Teaching is probably the most meaningful and impactful part of my work as a sociologist.  My goal as an educator is to foster a value of learning and its transformative power.  I hope students come away from my classes not just knowing new information, but marveling at the promise that we can improve our understanding of the world and use this new knowledge to create positive change.  The health of our society depends upon a citizenry that values critical thinking and civic engagement.  If we are to overcome the strong political divisions of our contemporary society, we have to be willing to think in unfamiliar ways and critically analyze various competing perspectives of reality.  

Here are a few of the courses I've had the pleasure of teaching:

• Regular Courses 

  • Drugs, Society, & Human Behavior

  • Honors Introduction to Sociology

  • Social Problems

  • Research Methods I (the research process)

  • Research Methods II (data collection, analysis, reporting)

  • Introduction to Human Services

  • Program Planning & Evaluation

• Occasional & Past Courses

  • Social Stratification

  • Sociological Theory

  • Sociology of Rural America 

  • Sociology of Food & Agriculture 

Select Student Conference Presentations

• Kelly, Jenna. 2025. "How Artemis House Uses Facebook to Engage their Community: A Community Capitals Content Analysis of Facebook Posts." Poster Presentation at the 2025 Black Hills Research Symposium (Spearfish, SD).

• Bendigo, Lexie. 2024. "Posting for Hunger: A Content Analysis of College Food Pantry Instagram Pages." Oral Presentation at the 2024 Black Hills Research Symposium (Spearfish, SD).

• Bendigo, Lexie, Alec Bakke, Alyssa Cudney, and Fey Ramirez. 2024. "Posting for Hunger - A Content Analysis of College Food Pantry Instagram Posts." Poster Presentation at the 2024 Black Hills Research Symposium (Spearfish, SD).

• Hubbard, Shaylyn. 2020. "Food Insecurity as a Predictor of Academic Performance among College Students: Results from the 2019 BHSU Food Security Study Survey." Poster Presentation at the 2020 Black Hills Research Symposium (held online due to COVID19).

• Ellis, Trenton and Breanna Bass. 2017. "Bullying Victimization as a Predictor of Suicidal Ideation among South Dakota Adolescents: A Secondary Data Analysis Using the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey." Oral paper presentation at the 2017 Great Plains Sociological Association Annual Conference (Fargo, ND).