Peer Review

Beyond Race: Cultural Influences on Human Social Life

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Reviewed:: Dec 29, 2020 by Sociology

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

This open textbook provides an introduction to the concept of culture in sociology and the social sciences. The book chapters cover:

Culture and meaning
Culture as social construct
Cultural power
Cultural identity
The multicultural world

The book stresses student-centered learning, including interactive comprehension and application questions associated to other readings, video clips, and personal experiences. Learning objectives, summaries, and references are included in each chapter.

Type of Material:

Open (access) textbook.

Recommended Uses:

Each chapter covers several key concepts which illustrate terms related to the chapter. There is some basic written content, many hotlinks to other resources, some classroom/individual exercises, and a list of additional material references.

All of this can serve as a general outline for the instructor which can be slanted to the particular goals of the course. The material can be used in a variety of ways including team and in class discussion/activities. The hotlinks can also be used as the start for research papers assigned to the students. The materials are fully web based and so can be used by the students both in and out of class and through network connectivity.

Technical Requirements:

High speed internet and plug in HTML graphics software.

Identify Major Learning Goals:

By completing this, students will be able:

Identity core social-science concepts on culture
Explain social-science theories on culture
Apply these theories in relations to meanings, power, and identity

Each of the chapters looks at the construct of culture and how it develops and affects societies around the world. Each chapter has information which can be used both for content and connection to references leading to specific learning goals established by the instructor.

Target Student Population:

College General Ed, College Lower Division, College Upper Division.

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

This would fit in well after the student has taken the introductory course in social sciences. The course builds upon the basics. Basic knowledge of how to organize references using a web browser and some method of logging these references for papers etc. would be essential.

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Each chapter is organized by content which can be found in a pull down menu. The chapters are succinct and highlight key terms and hotlink references for these as well as other resources. This is very contemporary and updated regularly. There are activities and hotlinks which are interesting and relevant to today's students

Concerns:

The content is written in an essential way. The basics are there but perhaps some additional content can be used for both clarity and to further inspire deeper thought and motivation to explore the topic further.

The title "Beyond Race" is not clear in relation to the overall book. It does not make clear how the concept of culture discussed in the book allows students to go beyond race. Only Chapter Four discussed race explicitly.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:: The book clearly states the student learning outcomes and summaries for the chapters. Reading and learning activities are incorporated throughout the chapters. The potential for student learning depends on how well the instructor integrates this resource into the course. There is a hotlink index at the end of the text.
Concerns:: It would be helpful to have a section with ideas of how instructors can best use the contents of each chapter. There could also be appropriate scaffolding on concepts and perspectives from the beginning to the end of the book.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:: The book and associated website are visually appealing and easy to navigate. The layout is clear and consistent. On the website, images are used to aid in quicker grasp of concepts. The text is user friendly using the typical means of navigating the web. The site is fully updated regularly.
Concerns:: More visual learning aids (such as summary tables of perspectives and concept maps of essential and secondary terms in the chapter) would be appreciated. Although the site is easy to navigate, there could be a section which describes how to use it.

Other Issues and Comments:: No additional comments.
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