Department of Sociology

Rob Benford, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3426

Phone: 618/453-7610, rbenford@siu.edu, home page

Director of Undergraduate Studies

Research Areas: Social Movements, Peace and War, Social Psychology, Qualitative Methods.

Tim Clark, Ph.D.

Office: Faner 3432

Phone: 618/ 453-7629, timclark@siu.edu, home page

Tim Clark has recently arrived in department of Sociology from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Tim’s work is on the intersection of race/ethnic groups, the State, and ethnic violence in which he combines his love of history with foreign travel. His current projects look at lynch mob violence in contemporary Brazil and in the Postbellum U.S. South. Tim teaches coursework in U.S. and comparative race and ethnic relations, introductory sociology, research methods, and quantitative methodology.  

Research Areas: Race/Ethnic/Minority Relations, Quantitative Methodology, Political Sociology, Criminology/Delinquency.

Jennifer Dunn, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3428

Phone: 618/453-7625, jldunn@siu.edu, home page

Director of Graduate Studies

Research Areas: Social Psychology, Deviance, Social Problems, Social Movements, Sociology of Emotions, Victimology.

Frieda Fowler, Ph.D.

Office:

Phone: ffowler@siu.edu

Under construction, information coming soon.

Mark Leach, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3423

Phone: Phone: 618/453-7623, markl@siu.edu, cv

Mark A. Leach (PhD, University of California, Irvine, 2007) is an Assistant Professor. His primary areas of interests are U.S. immigration, social demography, and labor market inequality. He is particularly interested in Mexican migration to the United States, both why it occurs and how immigrants fair after their arrival. His dissertation investigated why Mexican immigrants increasingly settled in non-traditional destinations outside the Southwest and Chicago in the 1990s and the effect such geographic dispersion had on Mexican origin workers' earnings. His research continues to explore various aspects of both the migration processes and the socioeconomic outcomes of this phenomenon. His teaching focuses on topics directly relevant to SIUC's new minor in Latino and Latin American Studies, including "Latino Population and Issues in the United States" and "Mexican Immigration". He has also taught undergraduate statistics (Soc 308).

Research Areas: U.S. Immigration and Migration, International Migration, Labor Market and Gender Inequality, Demography of Race and Ethnicity.

Derek Martin, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3424

Phone: 618/453- 7627, dmartin@siu.edu, home page

Derek Christopher Martin (Ph.D. University of California – Irvine, 2005) is an Assistant Professor.  His primary areas of interest are race & ethnicity, social stratification, the sociology of leisure, popular culture, and social psychology.  He has taught SOC 108 (Introduction to Sociology), SOC 397 (Special Topics: Sociology of Leisure), and SOC 552 (Seminar in Race & Ethnicity).  Future offerings will include SOC 435 (Social Inequality), SOC 306I (Popular Culture in Society), and SOC 321 (Society and the Individual), as well as additional courses.  Dr. Martin’s current research projects include a study of racial differences in outdoor leisure activities, a content analysis of personal advertisements, and an exploration into multi-racial identity.

Research Areas: Race/Ethnic/Minority Relations, Stratification/Mobility, Leisure/Sports/Recreation.

Michelle Miller, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3436

Phone: 618/453-7633, mhmiller@siu.edu, home page

Under construction, information coming soon.

Research Areas: Gender, Criminology, Drug Policy.

Darren Sherkat, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3422 or the chair’s office

Phone: 618/453-7614, Sherkat@siu.edu, home page

Darren E. Sherkat (Ph.D. Duke, 1991) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology. He has been at SIU since 2001. His primary areas of research and teaching are in the sociology of religion, social movements and collective behavior, statistics and methods, medical sociology, and contemporary sociological theory. Sherkat's current projects include:  analyses of immigrant religion in the U.S.; the effects of fundamentalism on cognitive sophistication; life course influences on religiosity; religious influences on survey response biases; and, the impact of sexuality on political and social values.

Research Areas: Religion, Social Movements, Quantitative Methods.

Kathryn B. Ward, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3430

Phone: 618/453-7626, kbward@siu.edu, home page

Under construction, information coming soon.

Research Areas: Gender, International Political Economy, Social Movements.

Rachel B. Whaley, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3434

Phone: 618/453-7631

rwhaley@siu.edu, cv

My research and teaching interests are in criminology and the sociology of gender and the intersection of the two subfields.  Past research has examined the macro-level correlates of rape and female homicide victimization using data on US cities.  Of particular focus is the relationship between structural gender equality and rates of men’s violence against women (and against other men).  Current projects examine the relationships between the amount and the nature of change in gender stratification and men’s violence.  I am trained in quantitative research methods and statistical analyses.  A new research project examines the portrayal of breastfeeding in major US newspapers.

My teaching experience includes introduction to sociology, research methods, statistics, criminology, and sociology of gender.  I teach or have taught statistics and criminology at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

I welcome the opportunity to work with students interested in criminology, gender, inequality/stratification, or any combination of these interests.

Research Areas: Criminology/Delinquency, Sex and Gender, Quantitative Methodology

Thomas Burger, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3336

Phone: 618/453-4773, thekraut@siu.edu

Emeritus.

Research Areas: Theory, History of Social Thought, Social Stratification.

Thomas Calhoun, Ph.D.

Professor Calhoun served as department chair for two years before assuming the position of Associate Provost for Academic Affairs. Prior to coming to SIUC Professor Calhoun served as Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Director of the Institute for Ethnic Studies, and Associate Professor of Sociology. Professor Calhoun has been President of the Association of Social and Behavioral Scientists, Mid-South Sociological Association, and the North Central Sociological Association. Professor Calhoun has published in Deviant Behavior, Sociological Focus, Sociological Spectrum, and the Western Journal of Black Studies, Challenge, and other discipline related outlets. He has an article co-authored with Mark Konty on Labeling in the Encyclopedia of Sociology and has published a highly successful textbook, Readings in Deviant Behavior, now in its 5th edition, co-authored with Alex Thio and Addrain Conyers. Professor Calhoun is the recipient of the Aida Tomeh Distinguished Service Award given by the North Central Sociological Association and the A. Wade Smith Award for Outstanding Teaching, Mentoring and Service given by the Association of Black Sociologists. Professor Calhoun’s primary research and teaching specialties include Deviance, Qualitative Research Methods, and Race & Ethnic Relations. Professor Calhoun is currently Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Sociology at Jackson State University in Mississippi and his email address is: thomas.c.calhoun@jsums.edu.

Research Areas: Deviance, Juvenile Delinquency, Race & Ethnic Relations, Qualitative Methods.

Lew Hendrix, Ph.D.

Office: Faner, 3336

Phone: 618/453-4773, lhendrix@siu.edu

home page

Research Areas: Family and Kinship, Gender, Cross-Cultural Research.

Mark Schneider, Ph.D.

Phone: masch@siu.edu, home page

Emeritus. Mark A. Schneider (Ph.D. Yale, 1985) joined the faculty in 1994. His interests are in sociological theory, the sociology of culture, and the sociology of science. An essential concern over his career has been the comparative social organization of practices of inquiry across the sciences and humanities. Over the course of his stay at SIUC, he has grown increasingly interested in potential biological underpinnings of human behavior (such as incest avoidance) and in issues of pedagogy. On the latter front, he has just published a textbook that aims to inculcate in students the habits of mind essential to sociological theorizing.

Research Areas: Theory, Culture, and Science.