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At the 2007 annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, we presented a workshop entitled "How to do the Scholarship of Teaching." The workshop had three main goals: to introduce participants to the literature on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and to various SoTL outlets, to guide participants in the process of doing their own SoTL research, and to enhance participants' chances of getting their SoTL work published, especially in the discipline's teaching journal, Teaching Sociology. The overarching purpose of the workshop and this paper is to help participants and readers think about how their own experiences in the classroom could be transformed into research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay describes institutional ethnography as a method of inquiry pioneered by Dorothy E. Smith, and introduces a collection of papers which make distinctive contributions to the development of this novel form of investigation. Institutional ethnography is presented as a research strategy which emerges from Smith‘s wide-ranging explorations of the problematic of the everyday world. Smith‘s conception of the everyday world as problematic involves a critical departure from the concepts and procedures of more conventional sociologies. She argues for an alternative sociology which begins with the standpoint of the actor in everyday life, rather than from within a professional sociological discourse aligned with the society‘s ruling institutions. The familiar sociologies of everyday life do not suffice for this purpose, since they deal with local settings and social worlds, but stop short of examining how these are knitted into broader forms of social organization. In contrast, institutional ethnography examines how the scenes of everyday life are shaped by forms of social organization which cannot be fully grasped from within those scenes. The principal tasks of institutional ethnography include describing the coordination of activities in the everyday world, discovering how ideological accounts define those activities in relation to institutional imperatives, and examining the broader social relations in which local sites of activity are embedded. The four papers which follow demonstrate that specific contributions to institutional ethnography can be made in relation to a wide array of topics, methods, and interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following American Sociological Association’s recommendations for a cumulative curriculum in sociology, sociology faculty at Pacific Lutheran University created cumulative writing competencies to integrate writing into the curriculum on a department level. In this article, I explore the rationale for this programmatic approach to writing, describe the process by which we developed cumulative writing competencies in our major, discuss implementation, and describe our plans for assessment. The writing competencies emphasize that good writing is about more than good grammar; it also requires clear and complex thinking. This model of writing instruction offers students an opportunity to develop their writing skills in a sequential, intentional, discipline-specific way. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article focuses on the impact the paper "The Missing Feminist Revolution in Sociology," written by Judith Stacey and Barrie Thorne in 1985, had on the study and teaching of sociology. The paper argued that sociology, in contrast to other social sciences, had warded off attempts by feminist scholars to transform the field's theoretical and conceptual frameworks. A discussion of a study of the paper, which took place at the 2005 meeting of the American Sociological Association is presented.

