use to teach this method at the first and second year, especially in substantive classes where instruction in interviewing is constrained by time…

This article discusses pedagogical exercises developed to help students appreciate the power of sociological perspectives as they seek to better understand their own lives and the world around them. The assignments are focused on fulfilling the particular course learning goal that highlights student mastery of the application of diverse…

One of the unique promises of sociology is to illuminate the intersection of the personal and public by encouraging largely individually-oriented students to examine interrelationships between themselves and the social world. This can be an especially challenging task when teaching introductory sociology courses that are populated largely by…

Writers in this journal have presented a number of strategies that sociology teachers can use to facilitate the expression--and serious analysis--of unpopular opinions. This article contributes to this dialog by illustrating the application of a Bill of Rights learning module. In this module, students are expected to create a document that…

Instructors teaching students about social inequality, especially sexism and racism, often face some degree of student resistance. Opposition is particularly strong when students are from a white, middle to upper class background. As Haddad and Lieberman (2002) remark, "Students from privileged backgrounds lack personal experience with structures…

This article describes an in-class activity that helps undergraduate students to understand the effects of their socio-economic position on the formulation, pursuit, and achievement of goals. Social stratification and inequality have an initial impact on the formulation of goals. Through this exercise students will perceive the effects of having a…

This article explores the social-psychological process of identity negotiation in collaborative teaching, using Erving Goffman's (1959) theoretical tradition of dramaturgy to analyze the classroom itself as a performance venue. A dramaturgical analysis of collaborative teaching is especially significant given this growing pedagogical trend because…

As evidence of the growing ecological crisis mounts, it is imperative that sociologists speak to this social problem and incorporate a sociological perspective on environmental issues into the curriculum. Central to understanding how social issues relate to environmental problems is an examination of the ties between consumption and its ecological…