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Sociology

Faculty & Staff

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Office Location: Virtual/Zoom
Student Support Hours: Wednesday: 4-6 pm & by appointment
Email: eacebedogonzalez@csufresno

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

Class Time Days Location
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP

 

reyna

Office Location: Social Science 211

Office Phone: 559.278.2234

Email: realvarado@mail.fresnostate.edu

amber

Office Location: Social Science 218
Office Phone: 559-278-2275
Student Support Hours: Friday: 12-2 pm
Email: acrowell@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 175 2-3:50 PM M W SS 202


Personal Biography & Areas of Specialty 

Dr. Amber R. Crowell is Associate Professor of Sociology at California State University, Fresno. She earned her PhD in Sociology from Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on residential segregation, social inequality, and housing justice. She recently published a co-authored book titled Racial and Ethnic Residential Segregation across the United States (2023), which reexamines segregation patterns using new methods for measurement and analysis. Her recent article publications also feature innovative methods for residential segregation analysis. She has also published other publications that focus on evictions, rent exploitation, and other inequalities in rental housing. She is principal investigator of a National Science Foundation funded project to create boundary maps for neighborhoods in 1940 and analyze residential segregation outcomes in urban areas using the 1940 census. She is a founding co-director of the Center for Community Voices at Fresno State, which supports projects led by community leaders in the Central Valley of California. She is originally from Texas and now enjoys living in Fresno with her spouse, two young children, and two cats. 

Recent Publications

  • Crowell, Amber R. and Mark Fossett. 2023. Racial and Ethnic Residential Segregation Across the United States: New Approaches to Understanding Trends and Patterns. New York: Springer
  • Dueñas, Maria and Amber R. Crowell. 2022.  “Resisting Racist Discourses with Research Methods, Active Learning, and Storytelling.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 9(1): 103-8.
  • Crowell, Amber R. 2022. “Renting Under Racial Capitalism: Residential Segregation and Rent Exploitation in the United States.” Sociological Spectrum 42: 95-118.
  • Crowell, Amber R. and Mark Fossett. 2022. “Metropolitan Racial Residential Segregation in the United States: A Microlevel and Cross-Context Analysis of Black, Latino, and Asian Segregation.” Demographic Research 46: 217-60.
  • Crowell, Amber R. and Janine Nkosi. 2020. “Evicted in the Central Valley: The Avoidable Crisis and Systemic Injustice of Housing Displacement.” Boom California.

Current Funded Projects
“Economic Opportunity Landscape Analysis of Central Valley Communities.” The James Irvine Foundation. (Co-PI: Andy Levine)

“Mapping the Origins of Segregation in US Urban Areas: Historical Segregation Research and GIS Resources for Collaboration Across MSIs.” National Science Foundation, Build and Broaden 3.0.

timcupery

Email: tcupery@csufresno.edu
Student Support Hours: On Leave


Personal Biography
Dr. Timothy Cupery received his Ph.D. in Sociology in 2013 from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Cupery worked as a data scientist before coming to Fresno State, and teaches statistics and quantitative research methods, along with topical courses on religion and sports.

Areas of Specialty
At UNC-Chapel Hill, Dr. Cupery studied cross-national patterns in government policies toward religion. In addition to religion-state relations, he also studies group identity and political conflict, religion and health, and socio-genetics.

Papers in Progress:
"Measuring Dimensions of Government Involvement in Religion: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach"
"Born This Way? A Socio-Genetic Analysis of Risk-Taking and Religiosity in Life-Course Transitions"
"State-Level Predictors of Government Policy Toward Religion: A Cross-National Analysis"

williamforce

Office Location: Social Science 223
Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Tuesday and Thursday: 9-11 am

                                             In Person: Wednesday: 9-11 am

Office Phone: 559.278.5144
Email: wforce@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 153 5-08:40 PM M SS 203
SOC 176 12-1:50 PM M W SS 203

Personal Biography
Dr. William Ryan Force is a student of social life. Dr. Force earned his BA and MA at the University of South Florida and completed his PhD at the University of Missouri. His academic training is in sociology, religious studies, feminism, and critical theory. In his unstructured time he enjoys bad reality TV, used bookstores, and searching for the perfect cheeseburger. Dr. Force lives in Fresno with his partner and two mongrels.

Areas of Specialty 
Culture, Subculture, & Pop Culture; the Sociology of Everyday Life; Qualitative Methods; Gender; Identity; Radical Criminology; Comparative Religion

Research Focus
Dr. Force’s research and teaching explore the accomplishment of identity at the intersection of language, power, and culture. He has studied a variety of empirical contexts: tattoo culture, punk/indie rock, transgressive TV, bar culture, trick-or-treating, and the supernatural. His current projects include a book examining the influence of social media on the tattoo subculture, and a critical interactionist analysis of the relationship between gangsta rap and outlaw country music.