This paper is based on a workshop of the same name presented at the 2007 American Sociological Association meetings. The purpose of the workshop and this article is to focus attention on teaching methods that require students to actively investigate sociological phenomena. During the workshop, participants practiced constructing inquiry-guided learning activities suitable for a range of different courses taught throughout the curriculum. These activities are described here. Inquiry-guided learning (IGL) includes a variety of teaching methods that assist students in their investigation of questions and problems. Fundamental to IGL in sociology is the notion that students should think and act like sociologists. IGL activities provide a means whereby the instructor models and the student practices the same disciplinary activities. Students "do" sociology rather than just learning about the results of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been renewed interest over the past 5 years among sociologists in empirically examining the status of sociology in high school. The few studies that have recently been conducted, however, have focused almost exclusively on high school sociology teachers. The nature and structure of the courses themselves have been largely ignored. Given the American Sociological Association’s recent attempts to develop and implement an Advanced Placement course, it seems especially important to examine the characteristics of existing sociology courses. This paper uses the results of a national mail survey to describe and discuss three aspects of the nature and structure of a random sample of sociology courses that were offered during the 2005–06 school year: instructional materials and pedagogical resources, teaching techniques, and course content. I demonstrate that these aspects of the courses look remarkably similar across the country: Teachers rely overwhelmingly on standard introductory textbooks to structure their courses. They are also apt to utilize supplemental materials from textbook publishers and from newspapers and newsmagazines, and to use a combination of lecture and discussion in their sociology classes. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on efforts to establish master's-level internships in nontraditional health care settings. With the encouragement of the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association seven students were placed in the following settings: workplace wellness programs, a center for independent living for the physically handicapped, an educational program for unwed adolescent fathers, a health policy organizational, a community-based AIDS intervention program, and the Life Sciences Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. The project addressed the following issues: the advent of new problems in health care, such as those resulting from AIDS; the increase in health care work accomplished in nonmedical settings; the increased importance of credentialism in sociology; and the increasingly blurred line between research and practice in the sociology of health. Suggestions are made for the application of findings to the management of undergraduate internships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Paul J. Baker and William Rau justifies findings in their paper. According to them, their paper is more that a theoretical statement with supporting evidence. It concludes with several policy implications that are pertinent to various arenas of decision making. Professional associations such as the American Sociological Association, local departments and colleges in all types of schools, departments in major universities that train most teachers of undergraduates. They justify that their statement "Suggestion are non sequiturs" is a simplistic stratification model that dichotomizes all higher education into elites versus the masses. Critics cited some of the recommendation by Rau and Baker as non sequiturs and suggested that the solution to improved teaching in the so-called mass sector is to reduce teaching loads while redefining and enhancing research, and that we are looking to elite universities to solve our problems. Rau and Baker do not agree that their recommendations were non sequiturs. They would be non sequiturs if the proposals would not help to solve the problems which they address.

Scholarship on teaching undergraduates increasingly emphasizes the benefits of providing students with an active role in their education whereby instructors are more aptly described as facilitators of knowledge rather than merely providers of it. Additionally, recommendations from the American Sociological Association aimed specifically at the undergraduate sociology curriculum argue that students must engage as practitioners of sociology at each level of their program development. In short, undergraduates should do sociology—not just read or write sociology. Applying this recommendation to teaching statistics, I suggest organizing a course around a student-led research project in which students generate the topics, questions, and data that are then used to complete a substantive research paper. Students are given the opportunity to be actively engaged in all stages of the research and data-gathering process. Students also present their work in student roundtables, further legitimating their important contributions as researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents an introduction to this issue of "Teaching Sociology." The article explains that manuscripts published in the issue discuss the major topics, lessons learned, and the challenges presented at the workshops available at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. The American Sociological Association presents an annual arrangement of teaching-related workshops, paper, and thematic sessions. The article also thanks Nancy Greenwood, Jay Howard, and David Yamane for serving as peer reviewers for the manuscripts published in this issue.

This paper revisits the observation made by Ward and Grant (Current Perspective in Social Theory 11:117–140, ) that there had been a “peculiar eclipsing” of women in sociological theory. It provides longitudinal studies of women’s participation and recognition in three conventional outlets for sociological theorizing: the theory section of the American Sociological Association (ASA); sociological theory textbooks; and sociological theory journals. It finds that the percentage of ASA Theory Section members who were women increased from 12% in 1982 to 31% in 2008, but is not nearly as high as the 53% in all ASA sections taken together; that women’s recognition in sociological theory textbooks grew, more between the 1980s and the 2000s than between the 1960s and the 1980s, undoubtedly reflecting the increasing respectability of feminist theory within the profession; and that women’s relative participation as authors in sociology theory journals increased from the 1980s to the 2000s by about 33%, but nowhere near as much as their participation as authors in the American Sociological Review, where their relative participation in the 2000s was more than three times what it had been in the 1980s. We speculate that, given women’s increasing leadership roles in both the Theory section and the theory journals, women may be using less conventional outlets for their theorizing than is offered by either the section or the journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a notice to those wishing to contribute papers to "Teaching Sociology." Information on policies for submitting multiple manuscripts, as outlined by The American Sociological Association (ASA), manuscript processing fees, and requirements for the submission and processing of manuscripts including style and format is presented.

