Teaching race and ethnicity in various sociology courses, we found students in our classes can be very reluctant to approach the subject of race, discrimination, and racism. Moreover, during class discussion, they often have a hard time defining and analyzing these concepts. In this study, we examine how popular culture can be a useful tool to teach difficult subjects, such as race and ethnicity. Instead of a traditional lecture, we had students watch the popular Cartoon Network series Teen Titans. Using the characters’ interactions from this series as examples, students constructed definitions of racism and discrimination. The result of this study demonstrates that students may be more comfortable recognizing and discussing fictional characters’ racist or discriminatory behavior as a way of entering the conversation. After discussing fictional examples, students effectively link events from the cartoon to the subsequent lecture about race and racism.
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