| Academic Background |
| I have a strong and diverse academic background, focusing particularly on writing and the social sciences. I am by nature interdisciplinary and a generalist; I love to learn new fields and to integrate the various strands of knowledge that I've assimilated. |
| Degrees and Dates of Completion |
| Most of my education, training, research, and personal writing has been in the field of qualitative sociology. However, I have taken a few graduate-level statistics courses and have a basic understanding of quantitative methodology as well. I have eclectic interests and have taught over 50 college-level courses on such topics as: Introductory Sociology, Social Problems, Social Deviance, Sociology of the Family, Minorities and Social Inequality, Gender Roles, The Individual and Society, Qualitative Research Methods, The Social Construction of Fatness and Thinness, Intro to the Social and Behavioral Sciences, and College Writing. |
| B.A. University of Masschusetts-Dartmouth, 1985 Humanities/Social Sciences M.A. East Tennessee State University, 1989 Sociology Ph.D. Southern Illinois University, 1997 Sociology |
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| Post-Doctoral Fellowship |
| Cornell University, 1998-99 John S. Knight Writing Program |
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| My post-doc focused on writing-across-the-curriculum. In particular, during my Cornell experience I came to better understand writing as a means to learning and I developed a deep appreciation for the diverse ways that the various disciplines structure knowledge through language. I credit this experience with facilitating my capacity to travel among academic disciplines so easily. |
| Current Academic Affiliation |
| Adjunct Associate Professor of Sociology University of Maryland University College |
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| During the past 17 years, I have taught at several different institutions as a graduate student, and on a visiting or adjunct basis. At present, I teach The Individual and Society (an interdisciplinary sociology and psychology course) and Intro to Sociology, both online for the University of Maryland University College. |
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| Outstanding Dissertation Award |
| Southern Illinois University, 1997 University-wide distinction |
| My dissertation, The Vegetarian Movement in North America: An Examination of Collective Strategy and Movement Culture, focused on the beliefs of movement activists and advocates regarding how social changes occur and how they transform these beliefs into collective strategies. |
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