As sociology instructors increasingly include materials on sexual violence in their courses, both instructors and students express anxieties over how best to handle such sensitive conversations. This article critically examines the conventional advice to offer a trigger warning, which can interfere with student education (e.g., requiring survivors…

Students share folk beliefs that make it difficult for them to understand inequality, especially the harmful consequences of social practices they routinely engage in, are attached to, and take for granted. Four of these beliefs include: (a) harm is direct, extreme, and the product of an individual's intentions; (2) harm is the product of the…

Some consideration of the Holocaust can provide valuable historical and comparative perspectives for the largely American-society-oriented course in the sociology of racial and ethnic relations. By studying the Holocaust, students can learn about the patterns and causes of, and minority reactions to, prejudice and discrimination. (Author/RM)

Offers suggestions for a sociology course in extraordinary groups, utopian studies, or alternative communities to help broaden awareness and understanding of human behavior, past and present groups, and cultural pluralism. Includes ideas for field trips, projects, readings, and films and videos. Discusses basing lectures on commitment, conversion,…

Describes a mentoring program targeted at undergraduate minority students interested in attending graduate school in the social sciences that involves them in faculty-headed research projects. Discusses the importance of structured mentoring programs in the professional socialization and development of minority and female social scientists. (MJP)

Reviews introductory sociology texts from 1950-89. Reports that heterosexual biases are embedded in sociology as taught. Argues that goals of sociology texts should include the recognition and exploration of difference rather than the homogenization of sexuality. Concludes that, although introductory sociology texts have made advances in…

Asserts that song lyrics illustrate important sociological concepts. Reports on a study using song-lyric packets with 23 students in an introductory college sociological course. Finds that students were very supportive of the strategy and includes an appendix illustrating the approach by presenting one song-lyric packet. (CFR)

Asserts that culture was and is a major focus of much sociological research and writing and that music is often a subject of such research. Proposes using music as a teaching tool in a course about issues of race, class, and gender. Describes the use of musical lyrics in the course, and reports on student attitudes toward the course. (CFR)

Describes a game designed to impress upon undergraduates the difficulty of economic mobility for minorities. The game involves two groups, "Majorities" and "Minorities," and their efforts to build a simulated social network with string. Minorities receive shorter lengths of string and cannot leave their seats. Discusses follow-up exercises. (MJP)

Summarizes the response to complaints that a class examining the sociology of minorities unfairly emphasized negative behavior. The course was restructured to include an examination of resistance and interracial cooperation against racism. This new perspective was incorporated into writing assignments, class discussions, and instructional…

The importance of and ways in which the perspective of women of color can be integrated into the teaching of gender-related topics in sociology are discussed. The three major teaching methods identified are a comparison approach, a special treatment approach, and a mainstreaming approach. Institutional settings are also discussed. (RM)

Updates and extends a previous study of the portrayal of the black family in collegiate marriage and family textbooks. Examines 20 of the best-selling textbooks published between 1986 and 1980 for their portrayal of family life among four minority groups. Finds little attention paid to minority families and evidence of cultural bias. (CFR)