Recent Publications
2022. “Tattooing in the Age of Instagram.” Deviant Behavior 43(4): 415-31. (Published online in 2020.)

2021. The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interaction. Co-edited with Dr. Thomas DeGloma & Dr. Wayne Brekhus. 

2018. “Toward a Cryptoscience.” Chapter in The Supernatural in History, Society, and Culture (edited by Dennis Waskul & Marc Eaton). Temple University Press.

2015. “Trick-or-Treating.” Chapter in Popular Culture as Everyday Life (edited by Dennis Waskul & Phillip Vannini). Routledge Press.

Office Location: Social Sciences 129A
Student Support Hours: Email to set up meeting
Email: adriang0mez@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 186S 6:30-9:20 PM M SS 112
SOC 184S 6:30-9:20 PM W SS 112

Picture of Dr. Natasha Hagaman

Office Location: MCF 214
Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Wednesday: 1-2 pm

                                             In Person: Tuesday & Thursday: 8:45-9:45 am
Email: nhagaman@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3 2-3:15 PM T TH SA 153
SOC 131   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 131   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 165 12:30-1:45 PM T TH SA 153
SOC 176 10-11:50 AM T TH SS 203

 

Biography
Natasha Hagaman is a full-time lecturer in Sociology at Fresno State. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology
from UC Merced in May 2022. Prior to teaching, her past experience included working for lobbying
associations in Sacramento and for public agencies. Dr. Hagaman worked in the Fresno County
Administrative Office and the Department of Behavioral Health for 14 years. Ms. Hagaman has a B.A. in
Gender Studies (Sonoma State) and an M.A. in Public Policy (Claremont Graduate University). Dr.
Hagaman teaches classes in critical thinking, the sociology of sex and gender, the family, and qualitative
research methods. Her research interests are gender, sexuality, work, and family.

Her recent publications include:

Hagaman, Natasha. 2023. "Daytime dads and do‐it‐all dads: Understanding lead‐dad families." Sociology Compass, p.e13164. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.13164

Beattie, Irenee, Nella Van Dyke, and Natasha Hagaman. 2021. “What Do We Know about LGBQ+ College Student Academic Experiences and Outcomes?” Sociology Compass. 15(3): e12862. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12862

Van Dyke, Nella, Natasha Hagaman, Irenee R. Beattie, and Hala Alnagar. 2021. "Coming Out (or not) on College Applications: Institutional and Interpersonal Dimensions of Disclosing LGBQ+ Identities." Socius 7: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F23780231211054641

aseem

Office Location: Social Science 219
Student Support Hours: In Person: Mondays 12-2:00 PM,  Wednesdays 12-1:00 PM & by appointment on Zoom
Office Phone: 559.278.2005
Email: aseemhasnain@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 111 12:30 - 01:45 PM T TH SA 153
SOC 175 09-10:50 AM T TH SS 202
SOC 175 04-5:50 PM T TH SS 202

Education
PhD, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , 2016
PG Diploma in Forest Management, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, 2001
BSc, University of Lucknow, 1998

Personal Biography
I grew up in Lucknow, India where I stumbled through Physics, Math, and Finance before a deeply enriching training in community based natural resources management. I worked as a community organizer and program manager with indigenous communities and non-profits in Western, Central, and North India. After seven years of work in the field, I went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for my Ph.D, where I trained in sociology, religion, and history. I live in Fresno with my partner and school age twins.

Areas of Specialty 
I am a political sociologist interested in politics and culture broadly defined. My current projects include environmentalism; decolonization; politics of food; ideology; cultural nationalism; and the connections between race, caste, gender and capitalism.

Forthcoming Book 
Decolonizing Environmentalism, my co-authored book is scheduled for publication in 2024. 

                                                Book Cover

 

Published Research
My published research engages with community management of natural resources; indigenous social movements; identity politics, colonialism, democracy, and the public sphere; comparative human rights; and the politics of knowledge production.

My latest publication (November, 2023) discusses Caste and Vegetarianism in India

Public Facing Writing
Caste based Discrimination among South Asian Americans, 2023.
Sanitation, Abject labor, and Caste in India, 2020.
Neoliberalism in the times of Covid, 2020.
The Politics of vegetarianism in India, 2018.