This paper examines the articulation of goals and means of sociological instruction in course syllabi. Three questions guide this inquiry. First, do sociology instructors articulate common learning goals? Second, what pedagogical means do instructors commonly employ to meet these goals? Third, to what extent have sociology instructors incorporated the recommendations presented in Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major (Eberts et al. 1990) and in its updated version (McKinney et al. 2004)? To answer these questions, we analyzed syllabi from 418 courses published by the American Sociological Association's Teaching Resource Center. We found that aside from course-specific goals, most syllabi shared only a few general, abstract goals in common. The pedagogical methods or requirements of students tended to be fairly traditional (readings, writing, and exams). Requirements that required more active types of learning were less common. While these goals and means do seem to reflect what sociologists consider to be important, they do not correspond closely to the American Sociological Association's Taskforce on the Undergraduate Major's recommendations for the sociology major. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about American Sociological Association's (ASA) Projects on teaching Undergraduate Sociology. ASA Projects on Teaching Undergraduate Sociology has entered its third year. Projects are supported by grants to ASA from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education and the Lilly Endowment Inc., the activities of the teaching projects have attracted the interest and participation of hundreds of sociologists. In the past two years, a number of activities and publications have come from the three working groups of the Project. Three teacher development workshops have been held, several bibliographies are available for distribution and work from the Project task groups has generated papers read at national, regional, and state sociological association meetings. The Teacher Development Group held a number of workshops during the 1976-1977 academic year. The Task Group will also present brief sessions in conjunction with state and regional sociological associations.

The article discusses the book "The Structure of Social Action," by Talcott Parsons. The paper was prepared, at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association in 1987, a session held to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of the book and it drew a large and interested audience. The Structure, would at that time have been taken as a founding event in a relatively consensual, proto-scientific discipline. For even as late as the mid 1960, Structure was still seen as parsons had originally presented it: as a framework of accumulated theoretical knowledge, on the basis of which predictions could be made and compared with what social scientists had subsequently discovered about empirical fact. But there are even more important reasons for the continuing contemporary relevance of Parsons' early work. It is not only that there continue to be important discussions about, and in relation to the book earlier concepts. It is also that people can now understand the influence of Structure in a more reflective and more accurate way.

In this paper we describe a predoctoral internship program sponsored by the Medical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association. In three years, the program placed 15 graduate students for three-to twelve-month internships in a variety of clinical and research settings and organizations concerned with the development of health policy. We review the history, purpose, accomplishments, and future directions of the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a case study of the Association of Black Sociologists. This article is shaped also by the author's direct and active participation in Caucus of Black Sociologists as well as studies by him of black sociologists on two different occasions, 1968 and 1981. In the late 1960s black sociologists, as well as many other black professionals within larger professional bodies, perceived the necessity of organizing to achieve recognition and enhance opportunities. Tilman C. Cothran provided the initial leadership within the American Sociological Association (ASA). Dismayed at the absence of black participation in the annual programs of ASA, Cothran, then chairman of the department of sociology at Atlanta University and editor of Phylon, called together meetings of black sociologists at the annual meetings of ASA in 1968 in Boston and 1969 in San Francisco, to discuss their common problems and strategies for dealing with same. He also communicated in writing and in person with foundations about the lack of blacks in leadership roles within them as well as the paucity of monies directed to black sociologists for research.

This article presents an acknowledgement by the editor to his colleagues for entrusting the job of editorship of the "Social Psychology Quarterly." They will strive to publish the highest quality work that significantly advances the understanding of the complex links between the individual and society. To that end, invitation for the submission of both empirical and theoretical papers that address those links, regardless of theoretical perspective or investigative and analytic strategy will be made. They will also encourage the submission of papers from scholars around the world and across academic disciplines. Although this journal officially belongs to the American Sociological Association, it is believed that it is the property of a much larger scholarly community. That community spans the globe as well as traditional disciplinary boundaries. Its members include everyone committed to systematic study of how the individual is shaped by and shapes her or his social and cultural environment.

