Skip to content

Faculty Research by Interest Areas

Our mission is the creation of a learning environment that emphasizes the theme of Social Justice. Through coursework and research in the interest areas of criminal justice, environmental issues, political economy, and globalization, students develop an understanding of everyday social behavior as well as the structural factors that contribute to social injustice. From the classroom and the field, students acquire the intellectual tools to critically analyze social phenomena and trends, along with the methodological tools to conduct research and to evaluate social policy.

Michelle BrownProfessor
Carceral Studies; Feminist Perspectives; Law & Society; Theory; Culture & Media; Transformative Justice

Shaneda Destine, Assistant Professor
Race, Class, and Gender; Black Social Movements; Intersectionality; Critical Race and Political Economy

Kasey Henricks, Assistant Professor 
Race and Ethnicity, Public Finance, Research Methods

Lois PresserProfessor
Criminological Theory, Restorative/Community Justice, Narratives of Violent Offenders and Victims of Violence. 

Tyler WallAssistant Professor
Critical Police Studies; State Violence and Racial Capitalism; Law & Society, Race and Class

Stephanie A. Bohon, Associate Professor
Social and Applied Demography, New Destination Immigration, Latino Migration, Ethnic Economies, and Immigrant Incorporation/Adaptation

Michelle Christian, Assistant Professor 
Critical race and racism, Global political economy, Labor  

Meghan Conley, Director of Community Partnerships
Crimmigration; Latinx Migration; Participatory Action Research; Social Movements

Shaneda Destine, Assistant Professor
Race, Class, and Gender; Black Social Movements; Intersectionality; Critical Race and Political Economy

Kasey Henricks, Assistant Professor
Race and Ethnicity, Public Finance, Research Methods

Asafa Jalata, Professor
Political Economy, Global Studies/World-Systems, Race and Ethnicity, Sociology of Development, Globalization and Social Movements, Terrorism Studies, Human Rights, and Africana Studies

Victor Ray, Assistant Professor
Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Stratification, Qualitative Methods

Louise Seamster, Postdoctoral Teaching Associate
Race and Political Economy

Tyler WallAssistant Professor
Critical Police Studies; State Violence and Racial Capitalism; Law & Society, Race and Class

 

Christina Ergas, Assistant Professor
environmental sociology, environmental justice, globalization and development, gender and the Environment

R. Scott FreyProfessor
environmental sociology, development, comparative/historical sociology.

Paul GellertAssociate Professor
environmental sociology, development, comparative/historical sociology, political economy, Asian studies, global studies.

Robert JonesAssociate Professor
environmental concern, environmental values, ecosystem management, environmental policy.

Sherry CableProfessor Emeritus
environmental conflict, environmental justice, environmental policy

Thomas HoodProfessor Emeritus
environmental movements, environmental concern, energy, transportation.

Stephanie BohonAssociate Professor
Social and applied demography, immigration to emerging gateway places, Latino migration, ethnic economies, and immigrant incorporation/adaptation. 

Michelle ChristianAssistant Professor
Globalization, political economy, racial stratification,labor, global tourism

Harry F. DahmsAssociate Professor
Theory, globalization, economic sociology/political economy, social inequalities, entrepreneurship. 

R. Scott FreyProfessor
Environmental sociology, development, comparative/historical sociology. 

Paul GellertAssociate Professor
Environmental sociology, development, comparative/historical sociology, political economy, Asian studies, global studies. 

Asafa JalataProfessor
globalization, race & ethnicity, economic development. 

Jon ShefnerProfessor and Department Head
globalization, social movements, development and democratization.

NOTE: Each faculty member covers several research and teaching areas, in sociology and/or criminology as well as adjacent disciplines. This page provides information emphasizing the department's three major areas of concentration. For more information on faculty research interests and teaching responsibilities, consult the individual faculty members' departmental web-pages (which also provide links to the personal pages of the faculty), as well the Social Justice page.

The flagship campus of the University of Tennessee System and partner in the Tennessee Transfer Pathway.