Office Location: Social Science 129
Student Support Hours: In-Person, Wednesdays 11 am to 12 pm & by appointment.
Office phone: 559-278-2892
Email: erich@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 1 8-8:50 AM M W F SS 210
SOC 1 9-9:50 AM M W F SS 210
SOC 162 10-10:50 AM M W F SS 210

 

Office Location: SS 129
Student Support Hours: In Person, Fridays, 11 am to 12:30 pm 
Office phone: 
Email: cdhill@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 125 9-10:50 AM T TH SS 202
SOC 125 4-5:50 PM M W SS 202
       

 

Office Location: Library, 2nd Floor, Center for Faculty Excellence
Student Support Hours: In Person: Tuesday & Thursday: 11 am - 12 pm
Office Phone: 559-278-2892
Email: robinh@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 111   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 111 8-9:15 AM T TH SA 153
SOC 143 9:30-10:45 AM T TH SA 153

matthewjendian

Office Location: Social Science 225
Student Support Hours: In Person: Tuesday 8:50-9:20 pm in Visalia;

                                                               Wednesday 3-5:30 pm in Fresno

                                                                & by appointment
Office Phone: 559-278-2891 
Email: matthewj@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 111 6-8:50 PM T FSVC
SOC 151 6-9:40 PM W SS 203

Personal Biography
Matthew Ari Jendian was born and raised in Fresno and received his B.A. in sociology and minor degrees in psychology and Armenian Studies from Fresno State (1991) and his Ph.D. from USC (2001). Dr. Jendian is founding director of the Humanics Program in Community Benefit Administration at Fresno State and serves as a tenured Full Professor and Chair of sociology.

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Jendian regularly teaches courses on the "Sociology of Race & Ethnicity," "Contemporary Social Issues," "Sociology of Terrorism & Genocide," and "Social Policy Analysis, Advocacy, and Community Organizing."  In August 2012, Dr. Jendian was promoted to Full Professor, and he continues to direct the Humanics Program and serve as faculty advisor for the Humanics AFP Collegiate Chapter. 

Dr. Jendian has authored several peer-reviewed journal articles as well as two books: Becoming American, Remaining Ethnic (LFB Scholarly Publishing, 2008) and #Think: Critical Thinking about Social Problems (Kendall Hunt, 2017).  

Dr. Jendian is the recipient of several honors, including the 2012 President’s Award of Excellence presented by the University Advisory Board at Fresno State in recognition of his integrity, leadership and commitment to the university and community, the 2008 “Provost’s Award for Faculty Service,” the 2016 “Together We Win Award” in recognition of his role in civic engagement, the 2014 “Trailblazer for Prosperity” Award from Southeast Fresno Community & Economic Development Association, the 2007 Social Action Award from Temple Beth Israel, and the 2007 “Amigo Award” presented by Vida en El Valle to “a non-Latino individual or organization that has worked tirelessly on behalf of the Latino community.”  He was honored in Menk, an encyclopedia of biographies of prominent Armenian scholars.  He was nominated for the 2009 California Campus Compact Cone Award for Excellence & Leadership in Cultivating Community Partnerships, was selected as part of the first cohort of the Irvine Foundation’s New Leadership Network, and has written and received national and federal grants to develop curricula that engage university students in capacity-building work with Community Benefit Organizations (CBOs) in Central California. 

Dr. Jendian has served as a board member for several CBOs, including Nonprofit Leadership Alliance (formerly American Humanics, Inc.), Buchanan Babe Ruth Baseball Association, Inc., Fresno Nonprofit Advancement Council, Fresno Housing Alliance, Regenerate California Innovation (formerly Relational Culture Institute), and Fresno Metro Ministry and as an external evaluator with local and multinational CBOs, including Porterville College and Armenian General Benevolent Union. 

Office Location: Virtual
Student Support Hours: On Zoom: By appointment

Email: cjimenez@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3 6:30 - 7:45 PM M W SA 153

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Picture of Dr. Andrew Jones

Office Location: Social Science 221
Student Support Hours: On Sabbatical during Spring 2024
Office Phone: 559-278-8806
Email: anjones@csufresno.edu

Personal Biography
Dr. Jones completed his doctorate in sociology in July of 2006 at the University of Oregon (Dissertation title: “How the Media Frame Global Warming: A Harbinger of Human Extinction or Endless Summer Fun?”) and joined the faculty at Fresno State in the fall of 2007. He attained an M.S. in sociology from the University of Oregon in 2003, an M.S. in social science from Pittsburg State University in 1998, and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Kansas in 1994. In addition to his academic development, Dr. Jones has worked as a newspaper editor and as a branch manager for a multi-national corporation.

Dr. Jones resides in Fresno with his wife, Melissa and their zoo of cats and dogs. His hobbies and interests include tennis, hiking, bicycling, photography, watching movies & playing video games, cooking, sculpting, and painting.

Areas of Specialty
His teaching and research interests include social theory, cultural sociology, mass media, environmental sociology, political economy, and political sociology. Substantively, he specializes in media framing of environmental issues and their impact on social perceptions. Prior to joining Fresno State, Dr. Jones taught courses at the University of Oregon and Pittsburg State University in sociology of mass media, Marxist social theory, crime & deviance, introductory sociology, American government, and introduction to philosophy.