The article discusses the sociology of the American Sociological Association annual meeting. The author considers a picture he took of his friend and fellow sociologist Howard Freeman at a meeting some 30 years ago. The photo, which is featured on the cover of this issue, show Freeman turning to greet a friend. The author ponders the implications of this one image and its role as a piece of sociological evidence in a larger body of photographs and in the context of the conference. The article also includes the front-matter for the issue.

This first issue of the 1986 volume of the periodical "Teaching Sociology," is a cause for celebration on several accounts. First, it marks the successful transition of the periodical from Sage Publications to the American Sociological Association (ASA). Therefore, it is fitting at this time that we salute Sage Publications. Sage took the initiative with the publication of "Teaching Sociology," more than a decade ago, at a time when no one else seemed particularly interested. The acquisition of "Teaching Sociology," also marks the maturity of the ASA's Teaching Services Program, also begun in the 1970's. The Teaching Resources Center housed in the executive office offers more than 60 publications and boasts an annual sales volume of over 22,000 dollars. The Teaching Newsletter, published at the executive office for the past five years will now become part of the journal. The culminating event of 1985 was a special two day symposium that was held in Washington D.C. in late August just before the annual meeting. Six commissioned papers examining contemporary problems in undergraduate teaching set the framework for discussion.

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In this essay, I examine the role of teaching and learning in the culture of the regional association in American sociology. I analyze the programs of (1) the 2007 joint meeting of the North Central Sociological Association (NCSA) and the Midwest Sociological Society (MSS); (2) the 2007 annual meeting preliminary programs of the Eastern Sociological Society (ESS), the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA), and the Southern Sociological Society (SSS) along with the 2006 annual meeting programs of the MSS and NCSA, as well as the American Sociological Association (ASA); and (3) the 1991 NCSA and 1992 ASA annual meeting programs. I identify program trends with regard to teaching, professional development, under-graduate students, graduate students, and research on higher education. I conclude by identifying regional association annual meeting best practices regarding each of these areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a discussion on the congress of American Sociological Association in San Francisco, California, in August 2004. To reflect on congresses and exhibitions is a sociological work since, in addition to the information that they provide on the development of the profession of sociologist, they have a symbolic considerable impact. Already before the globalization, several professional North American affiliations turn into the international affiliations of the discipline. What is discussed in the San Francisco congress has so many relevancy for Spain as the Eighth Spanish Congress of Sociology, in September, 2004 in Alicante, Spain. The majority of the specialties coincide. Some papers and debates are similar. The methodological problems are also common in both the congresses. The ideas that they discuss in the world, fortunately, already do not diminish to a geographical national ambience. Almost two hundred specific sessions with written communications have been distributed.

This paper summarizes briefly the formal relationship between the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the seven regional sociological societies, suggests that little has resulted from the affiliation, and recommends (1) the ASA Committee on Regional Affairs be terminated, and (2) four other ways of linking the national and regional societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article critically appraises "Neofunctionalism," edited by Jefrey C. Alexander. This volume is the first entry in a projected series entitled "Key Issues in Sociological Theory." It is anticipated that further entries will appear annually with the purpose of bringing together revisions of papers presented at the Theory Section of the American Sociological Association's (ASA) yearly miniconference, held in conjunction with the ASA meetings. In bringing together a collection of articles under the rubric of "neofunctionalism," Alexander aims not merely to make generally available a number of interrelated essays by a group of contemporary scholars; he expressly seeks, in addition, to crystallize a "theoretical movement" allegedly "wide and deep" already and still "gaining momentum" both in American sociology and "throughout Western sociology", to appropriate creatively the functionalist legacy of Talcott Parsons. In this sense, "neofunctionalism" is intended as an alternative to neo-Marxism, and Alexander reports that he actually chose the former term "in conscious similitude" to the latter.

