USF :: Department of Sociology

Faculty

Aranda, Elizabeth
Dr. Aranda’s research focuses on immigrant incorporation and the emotional facets of migration. She is also interested in how race, ethnicity, social class and gender shape the process of immigrant adaptation. Elizabeth’s book, Emotional Bridges to Puerto Rico: Migration, Return Migration, and the Struggles of Incorporation, was published in 2006 by Rowman & Littlefield. Her work is also published in the American Behavioral Scientist, The Sociological Quarterly, and Gender & Society. Elizabeth teaches courses on immigration, Latinos in the U.S., Race, and Sociology of Families, among others. She is currently working on a book about ethnic and race relations in Miami.
Cavendish, James
Dr. Cavendish has primary areas of specialization in sociology of religion, social movements, and race and ethnicity. He has published articles in journals including Sociology of Religion, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Social Psychology Quarterly on a mix of topics on religion and community, including Christian communities in Brazil and Chile, Catholic church attendance, the ordination of women, and a movement of gay and lesbian Catholics. Currently he is working with the U.S. Catholic bishops examining that denomination’s inclusion of African Americans in its life and leadership. He was elected to the Council for the Association for the Sociology of Religion, and is currently serving as an Associate Editor for Sociology of Religion.
Crawley, Sara
Dr. Crawley’s areas of interest include gender and sexualities theories, queer and feminist theory, qualitative methods, social psychology and sociology of sport. Her work focuses on constructions of self and social impacts on the physical body. She has published articles in Gender & Society, The Sociological Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Journal of Lesbian Studies, Hypatia, Cultural Studies<-->Critical Methodologies, and International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Her book, Gendering Bodies (Rowman & Littlefield 2008), co-authored with Lara Foley and Constance Shehan, extends existing theories of gender performativity via symbolic interactionism to demonstrate the social impacts of gender on physical bodies in such everyday settings as work, sports and sexuality. Her current book project, tentatively titled The Butch/Femme Game, is based on interviews and field work with lesbians in the South and theorizes the relationship between heteronormativity in everyday talk and the formation of lesbian selves.
Friedman, Jennifer
Dr. Friedman’s areas of interest include deviance, substance use, qualitative methods, gender, and Latina studies. With Marissa Alicea she authored Surviving Heroin: Interviews with Women in Methadone Clinics which uses a multi-methodological approach to explore the relationship between heroin use and race, class, and gender oppression. Currently, she is exploring the life history of a poor Puerto Rican woman who is a former heroin user and is now on methadone.
Graham, Laurel
Dr. Graham has interests in contemporary sociological theory, consumer culture, gender, the sociology of scientific knowledge, the sociology of work, biography, cultural studies, and interactionism. She is the author of a historical biography, Managing On Her Own: Dr. Lillian Gilbreth and Women’s Work in the Interwar Era, as well as articles in Journal of Management History, The Sociological Quarterly, and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society. Her current research examines the consumption parents do on behalf of their children.
Green, Sara
Dr. Green has research interests that center on the social experience of health, illness and disability both across the life span and in elderly populations. She is particularly interested in care-giver/care-recipient relationships. She is a member of USF’s Institute on Aging and is affiliated with the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Aging studies. She is the author of articles in journals including Sociological Inquiry, The Clinical Gerontologist, Journal of Loss and Trauma, Sociology of Health & Illness and the International Journal of Aging and Development, and Social Science and Medicine.
Kleiman, Michael
Dr. Kleiman has interests that include statistics, survey design, secondary data analysis, and social psychology. Recent and past areas of research include health care use, education, and fear of crime. His most recent publication in the Review of Religious Research was co-authored with two of our former graduate students.
Kusenbach, Margarethe
Dr. Kusenbach’s current research focuses on community issues. In 2007 she received an NSF grant to conduct an interdisciplinary study of community resources and disaster resilience in Florida mobile home parks. Her other areas of interest include urban neighborhoods, emotions, and qualitative methods. She has published papers in City & Community, Symbolic Interaction, Qualitative Sociology, Forum Qualitative Social Research (FQS), Ethnography and Studies in Symbolic Interaction. She is also working on two co-authored books.
Loseke, Donileen
Dr. Loseke, Director of the Sociology Graduate program, works on questions in topics of social problems, social policy, sociology of social services and identity. Her most recent book is Thinking About Social Problems: An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives. She is the recipient of the Charles Horton Cooley Award for her book, The Battered Woman and Shelters: The Social Construction of Wife Abuse. Her research also is reported in journals such as Social Problems, Social Psychology Quarterly, Sexualities, and Culture & Society. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (2000-2004), and has been President of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (1996-1997). She is a former co-editor of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (1994-1999), and is a current member of the editorial boards for Social Problems and The Sociological Quarterly. She also is on the Council of the American Sociological Association for the emotions section.
Mayberry, Maralee
Dr. Mayberry, Chair of the Department of Sociology, has research interests in the sociology of education, feminist science studies, political sociology, and social movements. She has conducted research on the home schooling movement, gay and lesbian student alliances, and applications of feminist approaches to the transformation of science curriculum. Dr. Mayberry has published numerous journal articles in journals such as Journal of Women & Minorities in Science and Engineering, Journal of Research on Science Teaching on these topics and is the author or co-author of four books: Effective Educational Environments, Home Schooling: Parents as Educators, Meeting the Challenge: Feminist Pedagogies in Action, and Feminist Science Studies: A New Generation.
Partin, Christina
Christina Partin completed her M.A. in Sociology in 2006. Her areas of concentration were the Sociology of Education and Pedagogy, Social Psychology, and Quantitative Analysis. Her research interests include small group interactions in classroom settings, and the effects and perceived effects of group-dependent learning. Christina has enjoyed teaching several classes in the department as an adjunct faculty member, including Introduction to Sociology, Social Problems, and Social Psychology. She also developed the department’s first web-based course. Christina looks forward to joining the sociology faculty as a full-time Visiting Instructor.
Ponticelli, Chris
Dr. Ponticelli focuses on issues of identity and identity construction, animals and society, health education and care, and qualitative methodology, including autoethnography. Previous research analyzed identity construction in ex-gay religious communities. Currently she is looking at the ways in which volunteers construct identities through their interactions with shelter animals. This is the culmination of 1 ½ years as a volunteer and participant observer at a Bay area animal shelter. She is also working on an authoethnographic account of constructing a caregiving identity in an intergenerational relationship. She has published Gateways to Improving Lesbian Health and Health Care, and articles in Social Psychology Quarterly and Qualitative Inquiry. She team teaches a multidisciplinary Women’s Health course for 4th year medical students at the USF College of Medicine.
Skvoretz, John
Dr. Skvoretz is a former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. His primary areas of specialization include theoretical methods, group processes and social psychology, and network analysis and modeling. He has published in prestigious sociology journals including Social Networks, Sociological Methodology, Sociological Theory, Sociological Perspectives, and the American Sociological Review. Dr. Skvoretz has secured numerous grants from the National Science Foundation to support his research.
Stamps, S
Dr. Stamps has research interests in urban and community sociology and race and ethnicity. As the former Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at USF, he has extensive experience in academic leadership. That experience has also included serving as a Special Assistant to the President and as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, USF’s largest college. He recently received the Administrative Leadership Award from the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Tyson, William
Dr. Tyson’s research examines factors that influence the racial composition of friendship networks among a racially diverse population of students on residential campuses. His areas of interest include social psychology, race and ethnic relations, and the sociology of sport. Currently, he is conducting data analysis for a National Science Foundation Research on Learning and Education project entitled, "Understanding Factors that Sustain Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Career Pathways."
Vaquera, Elizabeth
Dr. Vaquera's main interests include Hispanics in the U.S., Quantitative Methods, Education, Adolescence, and Interracial Relations. She has conducted research on racial and ethnic identity of Hispanic youth, friendship choices among Hispanic students, and interracial dating among adolescents. Her most recent article examines how friendship reciprocity affects the academic well-being of students. Elizabeth's work has been published in Social Science Quarterly, The Hispanic Journal for Behavioral Sciences, The Sociological Quarterly, and Social Science Research. She is currently analyzing the relationship between friendship choices and racial and ethnic differences in school outcomes of Hispanic adolescents.

