"What is a fandom, and why do fandoms matter for school?" Fandoms are passionate communities dedicated to appreciating and engaging with texts of interest (movies, TV shows, books, bands, brands, sports teams, etc.) via personally and communally meaningful literacy practices. It is increasingly obvious that scripted literacy curricula…

Courses: Intercultural Communication, Communication and Identity, Interpersonal Communication. Objectives: After completing this semester-long activity, students should be able to (1) discuss and apply the concepts of social identities; (2) analyze the influence of self-identities on online communication practices of self to others and others to…

Suggests and gives examples of classroom study of status symbols of a society as a way to introduce culture into the second language classroom. (BK)

Describes four diversity-related group activities for adolescents or adults, used in adventure- and experiential-education settings. Includes target group, group size, time and space requirements, activity level, props, instructions, and tips for post-activity group reflection and processing. The activities are concerned with social-justice…

Presents a classroom exercise which asks undergraduates to assign a social class ranking to nine family names which stereotypically represent ethnic groups. Students are also asked to rate the degree to which they believe social class can be inferred from ethnic family names. Presents results from several years of data collection in different…

Suggests the use of the cooperative learning approach for better student understanding and describes current teaching trends which have students working alone and in subtle competition. First published in 1987. (YDS)

Discusses problems with teaching multicultural texts at North Hennepin Community College (a second-tier suburb north of Minneapolis, Minnesota). Notes that many students are naive of (or deny) how class functions in the United States. Discusses assignments that deal with race, class, and gender. (RS)

Noting that picture books can invite students to engage in critical discussion of complex issues of race, class, and gender, this lesson plan helps students to confront the injustice of barriers that separate human beings from one another and to examine the role of prejudice and stereotypes in sustaining these barriers. During the five 45-minute…

Contends that middle- and upper-income youth may indirectly be the beneficiaries of social systems that are based on policies of injustice for the sake of profit or power. Suggests using an approach that helps such young people see that the establishment of social justice is beneficial to them as well as to the victims of injustice. (CFR)

Describes a technique to teach students about U.S. society that involves: assigning each person an imaginary occupation and family statistics. Students attend a mock 20-year high school class reunion. The class discussion that follows this activity explores group dynamics and social patterns that evolve along class lines. (GG)

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)

Contends that during the colonial period, approximately half of the white immigrants to America were indentured servants. Presents a high school lesson plan on indentured servitude using William Buckland, an indentured servant at George Mason's Gunston Hall Plantation, as a case study. (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)

Asserts that increased attention to marginalized groups in college political science courses is long overdue. Introduces a series of six brief articles describing how to incorporate these groups into the curriculum. Includes articles on gender, race, and sexual orientation issues. (CFR)

Recommends using U.S. Bureau of the Census data as historical research resource and illustrates how to use data through analysis of tenement residents in New York City, at 97 Orchard Street. Census records provide information that allow an analysis of the changing social demographics of occupancy in large city tenements. Includes primary documents…