Dr. Jones is currently working on multi-disciplinary research through a grant from the National Science Foundation, examining human water use behaviors and their impacts on biodiversity in an urban environment. The Urban Long Term Research Area - Fresno And Clovis Ecosocial Study (ULTRA-FACES) team has collected bird, tree, and social data for the Fresno and Clovis Metropolitan Area and is examining the interactions between water policy, residential water use, and urban biodiversity.

Recent Publications
Jones, Andrew R. “Using news media content analysis as a teaching tool in sociology of popular culture.” National Social Science Journal, Vol. 50, No. 2., pp. 19-24.

Madhusudan Katti, Andrew R. Jones, Derya Özgoç Çağlar, Henry D. Delcore, and Kaberi Kar Gupta. 2017. “The Influence of Structural Conditions and Cultural Inertia on Water Usage and Landscape Decision-Making in a California Metropolitan Area.” Sustainability, 9(9).

Madhusudan Katti, Andrew R. Jones, Mara Brady, and Beth Weinman. 2016. “From Tropical Plantations to K-cups: A socio-environmental analysis of the global journey of coffee.” National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC), 2015-10.

Jones, Andrew R.  2014. “Framing global warming: An international comparison of the influence of climate contrarians on news media coverage.” National Social Science Journal, Vol. 41, No.2, pp. 49-65.

Jones, Andrew R. 2009. “The Next Mass Extinction: Human Evolution or Human Eradication.” Journal of Cosmology, Vol. 2, November, pp. 316- 333.

Jones, Andrew R. 2009. Fads, Fetishes & Fun: A Sociological Analysis of Pop Culture. Cognella Press: San Diego, CA.

Office Location: Virtual
Student Support Hours: On Zoom: By appointment only 
Email: gregoryk@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 130WS 10-11:50 AM T TH MCF 204
SOC 130WS 2-3:50 PM T TH NG 153
SOC 130WS 6-7:50 PM T TH SS 205B

verakennedy

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: By appointment only

Email: vekennedy@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 111   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 111   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 143   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 143   ARR DGTCAMP
SSCI 180     DGTCAMP

 

Personal Biography
Vera G. Kennedy is a Lecturer at California State University, Fresno and a tenured faculty at West Hills Community College Lemoore. Dr. Kennedy received her Bachelor’s Degree in sociology and Masters in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Administration from California State University, Fresno and her doctorate from Argosy University in Education with an emphasis in Teaching and Learning.

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Kennedy teaches courses in cultural diversity, deviance, drugs and society, mental health, social problems, and applied sociology. She received the 2010 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award and was recognized by the West Hills College Lemoore Team TEACH program as an All-star in Teaching. Her most recent publication was on The Influence of Cultural Capital on Hispanic Student College Graduation Rates.

She has experience working with nonprofit and public agencies in organizational development, grant writing, program evaluation, and social research. Dr. Kennedy is certified by the National Grant Writers Association as a Senior Certified Grants Specialist and Certified Grants Reviewer. Before teaching full-time, she worked as the Juvenile Justice Services Coordinator for the Fresno Superior Court and assisted in the establishment and facilitation of the Juvenile Mental Health Court for Fresno County. Prior to the Court, Dr. Kennedy owned and operated a private consulting firm for six years. From 1999-2002, she was the Associate Director for the Central California Center for Health and Human Services at California State University, Fresno.

Dr. Kennedy served on the Board of Directors for Comprehensive Youth Services, a child abuse prevention agency for eight years. She was appointed by the Fresno County Board of Supervisors to serve on the Fresno County Foster Care Oversight Committee for six years. She most recently served as a member of the Fresno County Human Resources Advisory Board responsible for reviewing and recommending local grant funding administered by the County of Fresno.

Office Location: IT 64

Student Support Hours:  In Person: Mondays/Wednesdays 11 am to 12:30 pm

                                              Zoom: Tuesdays/Thursdays 11 am to 12 pm & by appointment

Email: lkhang@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 125 6-7:50 PM T TH FFS 212A

 

timkubal

Office Location: Social Science 224 
Student Support Hours: Wednesdays, 12:30 - 01:50 pm & by appointment
Office Phone: 559-278-5145 
Email: tkubal@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3 2-3:15 PM M W SA 153
SOC 3 3:30-4:45 PM M W SG 131
SOC 3 5-6:15 PM M W SG 131
SOC 157 3:30-4:45 PM ARR DGTCAMP

 

Personal Biography
Ph.D. in Sociology, 2001. Southern Illinois University. I taught at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln for two years before coming to Fresno State in 2002.

My hobbies include bicycling, downhill skiing, and cooking.

Areas of Specialty
Journal editor (social movements section), Sociology Compass (2016-2017)

President, California Sociological Association (2016-2017)

Chair, Social Science Research and Instructional Council (2017)

I currently teach courses such as social movements, social change, gender, race, and critical thinking about society. I have published on the topic of "diversity and learning outcomes," and I am analyzing variations in learning outcomes in traditional and online classes. I am also developing content for the textbook market.

