The Academic Encounters series uses a sustained content approach to teach skills necessary for taking academic courses in English. There are two books for each content area. Academic Encounters: Life in Society engages students with authentic academic readings, photos, graphs, and charts on stimulating topics from the field of sociology. Topics include peer pressure, the influence of the media, and balancing home and work. Students develop important skills such as reading critically, examining graphic material, highlighting, note taking, and preparing for a quiz. By completing writing assignments of different lengths, students build academic writing skills, respond to the readings, and incorporate what they have learned. The topics correspond with those in Academic Listening Encounters: Life in Society. The books may be used independently or together.