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Position
Academic Background
Sample Courses
Teaching Philosophy
Research & Interests
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
Publication Highlights
Selected Scholarly Presentations
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Position
- Professor of Sociology
- Chair, Department of Sociology
Academic Background
Sample Courses Taught at Providence College
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Urban Sociology
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Race and Ethnic Relations
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Seminar on Homelessness in America
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Social and Political Movements - graduate course
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Social Change - graduate course
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Sociology of the American Labor Movements - graduate course
Teaching Philosophy
Students learn sociology or any other subject only by being able to relate the lesson to their own experience. One way to facilitate this kind of learning is to promote discussion in the classroom - something I do from day one in all of my classes. I want students to feel free to state their honest opinions, especially if those opinions are different than mine. I ask each student why they are taking the class and what they hope to gain from it and I make it known that I will encourage and expect extensive discussion in every class. Discussion…forces students to actively formulate their own responses to what is being said in the classroom; they are simply not sponges absorbing course content.
An important goal is to get students to think critically, to get them to overcome a tendency to parrot what I say or what the course book authors say. My approach to this problem is to continually present a variety of different perspectives on any particular issue. Another way of making the course material more concrete is to bring in outside speakers. In my "Urban Sociology" course, I invite several homeless individuals to the class to discuss how they became homeless and what might be done about the problem of homelessness. I often include public service options in my courses. These experiences have deepened my students' understanding of urban problems…and they have strengthened the relationship between Providence College and its neighbors.
Research & Interests
My early work contributed importantly to the field of social movements. My book "Urban Revolt: Ethnic Politics in the Nineteenth Century Chicago Labor Movement" was published by the University of California Press in 1990. It makes a contribution to the history of ethnic politics in Chicago and to the theory of social movements. I also published an article "Sacrifice for the Cause: Group Processes, Recruitment and Commitment in a Student Protest Movement," in the most prestigious refereed sociology journal American Sociological Review. This article has been included in a number of books devoted to social movements including most recently, Jo Freeman and Victoria Johnson (eds.) Waves of Protest: Social Movements of the Sixties and Seventies, 1999.
In 1996, with Rick Fantasia, I wrote "Culture in Rebellion: The Appropriation and Transformation of the Veil in the Algerian Revolution" in an edited book, Culture and Social Movements published by the University of Minnesota Press. The publication came out of papers delivered at a national meeting sponsored by the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the American Sociological Association. I have also published extensively in the area of social problems. My articles include analyses of racism in higher education, the mental health issues facing students, explanations of black poverty, and the history of a squatting movement in New York City.
My recent work has been focused on the serious social problem of homelessness. This problem is a focus of mine in all three areas of my professional life, scholarship, teaching, and service. Honestly, I wish it wasn't. All of my efforts are designed to end homelessness in Rhode Island, or if not to end it to at least reduce this problem to negligible proportions. I would love to celebrate the end of homelessness and move on to my other scholarly interests.
My most important current scholarly work involves writing the Rhode Island Emergency Food and Shelter Board's annual report on the state's homeless shelter users. These reports are among the most crucial tools that those advocating for effective policies to end homelessness have at their disposal. Policy-makers at the state and federal level must have accurate information on the numbers and characteristics of homeless people in order to understand the nature and extent of the problem and in order to successfully work to solve the problem.
I expect my future scholarly work to continue to focus on homelessness. As Chair of the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) Steering Committee and as the primary data analyst for the state, I hope to use this data to inform Rhode Island's ten-year plan to end homelessness. Performance measures will be developed based on what we find out about those entering homeless service sites and those leaving them for permanent housing. We will find out which programs work and which do not.
Notable Academic Appointments & Awards
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Government Relations Chair, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, 1998-date.
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Providence College
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American Studies Advisory Committee, 1995 to date.
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Black Studies Advisory Committee, 1994 to date.
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Faculty Advisor, Students Organized Against Racism, Providence College Chapter, 1993 to date.
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Principal Investigator, A Needs Assessment of Homeless Individuals and Families in Rhode Island, Rhode Island Foundation, 2002.
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Voice for the Voiceless Award, Fund for Community Progress, Providence, Rhode Island, April 2001.
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Carol McGovern RSM Award for advocacy on the issue of homelessness, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, April 1999.
Publication Highlights
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A View from the Street: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions for Homelessness in Rhode Island, with Irene Glasser and William Zywiak, report published by the Rhode Island Foundation, January 2004.
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"Assessing Homeless Population Size through the Use of Emergency and Transitional Shelter Services in 1998: Results from the Analysis of Administrative Data in Nine U.S. Jurisdictions," with Stephen Metraux et al, Public Health Reports, vol. 116, no. 4, (2001), pp. 344-52.
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"Culture in Rebellion: the Appropriation and Transformation of the Veil in the Algerian Revolution," with Rick Fantasia in Bert Klandermans and Hank Johnston, editors, Culture and Social Movements, University of Minnesota Press, 1996.
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"Homeless Communities: the Causes and Consequences of Homelessness in New York City," with Mark Stamey, in Gregg Carter, editor, Perspectives on Current Social Problems, Allyn and Bacon, 1996.
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"Solidarity," entry in Roger S. Powers and William B. Vogele, editors, Protest, Power, and Change: An Encyclopedia of Nonviolent Action, New York: Garland Publishing, 1996.
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Surviving on the Streets: the Unsheltered Homeless in Rhode Island, report funded by the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, 1996.
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"Protest Movements and Urban Theory," in Ray Hutchison, editor, Research in Urban Sociology vol. 3, (1993), JAI Press, pp. 159-80.
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Urban Revolt: Ethnic Politics in the Nineteenth Century Chicago Labor Movement, University of California Press, 1990.
Selected Scholarly Presentations and Activities
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"Using Homeless Management Information System Data for Research and Advocacy," New England Regional HMIS Conference, December 2004.
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"Meeting Rhode Island's Housing Needs," League of Women Voters of Rhode Island, William Hall Free Library, Cranston, Rhode Island, June 2004.
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"Homelessness in Rhode Island: The Problem and How to Solve It," United Way of Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island, April 2004.
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"Homelessness and Affordable Housing in Rhode Island," Providence Public Library, Providence, Rhode Island, March 2004.
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"Homelessness and Housing in Rhode Island," Students, Universities, and the Business of Affordable Housing Conference, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, April 2003.
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"Promoting Consumer Leadership," Building Homes-Building Lives Conference, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, Warwick, Rhode Island, October 2002.
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