My main research area is social movements.  My 2008 book, Cultural Movements and Collective Memory: Christopher Columbus and the Rewriting of the National Origin Myth examines the patriotic, religious, ethnic, and anti-colonial movements that have successfully mobilized to shape public commemoration of Columbus Day.

I have published research on cultural processes within environmental movements.

I am participating with colleagues and students in research projects on self efficacy, sexual abstinence movements, and homelessness.

I have developed community statistics sites as well as a Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) software package, among other small pieces of software.  I have been training students to use the CATI software to collect interviews from residents in the Central Valley to understand public attitudes about social issues such as police misconduct, homelessness, and environmental problems.

Office Location: TBD
Student Support Hours:  In Person: Thursdays 4-4:45 pm & by appointment
Email: alevine@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 144 5-6:15 PM T TH PHS 214

 

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Tuesday & Thursday: 10-10:50 am

Email: bloera08@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
CFS 132T 2-3:15 PM M W SS 203
SOC 3 11 AM -12:15 PM T TH FFS 216B
SOC 130W 8-9:50 AM M W SS 203
SOC 130W 8-9:50 AM T TH SS 203
SOC 167 2-3:15 PM M W SS 203

 

Picture of Austin Minter

Student Support Hours:  Zoom, by appointment

Email: minter@mail.fresnostate.edu 

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 130W 2-3:50 PM T TH PHS 114

 

Personal Biography:

Austin Minter is a Lecturer at California State University, Fresno, and adjunct faculty at West Hills Community College Lemoore and College of the Sequoias in Visalia. Austin Minter received his Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a Master’s in Sociology with an emphasis in Geography from Arizona State University. He is currently a doctoral student at Liberty University in Public Administration.

His hobbies include flying. He has always loved aviation; he is currently in an aircraft partnership out of the Visalia airport. In his free time, he enjoys sports, primarily baseball and hockey.

Areas of Specialty:

Austin Minter teaches Political Science, Ethnic Studies, and Sociology courses across three college systems. In addition, he has experience working with nonprofits and public agencies in organizational development and research. Before teaching at the college level, he worked as a curriculum coordinator assistant for the Kings County Office of Education and as a substitute teacher.

In his doctoral program, he is researching air traffic management and environmental policies, specifically, the role of public administration in reducing aviation-related emissions, improving airspace efficiency, and promoting environmentally sustainable practices in the aviation sector.

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: By appointment only

Email: jessicamorgan@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP

 

justinmyers

Office Location: Social Science 129B
Student Support Hours: In person, Mondays 12-1 pm, Tuesdays/Thursdays 2-3 pm & on Zoom by appointment
Office Phone: 559-278-7346
Email: justinmyers@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 150T 11-11:50 AM M IT 288
SOC 151 4-5:50 PM T TH SS 203
SOC153 12-1:50 PM

T TH

SS 203
SSCI 101H 4-6:50 PM M SS 205B

 

Personal Biography
A born and raised Californian, Dr. Myers graduated from Santa Rosa Junior College (AA), Sonoma State (BA), and San Diego State (MA).  He received his PhD from The City University of New York (CUNY) in 2013 and taught for five years at Marist College before starting at Fresno State in the Fall of 2018.

Areas of Specialty 
Environmental Sociology, Sociology of Food & Agriculture, Environmental Justice & Food Justice, Social Inequality, Social Movements, Work & Labor, Urban Sociology, Critical Theory.

Research Focus
His work investigates the relationship between oppression and resistance through exploring how social movements are utilizing food as a means to address social, economic, and environmental injustice.  

His primary research project is focused on East New York Farms (ENYF!), a longstanding food justice organization in the Black, Caribbean, and Latinx community of East New York, Brooklyn, and analyzes their efforts to build a community food system premised on farmers markets, urban farms, and market-oriented community gardens to address a legacy of political and economic marginalization. 

Recent Publications
Myers, Justin Sean. 2023. Growing Gardens, Building Power: Food Justice and Urban Agriculture in Brooklyn.  Rutgers University Press.

Aptekar, Sofya and Justin Sean Myers.  2020. “The Tale of Two Gardens: Green Aesthetics vs Food Justice in the Big Apple.” Agriculture & Human Values 37 (3): 779-792.

Myers, Justin Sean. 2020. “Theories in Environmental Sociology” Pp. 28-56 in Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology, edited by Kenneth Gould and Tammy Lewis, third edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Myers, Justin Sean, Prita Lal, and Sofya Aptekar. 2020. “Community Gardens and Gentrification in New York City: The Uneven Politics of Facilitation, Accommodation, and Resistance.” Pp. 245-265 in A Recipe for Gentrification: Food, Power, and Resistance in the City, edited by Alison Hope Alkon, Yuki Kato, and Joshua Sbicca.  New York: NYU Press.