The article provides information on the recent developments related to the issue of migration around the world. The American Sociological Association held its annual meetings in Toronto between August 24 and 28, 1981. There were nine sessions dealing with population and international migration. Canadian Population Society annual meetings were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, June 1 and 2, 1981. Mary M. Kritz was the guest editor of Migraciones Internacionales en Las Americas, the first issue of the first volume of a periodical published by CEPAM. John Connell, Project Coordinator, South Pacific Commission reports on a project on migration project on migration to assist governments of the South Pacific in integrating population and migration issues into employment and development planning. M. Saleheen, Chairman, Department of Geography, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dacca, Bangladesh, presented a paper on "The significance of internal migration in the population redistribution in Bangladesh", before the Symposium on Development and Population Redistribution in South Asia, organized by the International Geographers Union Commission on Population Geography, in Karachi, Pakistan.

The article presents information on three national surveys conducted by American Sociological Association (ASA) Teaching Projects dealing with issues in curriculum, teacher development and the institutional context in which teaching takes place. The survey of the sociology curriculum includes materials on design and resources as well as typical data on course offerings and the sociology major. Another innovation is the inclusion of community colleges either ignored or not in existence when other studies of the curriculum have been carried out. The sample totals 682 departments located in every state of the U.S. A random sample compiled by the ASA of 192 four-year colleges offering sociology and a random sample drawn from a list published by the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges of 236 community and junior colleges complete the sample. The response rate for each type of school is: 77% for university departments, 67% for four-year departments, and 50% for the community and junior colleges. The overall response rate was a respectable 65%.

This article reflects on the progress of the American Sociological Association (ASA) from 1905 to 1980. The author relates that when she took office elate in 1949, there were approximately 2,700 members on the Society's roles. Ten years later there were 7,000. With the Reorganization Committee of 1950 anticipating the potential, certain goals for the Association were set early in the decade. There were eight goals that the society was determined to accomplish. It is a matter of record that considerable progress was made during the decade of the 1950s in moving toward these goals especially the first six Constitutional changes were affected. membership participation was broadened. An executive office was organized. Several new publications were started. Membership services generally were expanded. All the annual meeting, over 300 papers were presented in 1960 in contrast to 77 in 1950. In two important respects, however, the mid-century ASA was somewhat less effective in performing its supportive role in expanding the uses of sociology and in aiding the development of the discipline. For example, responding to indications that sociologists were needed in a variety of practicing professions, ASA together with Russell Sage Foundation, undertook a series of bulletins on the fields of sociological application.

The article discusses awards and honors. The recipient of 1983 American Sociological Association (ASA) award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education, Paul J. Baker is no stranger to those interested in the teaching-learning process. He has published numerous articles on teaching and learning sociology. Of special interest are "Problems of Mass Instruction and Bringing Intellectual Excitement to Large Lecture Sections"; "KAKN"-Knowledge Available and Knowledge Needed to Improve Instruction;" introducing critical thinking into basic courses, especially "Teaching Social Problems Through Critical Reasoning;" and the nature of work for faculty and chairpersons.

Community colleges are playing an increasingly important and visible role in higher education in the United States. However, the additional attention to community colleges has not produced the same degree of recognition regarding the importance and needs of the faculty within those institutions, who make up about 27 percent of all faculty members nation-wide. This article examines factors influencing the professional status of community college faculty. We argue that understanding the position of community college faculty in higher education today depends upon understanding that professional status is a dynamic and contested terrain, rather than a series of static characteristics. Following Abbott's () analysis of the efforts of librarians to achieve professional status, we consider how the changing structure of higher education in the United States may impact community college faculty as professionals, both positively and negatively. As one example of community college faculty raising their issues within a discipline-wide professional organization, we examine the current state of community college faculty with the American Sociological Association (ASA). We consider potential status changes for community college faculty in sociology within the context of the broad threats to the professional status of faculty across the higher education landscape. Paradoxically, these threats might result in an opening for efforts by community college faculty to improve their professional status, perhaps in coalition with faculty in other sectors of higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on intellectuals who had influenced the field of sociology in the U.S. It mentions journalists who integrated social science into their stories and commentaries including Walter Lippmann. The impact of Lippmann on society and politics in the U.S. during his lifetime including his relations with several presidents of the country is cited. The author says the American Sociological Association is looking for editors including the author's successor.

