Category Archives: Higher Education

July Message to Intro Soc Students about Class in Fall 2020

This week Wake Forest University is unveiling its new fall course schedule and students will have the opportunity/be forced to re-register for courses depending on their personal preferences/circumstances and availability of courses in different modalities. Faculty were given the opportunity to teach in one of four modalities: online, blended (traditional and with an online pathway),Continue reading “July Message to Intro Soc Students about Class in Fall 2020”

Small Teaching Online Book Summary

Over the past three weeks I have participated in a Wake Forest Center for the Advancement of Teaching summer reading group led by Director of Educational Development Dr. Kristi Verbeke. Over 30 faculty (IIRC) read and discussed Small Teaching Online by Flower Darby and James Lang. What follows is my reading notes and reflections onContinue reading “Small Teaching Online Book Summary”

In Honor of My Textbook Co-Author Keith A. Roberts

On December 31st, I submitted the revised manuscript for the 7th edition of Religion in Sociological Perspective. I am Keith Roberts’ co-author on this textbook. Keith brought me in to do the revisions for the 5th edition over a decade ago. This was wonderful for me because I had always wanted to do a textbook,Continue reading “In Honor of My Textbook Co-Author Keith A. Roberts”

Letter of Support to Parents and Loved Ones of Wake Forest Students

Although the university’s response to threatening emails sent to 7 individual faculty and staff associated with the sociology department and 5 other units on campus was slow, the response of our department was not. In addition to the email noted in my previous post, drafted by our department chair Joseph Soares, our newest faculty member,Continue reading “Letter of Support to Parents and Loved Ones of Wake Forest Students”

Sociology Department Response to Hostile Emails Sent to Wake Forest Faculty and Staff

My academic home, Wake Forest University, is not innocent of the open and blatant racism of the past or the more hidden and subtle racism of the present. Many on campus, including members of my home department (sociology), have pressed for the university to address this. Recently, Wake Forest became the target of open andContinue reading “Sociology Department Response to Hostile Emails Sent to Wake Forest Faculty and Staff”

Battling the Cell Phone Menace in Class for a Decade Now

Facebook’s wayback machine (“On this Day” app) reminded me this morning that I have been battling students using their cell phones in class for a long time now. I know some professors don’t care if students use their phones in class. Fine by me; their class, their rules. And some are just unaware. Many WakeContinue reading “Battling the Cell Phone Menace in Class for a Decade Now”

Reason Requires That You Accept You May Be Wrong

Wake Forest University’s Commencement ceremony was particularly special this year because my oldest son graduated (with a B.S. in Finance, Summa Cum Laude, if I may brag on him just a bit). It is always exciting to be present to the symbolic transition of students from their pasts into their futures. All the more soContinue reading “Reason Requires That You Accept You May Be Wrong”

Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)

Teaching Arlie Hochschild’s The Managed Heart in my sociological theory class recently, I was looking for data on the percentage of flight attendants today who are male. I found a nice post on the issue by Mona Chalabi (“Dear Mona”) on the FiveThirtyEight blog. Answer: In 1980, 14.3 percent of flight attendants were male; inContinue reading “Data on Gender Segregation in Occupations (2012)”

New Course for Fall 2015: The Sociology of Guns

I am excited to be teaching a new course in the fall semester, related to my new research project on American gun culture: Sociology 384: Special Topics Seminar – The Sociology of Guns. Course description follows the flier. COURSE DESCRIPTION Guns often have a spectacular presence in the American imagination, from George Zimmerman to Sandy HookContinue reading “New Course for Fall 2015: The Sociology of Guns”