About Me

EDUCATION

I completed a BA in Sociology from UC San Diego, 1987-1991.  There I took four classes from Hugh Mehan, two from Jacqueline Wiseman, and one from Joseph Gusfield.  At the time, I did not realize how lucky I was to study with these qualitative, interactionist scholars.  Some of my other instructors in the department were anthropologists who required students to conduct mini-ethnographies (e.g., Bennetta Jules-Rossette, Martha Lampland).  I left UCSD with a delightfully warped sense of Sociology.  If I could time-travel, I would tell myself to take courses with Jack Douglas and Aaron Cicourel, whose work I would later read in graduate school.  (What was my younger self thinking?  For some reason I pursued minors in literature and in writing, and only took the minimum number of Sociology courses that I needed to complete the major.)

In 1992-1994 I obtained an MA in Sociology from California State University, Sacramento.   My main mentor there was Worth Summers, who was passionate about Erving Goffman.  I served as his teaching assistant, and was paid a few hundred dollars to grade papers for an entire semester.  At the time, that felt like a good deal to me.  I had finally figured out that I wanted to become a "microsociologist" so I wanted to soak up every minute of Dr. Summers' lectures. 

During 1994-2001 I completed my PhD in Sociology from the University of Oregon.  I was recruited by two ethnomethodologists, Jack Whalen and Marilyn Whalen.  Unfortunately, by my second year they had left for other positions.  I scrambled and found a wise mentor in Kenneth Liberman, who had written his dissertation under the supervision of Harold Garfinkel.  A friendly professor in the philosophy department, Scott Pratt, allowed me into his graduate courses on pragmatism, and served on my dissertation committee.  Other faculty at Oregon were supportive and helpful, even though their theoretical interests were far from my own, such as Bob O'Brien and Patty Gwartney.

CAREER

After graduating from Oregon I applied to universities nationwide and received two offers, both in Missouri.  (Farewell, west coast!)  I accepted a position at Saint Louis University in 2001, received tenure in 2007, and was promoted to full professor in 2012.  In 2021 I was appointed Associate Chair.

Saint Louis University has been an outstanding place to work.  Students are friendly and bright;  my department has allowed me to teach and develop courses that overlap with my research interests;  and the College of Arts and Sciences has provided a course load that enables me to edit journals and remain a productive scholar.  The mission of a Jesuit University resonates with me, even though I am not a practicing Catholic.  Some of the most valuable lessons one can learn from Sociology — a respect for different ways of thinking and acting, an understanding of the social forces that shape human behavior, and an enduring concern with the causes and effects of social inequality — all converge nicely with this mission. 

OUTSIDE INTERESTS

When I'm not doing Sociology, I play guitar in a loud and mediocre fashion.  To compensate for excessive ice cream consumption, I exercise by playing tennis, pickleball, and ping pong.  I donate money and a few hours a year to community service, but am a poor model of activism.  Hopefully my teaching will do some good.

You can also find more information on my academia.edu page HERE