This article uses analysis of 72 syllabi to investigate portrayals of Black urban communities in undergraduate Urban and Community Sociology courses taught in colleges and universities in the United States. The authors conducted keyword analyses of the syllabi and content analyses of the assigned readings. Although professors' course descriptions…

Discusses, in the light of an escalating "war on crime," ideas on teaching about the concept of punishment. Offers a framework for understanding punishment's functions. Delineates ideal criteria for applying punishment. Describes processes that influence uniformity. Suggests a method for teaching about punishment and underscores its advantages and…

Introduces an innovative approach to teaching a sociology of education course. Suggests the various approaches to sociology have distracted professionals from its central relevance. Critiques present orientations to a sociology of education course and recommends placing emphasis on the logic or theoretical/conceptual framework for organizing key…

Discusses typical first days of college courses. Describes a first day activity called "Who is the Professor?" that challenges students' expectations about learning and motivates students to wonder about social life. Presents a modification of the activity and considers suggestions, limitations, and challenges. (CMK)

Undergraduate introductory sociology courses should actively engage students in learning the concepts, theories, and research methods that comprise the core knowledge of the discipline. The course should introduce the social theorists Durkheim, Marx, Mead, and Weber. Social concepts of the human group, social system, and social organization;…

Six suggestions offered to sociologists obligated to teach statistics to undergraduates in sociology programs. (Editor)

Focuses on an adapted version of the classic deviance exercise used in a criminology course taught from 1992 to 2000. Describes how the exercise typically worked, but also discusses a time when the exercise went wrong. Addresses what lessons were learned from that experience. (CMK)

Provides an overview of social class, poverty, and welfare issues. Focuses on a course called, "The Welfare State," used at Trinity University (San Antonio, Texas). Describes two course assignments: (1) social class and genealogy and childhood memories assignment; and (2) the poverty lunch project. Includes references. (CMK)

Describes an interactive in-class learning activity where students learn about social movement theories. Provides background information about the exercise; discusses the process of preparing and implementing the assignment; and explores the student responses. Includes an appendix and references. (CMK)

Explores the utility of a multicultural approach to teaching an undergraduate social psychology course. Discusses institutional context and the transformation of the course by infusing multicultural content. Uses survey data and student performance on the first examination before and after the class transformation to evaluate the multicultural…

Discusses the role of antiracist praxis in teaching and learning. Focuses on the experiences and reflections of the participants of the course "Racism and Intellectuals." Addresses the "beloved community," a community of equals with a shared vision, and the student organization PEACE: Promoting Equality and Community Everywhere. (CMK)

Explains the interest of sociologists in feature-length film analysis. Discusses the problems with using films in sociology courses. Describes two analytic devices to help students interpret films. Presents a teaching strategy that groups films to convey certain sociological theories. Appends a schedule of films and readings. (CMK)

One of a series of resources for teaching sociology at the postsecondary level, this volume contains syllabi and resource materials for instruction in social theory. Material is divided into four sections. Section I, an introduction, describes the nature of social theory and provides tabulations of the kind of theory courses offered at the…

Explains that students in a research methods class analyzed and interpreted alumni attitudes and financial giving patterns, presenting their findings to university administrators and staff. Details the organization of the class, the structure of assignments, and the educational benefits of this teaching experience. (DAJ)

Describes a dual-writing assignment used in two introductory sociology classes in which students write a book review and explore their own career choices through an occupational profile. Discusses the integration of work and career related concepts into the lectures and students' evaluation of the assignment. (CMK)