Myers, Justin Sean.  2018. “Food and Hunger.” In Twenty Lessons in Food and Agriculture, edited by Jason Konefal and Maki Hatanaka. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Myers, Justin Sean. 2018. “The CUNY Open Admissions Strike, 1969.” Pp. 191-199 in Revolting New York, edited by Neil Smith and Don Mitchell. Athens GA: University of Georgia Press .

Myers, Justin Sean. 2018. “Neoliberalism, Debt, and Class Power.” Pp. 337-352 in Class: The Anthology, edited by Michael Roberts and Stanley Aronowitz. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.

Sbicca, Joshua and Justin Sean Myers. 2017. “Food Justice Racial Projects: Fighting Racial Neoliberalism from the Bay to the Big Apple.” Environmental Sociology 3(1): 30-41.

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Tuesday & Thursday after class: 1:45 pm

Office Phone: 559-278-2892

Email: ednelson@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3 12:30-1:45 PM T TH DGTSYNC

Personal Biography
Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles, 1968. He taught at Rutgers for five years before coming to California State University, Fresno in 1973.

Areas of Specialty
Currently he teaches courses in research methods, quantitative methods, and critical thinking. He serves on the Academic Information Technology subcommittee and is the co-chair of the Consortium of Applied Social Science Research Centers. He is also the campus representative to the Social Science

Research and Instructional Council of the CSU and is the Executive Director of the California Sociological Association.

He has been the director of the Social Research Laboratory (SRL) since 1980. The Social Research Laboratory is part of the College of Social Sciences, California State University Fresno. The SRL provides research support to the university, governmental and non-profit agencies, as well as to other local and regional groups. Assistance is provided in a number of areas including sampling design, questionnaire construction, interviewer training, data collection, coding, data entry, statistical analysis, and computer applications. In the last few years, the SRL has focused on conducting telephone surveys for many different agencies and organizations. Recently the SRL initiated another avenue of research support under the direction of Dr. Xuanning Fu. This project examines state mandated exam test scores (such as CST, California Standard Test) and looks for patterns by student characteristics, so that targeted teaching and remedial actions can be taken. These services are provided to local K-12 schools to help school administrators make research-based decisions.

The SRL also provides evaluation services to agencies and organizations.  Currently the lab is the evaluator for Weed and Seed in Modesto and has worked with the Relational Culture Institute in Fresno to analyze data collected from community leaders and with AmeriCorps

janine

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: Zoom, Wednesdays, 6:30 pm & by appointment

Email: jnkosi@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 1 12:30-3:15 PM W DGTSYNC
SOC 1   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 3S 3:30-6:20 PM W DGTSYNC

 Personal Biography
Greetings students and colleagues! My name is Janine Nkosi and I’m a dedicated and passionate sociologist, activist-educator, and community organizer. I am firmly committed to working alongside my students to develop and deepen their sociological imagination through critical community-based research and organizing. I started teaching Sociology at Fresno State in 2011 and was blessed to join the Merritt College Sociology Department in Spring 2020! I’m a proud first-generation college graduate. I began my higher ed journey at Fresno City College as a single mom of two beautiful children, Asante and Jennifer. My children are my strength, courage, inspiration and determination. I did not achieve a high school diploma or GED, but I did earn an associate degree in Liberal Studies and five additional degrees-- a bachelor’s in Sociology, master’s in Counseling, and doctorate in Educational Leadership from Fresno State (Bulldog pride!), and dual master’s in Sociology, and Chicana and Chicano Studies from my hometown college San José State University (go Spartans!). 

I strive every day to put my sociological knowledge, skills, and passion into action as a regional community organizer with Faith in the Valley– a multiracial, multiethnic, and multifaith grassroots community organization dedicated to working alongside residents to advance racial justice across the Central Valley. My teaching, research, and organizing philosophy is rooted in Critical Race Theory and methodologies, Critical Pedagogy, Community Cultural Wealth and Funds of Knowledge. Collectively, this model centers students’ lived experience, fosters critical consciousness and praxis, is inspiring, loving, joyful, academically rigorous, and aims to advance racial and economic justice. I care very deeply about my family, my students and my community. I’m passionate about connecting classroom learning to meaningful community change. If you’d like to know more about me, check out my ePortfolio: http://bit.ly/JanineNkosi and connect with me on Twitter @JanineNkosi

I look forward to working alongside you in the classroom, on campus, and/or in the community!

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Tuesday & Thursday: 10-11 am

Email: cinthiaquesada@mail.fresnostate.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP

 

jennifer

Email: jrandles@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule: Not teaching this semester

Personal Biography
Dr. Randles graduated with her doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley in 2011. She taught for two years at Austin College before joining the faculty of California State University, Fresno in 2013.

