StoryCorps in the Sociology Classroom

I love a good story. Don't we all love a good story? This is why StoryCorps is my favorite podcast. I am so excited to begin the conversation of how we can integrate it into our classrooms.

Here is an introduction to StoryCorps from their founder, Dave Isay:

StoryCorps reminds me of Humans of New York because it displays raw emotion from real people and real relationships in a small glimpse of these people's lives. These short stories serve as a great free supplemental resource for our Sociology class.

Due to the diversity of stories they have recorded, there are limitless ways to incorporate this resource into your classroom. By searching their website by theme, you could find a story/podcast to introduce almost any of our units. (The transcripts of each podcast are also available for each story.) Hearing these short podcasts, from real people could make our course come alive for our students, they can help our students relate to our content, and is an excellent way for students to apply their sociological imaginations!

Here as an example of how you could use a podcast:

You could use this story about two black men who moved to Hollywood in the 1960s to become stuntmen to begin a discussion about the history of race, or the state of racism in different industries, or to connect current issues to the race unit (2016 Academy Awards).

Another idea is you could assign your students to record an interview with someone important in their lives, like Ms. Mieliwocki did. After listening to various podcasts throughout the course, it would be very empowering to "hand over the mic" to our students and to allow them to uncover powerful stories in their community. (Official project write up will be in the Google Drive folder before school starts.)

If you aren't intrigued yet, here is a glimpse of the impact StoryCorps has had:

The Sociology classroom can serve as the perfect platform to increase these understandings in our high schools. 

Please tell us your ideas of how you would like to use StoryCorps in the comments below!

The Average Black Girl

A friend just posted this on her facebook page.  So incredibly powerful.  Take the time to listen to Ernestine Johnson.

http://youtu.be/2tN4Zulagb8

The Whitest Jobs in America

I knew segregation was still alive and well, but this article in The Atlantic shows just how segregated these aspects of America still is. Original article is here.

The Teaching High School Sociology web site

Race is Real

This blog was posted a couple of weeks ago, but I just got to reading it.  It examines how I've taught about race--there are no "races" in terms of biology, but rather social categories made up by groups of humans to justify whatever their aims were.  The blog entry is here:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/busting-myths-about-human-nature/201204/race-is-real-not-in-the-way-many-people-think

But the best part of this was an introduction to some resources including this one:
http://www.understandingrace.org/



Do check out the intro at least once.  Valid questions.  The main home page is here:
http://www.understandingrace.org/home.html

The American Anthropology Association has create a look at race through three lenses: history, human variation, and lived experience.  This site will take you some time to examine, but is totally worth it if you want to provide some additional context to your students.  I'd never seen this one before and it is an excellent site.  Kudos to the AAA.  At the end, there is a section for resources for teachers and families. Great stuff.



The Teaching High School Sociology web site

Kids and Race

Adults often have difficulty about race and issues surrounding racial/ethnic conflict issues.  Check out these conversations about race from CNN.  These can make for some excellent starting off points for those teachers brave enough to tackle the issue head-on.









The Teaching High School Sociology web site

The Hunger Games and Racism

I've not read The Hunger Games series, but the premise sounds interesting to me.  However, what really got to me was this article from jezebel.com about the seeming racism of the movie's fans.  I guess I really should not be surprised, but something similar happened with the second and third Matrix movies when most of the supporting characters were cast as people of color.

This is a great read for dissection with your students.

Racist Hunger Games Fans Are Very Disappointed

Addendum:
After the initial post, I found the following links to this issue:

Here are a couple links to follow up to the initial reactions.  Seems like some ripe fodder for a sociology discussion:
http://jezebel.com/5896688/i-see-white-people-hunger-games-and-a-brief-history-of-cultural-whitewashing 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/03/27/racist-reaction-to-the-hunger-games-reminds-us-that-free-speech-is-a-good-thing/

http://jezebel.com/5896515/a-character+by+character-guide-to-race-in-the-hunger-games

The Teaching High School Sociology web site

Resource: Teaching Tolerance

This is a repeat of the post I made on the Teaching HS Psychology blog, but it certainly pertains to sociology as well.
You've certainly seen their free magazines and perhaps even their emails.  The Southern Poverty Law Center's education project is an outstanding site dealing with a variety of prejudice and reduction of prejudice articles, activities, and resources.  One could literally teach an entire course utilizing the materials on this site.
The Magazine
Professional Development
Activities Search Page with a list
Mix It Up

If you are a believer in social justice, reducing prejudice, increasing understanding, and increasing an understanding of history, this is a fantastic site.
Enjoy,

Chuck