Teaching Resources Center

The Teaching Resources Center (TRC) consists of two core elements. One is a library of resources on teaching for use by our instructors and teaching assistants. The second is a forum in which we discuss a wide variety of teaching issues and work collaboratively on improving our teaching. Created in 1989, we are one of the few departments in the country with a teaching resources center.

The Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota has a long history of commitment to high-quality undergraduate and graduate teaching. This is evident in our departmental activities and policies as well as in the teaching performance of our faculty members and graduate students. We are excited to encourage quality education and help our faculty and graduate students uphold our teaching mission.

The Library of Teaching Materials

The Teaching Resources Center library in 715 Social Sciences Building contains syllabi collections, sample assignments, a video collection, a book collection including sociology texts used in undergraduate classes, and film catalogs with reviews. Resources for graduate student professional development, such as sample grant proposals and vitas, are also available in the library. Staff and students have access to an online database of our book and video collections.

The Teaching Resources Site

In addition to our physical and online libraries, we have an online Teaching Resources site, accessible only to department staff, graduate students, and faculty. This site currently features class and lab activities, guides to using technology in teaching, and links to useful teaching and sociology websites. Because the Teaching Resources site is a collaborative project, it is constantly growing and changing as department members contribute new materials.

A Forum on Teaching

The Teaching Resources Center arranges for guest speakers and workshops on topics helpful to teaching sociology. Visiting lecturers as well as job candidates are always invited to give teaching as well as research talks when they visit our department.