Areas of Specialty
Dr. Randles specializes in the sociology of family, marriage, gender, social inequality/poverty, childhood, and qualitative methodologies. She teaches classes on family/marriage, inequality, childhood, race/ethnicity, research methods, and critical thinking. Her research addresses how social and economic inequities affect family life in the United States and how public policies address these intimate inequalities. Her book, Proposing Prosperity?: Marriage Education Policy and Inequality in America (Columbia University Press, 2017), is an ethnographic study of the implementation of healthy marriage policy and reveals how government-funded marriage education programs teach that romantic experiences, relationship behaviors, and marital choices are primary mechanisms of inequality.

Recent Publications Include:
Randles, Jennifer, and Kerry Woodward. 2018. “Learning to Labor, Love, and Live: Shaping the  ‘Good Neoliberal Citizen’ in State Work and Marriage Programs.” Sociological Perspectives 61(1): 39-56. (equal co-authorship)

Randles, Jennifer, and Orit Avishai. 2018. “Saving Marriage Culture ‘One Marriage at a Time’: Relationship Education and the Reinstitutionalization of Marriage in an Era of Individualism.” Qualitative Sociology 41: 21-40. 

Randles, Jennifer. 2017. “The Diaper Dilemma.” Contexts 16(4): 66-68.

Randles, Jennifer. 2016. “Redefining the Marital Power Struggle through Relationship Skills: How United States Marriage Education Programs Challenge and Reinforce Gender Inequality.” Gender & Society 30(2): 240-264. 

Avishai, Orit, Melanie Heath, and Jennifer Randles. 2015. “The Marriage Movement.” Pp. 308-320 in Families as They Really Are, Second Edition, edited by Barbara Risman and Virginia Rutter. New York: Norton. (equal co-authorship)

Randles, Jennifer. 2015. “Leaning In and Letting Go: Feminist Tools for Valuing Non-Work.” Pp. 40-50 in Letting Go: Feminist and Social Justice Insights and Activism, edited by Donna King and Kay Valentine. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.

Randles, Jennifer. 2014. “Partnering and Parenting in Poverty: A Qualitative Analysis of a Relationship Skills Program for Low-Income, Unmarried Families.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 33(2): 385-412.

Randles, Jennifer. 2013. “Repackaging the ‘Package Deal’: Promoting Marriage for Low-Income Families by Targeting Paternal Identity and Reframing Marital Masculinity.” Gender & Society 27(6): 864-888.  

Avishai, Orit, Lynne Gerber, and Jennifer Randles. 2013. “The Feminist Ethnographer’s Dilemma: Reconciling Progressive Research Agendas with Fieldwork Realities.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 42(4): 394-426. (Feature article in special symposium issue; equal co-authorship)

Avishai, Orit, Lynne Gerber, and Jennifer Randles. 2013. “Toward a Feminist Ethnography of Feminist Ethnography: A Response.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 42(4): 501-520. (equal co-authorship)

Office Location: Library, 2nd Floor, Center for faculty Excellence

Student Support Hours:  In person, Mondays/Wednesdays 1-2 pm & on Zoom by appointment 

Email: sranganathan@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 1   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 1   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 3 5-6:15 PM T TH LS 134
SOC 3 6:30-7:45 T TH LS 134
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP

 

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: Friday on Zoom: 10-11:30 am & by appointment

Email: shankar@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 142 9-9:50 AM M W F SA 153
SOC 142 9:30-10:45 AM T TH SS 110
SOC 142 12:30-1:45 PM T TH SS 207
SOC 142 1-1:50 PM M W F SA 153
SOC 151 10-11:50 AM M W SS 203

 

Office Location: SS 129

Student Support Hours: In person: Monday, 2:30-3:30 pm & by appointment

                                            Zoom: Tuesday, 1130 am - 1 pm 

Email: seslusser@mail.fresnostate.edu 

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 130W 10-11:50 AM M W  MCF 204
SOC 130W 12-1:50 PM M W MCF 204
SOC 130W 4-5:50 PM M W LS 134

  

Office Location: Social Science 211A

Student Support Hours: Zoom & In person: Tuesdays, 2:30pm to 3:30pm, & by appointment

Zoom link: https://fresnostate.zoom.us/j/3975634610

Email: chsullivan@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 175 4-5:50 PM  T TH SS 202 

 

Personal Biography

Dr. Sullivan did his graduate work at University of California, Berkeley, where he received his doctorate in Sociology and Demography in 2013. 

Areas of Specialty

Dr. Sullivan’s research focuses on understanding how processes of globalization influence social institutions — from large-scale financial institutions like the World Bank to more local institutions centered around HIV care in California’s Central Valley. His research uses a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Dr. Sullivan lived and conducted research in mainland China for nearly 5 years. He has studied Mandarin Chinese, as well as Uyghur, Turkish, and German.

