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.

中文翻译：

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在特朗普时代教授种族和民族：在两极分化的课堂中使用流行文化

在各种社会学课程中教授种族和民族，我们发现我们班上的学生可能非常不愿意接近种族、歧视和种族主义的主题。此外，在课堂讨论中，他们往往很难定义和分析这些概念。在这项研究中，我们研究了流行文化如何成为教授困难科目（例如种族和民族）的有用工具。我们让学生观看流行的卡通网络系列青少年泰坦，而不是传统的讲座。以本系列中人物的互动为例，学生们构建了种族主义和歧视的定义。这项研究的结果表明，学生可能更愿意识别和讨论虚构人物的种族主义或歧视行为，以此作为进入对话的一种方式。