In light of recent debates on 'public criminology', this article chooses to focus on teaching as a way of reaching more publics. The various characteristics of a more public and engaged discipline are discussed and applied specifically to the teaching of criminology, including the relative merits and demerits of reorienting teaching in this way. Following on from this discussion, the article outlines some practical ways in which this vision can be realised. Given the many affinities between the Burawoyan concept of public '-ologies' and the scholarship of learning and teaching, an argument is advanced for teaching as one of the first steps towards the practice of a more public criminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This paper develops and tests a theory of the historical contingency of the risk of acquisition using data from the higher education publishing market from 1958-1990. Interviews and historical [...]

Information about several papers discussed at a symposium sponsored by the Sociological Practice section of the American Sociological Association (ASA) on the application of sociology to describe and address social problems resulting from forces of globalization is presented. Sociologists invited to present on their most recent work considered the complex processes and structural arrangements that influence daily life experiences in recognizing the consequences of globalization.

With the support of the National Science Foundation, the American Sociological Association conducted a longitudinal survey of sociology majors from the class of 2005, following them from senior year into careers or graduate school. The first part of this article provides a context for the results from the What Can I Do with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology? study and a summary of its key findings. Wave I data demonstrate strong student interest in sociological concepts, perceived mastery of some research skills but not others, and general satisfaction with the major. Sociology majors are both idealists and careerists. The majority expects to enter the job market after graduation but is not satisfied with the career advising they receive. Key findings from Wave II demonstrate that more respondents go directly into the job market than expected, job search strategies are important in finding a job that matches what students learned in their sociology programs, and those who find such jobs are more satisfied with the major. The second part discusses how the survey findings can be used to enhance curriculum, advising, and assessment without vocationalizing the curriculum and without adding extra burdens to faculty members’ already heavy schedules. Finally, the article discusses how the data can be used as a baseline for department assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 2001, the American Sociological Association launched a task force to articulate learning goals for an introduction to sociology course and design an advanced high school sociology curriculum that could also be a model for introductory sociology courses in colleges and universities. This research note describes one of several efforts to validate the learning goals developed by that ASA task force, by asking a sample of peer-designated sociological leaders to complete an electronic survey ranking the importance of the 30 learning goals identified. The top 5 goals were to show the reality of structural factors in social life, place an issue in a larger context, identify and offer explanations for social inequality, recognize the difference between empirical and normative statements, and compare and contrast one's own context with those of people in other parts of the United States and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The teaching and learning movement in sociology in general and within the American Sociological Association specifically has a surprisingly long history. This history can be divided into three periods of activity: early efforts (1905 to 1960), innovation and implementation (1960 to 1980), and the institutionalization of gains (1980 to 2009). Beginning in the first period, sociologists interested in teaching and learning focused cycles of attention on the introductory sociology course in higher education, high school sociology courses, and the formation of sections within the American Sociological Association. Hans Mauksch led a period of significant innovation in the 1960s and 1970s. Many of those gains were then institutionalized under the leadership of Carla Howery beginning in the 1980s. Publication related to teaching and learning, which was once spread throughout numerous outlets has, over time, become focused in Teaching Sociology. This article presents an investigation of the past and present of the teaching and learning movement in sociology and offers some suggested direction for the movement’s future. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Integrating Data Analysis (IDA) approach to undergraduate education developed by the American Sociological Association (ASA) and the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN) has been embedded in the undergraduate sociology curriculum at Lehman College, The City University of New York (CUNY), since 2003. This study draws on student and faculty assessment data from the fall 2004 and spring 2006 semesters to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative. The results show that students in courses with an IDA component significantly improved their performance on quantitative skills tests. Efforts to engage students in active learning through the use of computers were associated with increased student comfort and greater interest in working with data. In turn, students who were comfortable working with data exhibited especially high levels of quantitative skill. Although students who were taught a wide variety of data analysis skills reported greater interest in working with data, those who were taught a more limited range of skills achieved higher performance scores. Likewise, students who were required to complete assignments and undertake graded examinations that tested a wide range of quantitative skills had less interest in working with data but achieved greater improvements in their test scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article introduces a speech by American sociologist William Fielding Ogburn, delivered in 1929 on occasion of his election as president of the American Sociological Association, with discussion of American sociology during the early 20th century and differences between American and European approaches to sociology during the early 20th century.