Affiliated Faculty

Detman, Linda
Dr. Detman is a Research Associate at The Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at USF. Her research has included a study of reasons for missed appointments among health department patients, a study of women’s perceptions of newly expanded family planning services available from Medicaid.
Ellis, Carolyn
Dr. Ellis is a Professor of Sociology and Communication at USF. Her research interests are in qualitative methods, emotions, aging, illness, death and dying, and social psychology.
Flaherty, Michael
Dr. Flaherty is Professor and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg. His primary interests are the sociology of emotion and the experience of time.
Jorgensen, Danny
Dr. Jorgensen is Professor and Chair of Religious Studies at USF. His interests are in relationships among religion, culture, and society.
Lersch, Kim
Palacios, Wilson R.
Prince, Janis
Dr. Prince is an evaluator of the Florida Outreach Childbirth Education Program at The Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at USF. Her primary areas are sociology of race and ethnicity, and marriage and family therapy.
Rodriguez, Tom
Dr. Rodriguez is Assistant Professor in USF’s College of Education. His teaching and research interests are in the areas of immigration and immigrant adaptation, ethnic relations, and the sociology of education.
Sellers, Christine
Smith, Dwayne
Dr. M. Dwayne Smith is Professor and Vice Provost for Faculty and Program Development at the University of South Florida. He received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from the University of Houston and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Before coming to USF in Fall 2000 as Chair of the Department of Criminology, Dr. Smith was a faculty member and chair at Tulane University (Department of Sociology, 1980-1994) and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work, 1994-2000; Department of Criminal Justice, 1998-2000). He was named Vice Provost at USF in July 2005. Specializing in the study of criminology and deviant behavior, Dr. Smith has published numerous articles and book chapters on crime and criminal justice topics. His research concentrates on analyses of jury decisions in death penalty cases in North Carolina, the dynamics of homicide offending and victimization among specific populations within the United States, and developing social-structural profiles of cities that demonstrate either high or low rates of violent crime. He is the founding editor of Homicide Studies: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal and has co-edited (with Margaret A. Zahn) two books, Homicide: A Sourcebook of Social Research and Studying and Preventing Homicide: Issues and Challenges.
Turner, Stephen
Yampolskaya, Svetlana
Dr. Yampolskaya s a statistician in the Department of Child and Family Services at the Florida Mental Health Institute at USF. She has published widely in the areas of adolescent pregnancy, interpersonal communication, and Russian families.