Recent Publications

Sullivan, Christopher. 2020. “Redefining and Challenging the Boundaries of Chinese Cuisine: A Visually Based Exploration of Uyghur Restaurants in the United States.” In American Chinese Restaurants: Society, Culture and Consumption, edited by Jenny Banh and Haiming Liu. Oxon and New York: Routledge. 

Altholz, Roxanna, and Chris Sullivan. 2017. The Accountability of International Financing Institutions: Community Perspectives on the World Bank’s Compliance/Advisor Ombudsman. Berkeley, CA: Human Rights Center, University of California, Berkeley. 

lindavang

 

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: On Zoom: Monday: 8-9:30 am & by appointment

Email: lindavan@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 3   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 131 3:30-4:45 PM M W SA 153
SOC 131   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 131   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 168 5-6:15 PM M W SA 153

  

My name is Linda Matasic Vang, and I am honored to be a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Fresno State and a full-time tenured faculty member in Sociology at Fresno City College. I earned my BA in Sociology and Math from Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio and my MA in Sociology and MSW from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. After working many years in medical social work (hospitals, nursing homes, home health, and hospice) along with teaching, I decided to return to school and earned my joint doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from UC Davis and Fresno State.

Originally, I hoped to become a high school math teacher but after taking my first college course in sociology, I became inspired by C. Wright Mills’ sociological imagination that urges us to consider how our personal troubles are impacted by public issues. Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, once a major steel producing town, I observed the devastating impact of deindustrialization on my community; as a teen in the 1960’s, I began to understand the urgent need for racial, gender, and economic equality; and as a first generation college student from a working-class family (my father was a steel mill worker), my parents instilled the importance of obtaining a higher education early on in my life. My teaching and research interests have been informed by my own story, and thus, I help students connect their personal narratives to the sociological imagination; I work to develop course content in collaboration with the community to bring local relevancy to the classroom; and I am a strong advocate for student success. I enjoy mentoring students towards their career goals by providing resource information and social networking. I incorporate the use of various technologies in my classroom for student engagement, and in 2016, I participated in the first cohort of distance education faculty for former Governor Jerry Brown’s Online Education Initiative to increase online course access across California’s community colleges.

I regularly teach courses in sex and gender, writing about social problems, interpersonal relationships, critical thinking, and most recently, medical sociology. I have conducted numerous workshops and in-services to professional groups on the topics of education, diversity, health care, and end-of-life care. My dissertation studied registered nurses and their experiences in advance care planning in home health care (2009), and I recently completed a qualitative research sabbatical (Spring 2023) through Fresno City College, entitled: Promoting Equity and Social Justice: One Visit at a Time--- Lived Experiences of Home Health Nurses. I have been invited to participate in the Sociology Department’s study abroad program in Finland, Summer 2024. 

Office Location: Virtual

Student Support Hours: On Zoom, by appointment only

Email: swhitley@csufresno.edu

Spring 2024 Class Schedule

CLASS TIME DAYS LOCATION
SOC 158   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 163   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 163   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 163   ARR DGTCAMP
SOC 163   ARR DGTCAMP

Personal Biography
Dr. Whitley graduated with her doctoral degree in sociology from Washington State University in 2012. She taught for a year at Washington State University before joining the tenure-track faculty at California State University, Fresno in 2013. She co-founded the Fresno State Chapter of the Food Recovery Network with Dr. Janine Nkosi and together they were recognized by President Joseph I. Castro with the "Spirit of Service" Award in April 2015 for their efforts.  At the end of spring 2016 semester, Dr. Whitley resigned her tenure-track position, but she continues to teach on-line courses as an adjunct faculty member for the Sociology Department at Fresno State.

Areas of Specialty
She specializes in the sociology of education, poverty, qualitative methodologies, rural/urban sociology, social inequality, and stratification. She teaches classes on the sociology of education, gender, introduction to sociology, research methods, rural/urban sociology, social inequality, social problems, and stratification. She emphasizes service learning components in her classes in order to give students real world experience with the course material covered. She has advised student research on education related issues and internships in various community organizations and programs. Her current research addresses food insecurity and hunger issues in rural and urban settings and how public policy addresses the increasing hunger epidemic. Her recent publication includes:

Publications

Whitley, Sarah. 2013. “Changing Times in Rural America: Food Assistance and Food Insecurity in Food Deserts.” Journal of Family Social Work 16(1):36-52.

 

 Emeritus Faculty

Alfred J. Claassen (1969-2001), Ph.D., University of Colorado

S. John Dackawich (1970-1994), Ph.D., University of Colorado

Robert D. Fischer (1972-2001), Ph.D., Michigan State University

Albert I. McLeod (1968-2001), Ph.D., University of Nebraska

Edward E. Nelson (1973-2008), Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Elizabeth Ness Nelson (1973-2000), Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Robert S. Palacio (1987-2013), Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

John N. Tinker (1969-2001), Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

Chandler Washburne (1968-1983), Ph.D., Michigan State University