Participants in the 2007 American Sociological Association teaching workshop, "Innovative Teaching Practices for Difficult Subjects," shared concerns about teaching statistics, research methods, and theory. Strategies for addressing these concerns center on building a community of learners by creating three processes throughout the course: 1) an ongoing active role for students; 2) mechanisms to establish a common language of discourse; and 3) a means of monitoring students' feelings. Examples are provided which introduce readers to ideas which can help in the creation and maintenance of a successful community of learners when teaching these difficult subjects. These processes can build student engagement and help to reduce student anxieties. More detailed information about specific exercises, examples, and bibliographic resources which were distributed at the workshop, can be found on the Teaching Sociology website. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2006 and 2007, two workshops on teaching work-family courses were held at the annual meetings of the American Sociological Association. This article examines the current challenges and strategies of teaching work-family, as identified by workshop participants, and the resources that are available through the Sloan Work and Family Research Network. Three concerns are considered: pedagogy, curriculum and programming. Analysis of syllabi, course catalogues, and teaching activities reveal that work-family scholars are making innovative contributions to teaching, but work-family has yet to have a firm position in the undergraduate curriculum. We argue that increasing undergraduate's exposure to work-family concerns is one of the most significant challenges—and potential contributions—for work-family scholars to address. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent visibility of transgender lives demonstrates the dawning of a new period in the potential to include transgender topics in sociology courses. The focus on transgender individuals, communities, and inclusive initiatives are gaining momentum on many public and private college and university campuses, awakening old and new curiosities, igniting student activists and advocates everywhere. Such developments provide an important opportunity for instructors who are motivated to create trans-friendly syllabi, courses, and classrooms. In this article, we briefly explore how transgender people have been used to teach sociological concepts and provide strategies to positively integrate transgender communities into the classroom. Ultimately, we intend this article to show new and more sensitive ways to include transgender experiences into a wide range of sociological courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This ASA Teaching Workshop explored the potential of Action Learning to use teachers' tacit knowledge to collaboratively confront pedagogical issues. The Action Learning model grows out of industrial management and is based on the notion that peers are a valuable resource for learning about how to solve the problems encountered in the workplace. Action Learning groups (called sets) engage in reflection and collaboration with the goal of identifying and implementing strategies that address specific teaching problems. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning provides guidance for systematically documenting and disseminating the impact on student learning that results from changed classroom practice. Together Action Learning and SoTL promote the improvement of teaching through collaborative reflection on tacit knowledge, paired with formal knowledge as documented in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses several issues related to the history of sociology and considers comparative, macro, and international work studies done on sociology. The author considers how national sociologies relate to international sociologies and looks at the sociology models used to study this history, models concerning colonization, cohort effects, and globalization. Then the methodologies used to collect data on these issues are considered.

In this article I examine how the sociology major is structured at institutions of higher education in the United States. I use content analysis of college catalogs from 100 institutions to examine the sociology major at top institutions among regional and national universities and liberal arts colleges. I first examine the basic structure of sociology programs and then evaluate implementation of the recommendations from Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major (Eberts et al. 1990). In 1990 the Council of the American Sociological Association voted to "encourage departments to consider and implement the recommendations" for the undergraduate curriculum found in Liberal Learning. These recommendations suggest a cumulative curriculum, including a four-level sequence and a capstone course. I assess the extent to which these recommendations had been adopted a decade after the report (by the year 2000), and conclude with suggestions for expanding the implementation of recommendations for study in depth in sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]