About Dr. Stephanie
Dr. Stephanie began teaching college students in 2004 and has more than 20 years of experience at a range of institutions. She has taught students at four-year regional colleges and state universities, two-year colleges (“community colleges”), for-profit institutions (yep, that one), a small liberal arts college, and a religious college.
She began teaching online in 2009. Dr. Stephanie has prepped more than 20 distinct courses over the years, but consistently teaches Introduction to Sociology and Senior Seminar.
Dr. Stephanie became editor for TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology in 2023. She has also been an editorial member for TRAILS, Teaching Sociology, MERLOT, and the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
She is president elect for the North Central Sociological Association. She is past-chair of the American Sociological Association’s Section on Teaching and Learning in Sociology.
She has published 19 resources in TRAILS, 88 articles on Sociology In Focus, and a chapter in the Handbook of Teaching and Learning in Sociology. In addition, her research has appeared in Socius, Symbolic Interaction, Teaching & Learning Inquiry, and Teaching Sociology. She is co-editor of The Sociology Playbook from SAGE and editor for the forthcoming Teaching Introduction to Sociology from Edward Elgar.
Dr. Stephanie is an expert on teaching introduction to sociology and the teaching and learning of research methods throughout the undergraduate sociology curriculum.
She is the 2019 recipient of the John F. Schnabel Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award from the North Central Sociological Association in addition to multiple teaching awards from Indiana University Kokomo.
Dr. Stephanie holds a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology from Georgia State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
If you would like to know more about Dr. Stephanie’s credentials, you can view her CV by clicking here.
About The Sociology Coach
Stephanie Medley-Rath founded The Sociology Coach in 2025. The Sociology Coach is a website for students taking Introduction to Sociology and sociology instructors.
Students will find a free Introduction to Sociology textbook written by Dr. Stephanie.
Instructors will find resources to support their use of Dr. Stephanie’s Introduction to Sociology textbook, along with other materials to support their sociology instruction. Dr. Stephanie is sharing her TRAILS materials, updated posts from Sociology In Focus, and copies of her syllabi and assignments for course she has recently taught.
The Sociology Coach if funded by affiliate advertising and a paid e-book version of the Introduction to Sociology textbook.