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Faculty

  • Face portrait of Sharon Patterson

    Sharon Paterson Ph.D

    Professor, Chair of Sociology

    Sharon Paterson: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology, Specializations: Inequality, Work/Occupations, and Higher Education

    Sharon Paterson: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology, Specializations: Inequality, Work/Occupations, and Higher Education

  • Face Portrait of Arthur Scarritt

    Arthur Scarritt Ph.D

    Professor, and IMSRL  Director

    Arthur Scarritt:  Vita

    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: The organization of society perpetuates racial inequalities, and strategies for overcoming these unequal relations.

    Arthur Scarritt:  Vita

    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: The organization of society perpetuates racial inequalities, and strategies for overcoming these unequal relations.

  • Face Portrait of Rebecca Castellano

    Rebecca L. Som Castellano Ph.D

    Professor

    Rebecca L. Som Castellano: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: A rural sociologist and agrifood scholar, Dr. Som Castellano studies environmental and agri-food system change, including how stratification and inequality influence experiences with the environment. Current research focuses on 1) well-being among Latina farm workers in Southwestern Idaho, particularly experiences with pesticides and ecological knowledge; 2) land use change and farmland preservation in the Treasure Valley; 3) dynamics of gender and labor among wildland firefighters.

    Rebecca L. Som Castellano: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: A rural sociologist and agrifood scholar, Dr. Som Castellano studies environmental and agri-food system change, including how stratification and inequality influence experiences with the environment. Current research focuses on 1) well-being among Latina farm workers in Southwestern Idaho, particularly experiences with pesticides and ecological knowledge; 2) land use change and farmland preservation in the Treasure Valley; 3) dynamics of gender and labor among wildland firefighters.

  • Face Portrait of Martin Orr

    Martin Orr Ph.D

    Professor

    Marty Orr: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Social theory, inequality, social movements, the environment, and the mass media.

    Marty Orr: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Social theory, inequality, social movements, the environment, and the mass media.

  • Face Portrait of Dora Ramirez

    Dora Ramirez Ph.D

    Professor, and Director of Ethnic Studies

    Dora Ramirez: Vita
    Office Hours:   By Appointment

    Research Interests: Nation-building while examining the internalization of socio-political global effects and the influence of colonization among Latinx and Indigenous populations in the United States and the U.S./Mexico border.

    Dora Ramirez: Vita
    Office Hours:   By Appointment

    Research Interests: Nation-building while examining the internalization of socio-political global effects and the influence of colonization among Latinx and Indigenous populations in the United States and the U.S./Mexico border.

  • Face Portrait of Raul Casarez

    Raul S. Casarez Ph.D

    Assistant Professor

    Raul S. Casarez Vita 

    Office Hours by Appointment

    Research Interest: Race, Ethnicity, Immigration, Social Inequality, Boundary Making, Intergroup Relationships, Identity Formation

    Raul S. Casarez Vita 

    Office Hours by Appointment

    Research Interest: Race, Ethnicity, Immigration, Social Inequality, Boundary Making, Intergroup Relationships, Identity Formation

  • Face Portrait of Soulit Chacko

    Soulit Chacko Ph.D

    Assistant Professor

    Soulit Chacko Vita

    Office Hours by Appointment

    Research Interest: Race and Ethnicity; Immigration; Transnationalism; Work; Gender & Sexuality; Body and Embodiment; Ethnography; Asian & South Asian Diaspora

    Soulit Chacko Vita

    Office Hours by Appointment

    Research Interest: Race and Ethnicity; Immigration; Transnationalism; Work; Gender & Sexuality; Body and Embodiment; Ethnography; Asian & South Asian Diaspora

  • Face Portrait of Sara Mawhirter

    Sarah Mawhirter M.A & M.st

    Lecture

    Sarah Mawhirter: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology, Gender Studies, Focuses on: Critical Higher Education, Embodied Research Methods, Carceral and Mass Incarceration Activists’ Studies, Higher Education in Prison, and Transformative Criminal Justice Law and Public Policy.

    Sarah Mawhirter: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology, Gender Studies, Focuses on: Critical Higher Education, Embodied Research Methods, Carceral and Mass Incarceration Activists’ Studies, Higher Education in Prison, and Transformative Criminal Justice Law and Public Policy.

  • Face Portrait of Desiree Brunette

    Desiree Brunette M.A.

    Lecturer, Sociology department internship coordinator, and Concurrent Enrollment Liaison

    Desiree Brunette: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology of the family, Sociology of the Sex, Sociology of Religion, and Medical Sociology,

    Desiree Brunette: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Sociology of the family, Sociology of the Sex, Sociology of Religion, and Medical Sociology,

  • Face Portrait Michael Kreiter

    Michael Kreiter, Ph.D.

    Lecture

    Michael Kreiter: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Inequality; Critical Race Theory; Cultural Studies: Popular Culture; Neoliberalism; Gender; Intersectionality; Mixed Methods

    Michael Kreiter: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Inequality; Critical Race Theory; Cultural Studies: Popular Culture; Neoliberalism; Gender; Intersectionality; Mixed Methods

  • Face Portrait of Carissa Wolf

    Carissa Wolf M.A

    Lecture

    Carissa Wolf: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Media Studies, Journalism, Mass media and society, Media Literacy, Sociology of health and medicine, Disability studies, Fringe and extremist groups, Public sociology, Sociology of Food

    Carissa Wolf: Vita
    Office Hours: By Appointment

    Research interests: Media Studies, Journalism, Mass media and society, Media Literacy, Sociology of health and medicine, Disability studies, Fringe and extremist groups, Public sociology, Sociology of Food

  • Face Portrait of Julia Broderick

    Julia Broderick Ed.D

    Lecture

    Julia Broderick: Vita
    Office Hours:  By Appointment

    Research interests: : inclusion, education, public education, and sociological concepts

    Julia Broderick: Vita
    Office Hours:  By Appointment

    Research interests: : inclusion, education, public education, and sociological concepts

  • Picture of a purple flower

    Ginna Husting Ph.D

    Professor

    Virginia Husting:; Vita

    Professor Husting retired in 2023

    Hello Past and Present Gender Studies Students!

    The Department of Sociology reluctantly announces the retirement of Professor Ginna Husting

    Ginna’s contributions over 24 years of service to Boise State cannot be overstated. Most significantly, she has been Director of Gender Studies since 2011, guiding that program through difficult times. Gender Studies is, on all campuses and even in the best of times, devalued relative to its centrality in our lives. It has taken extraordinary effort and personal sacrifice to cultivate this as a center for education, research and community.

    As a scholar, her work has received international acclaim. Throughout, Dr. Husting has looked at how self, emotions and subjectivities are shaped by systems of inequality and domination. She has become a recognized expert in the work of Hannah Arendt, applying this to, among other things, the problems of digital capitalism. She has also produced some of the foundational work in the now rapidly growing interdisciplinary study of conspiracy theories. Her scholarship will continue to inform and inspire future research.

    Above all, Professor Husting has been motivated by the needs and interests of her students. She is renowned for both her empathy and rigor. In courses like Feminist Theory, Social Inequality, Environmental Sociology, Science and Technology and many more, her students have not just been exposed to theories and skills, but they have learned about themselves and their place in the world. As her students contribute to their families and communities throughout their lives, her impact on her students will reverberate across generations.

    Professor Husting’s contributions will continue to shape this campus, scholarship, and the lives of those who have worked with her and learned from her. We can’t thank her enough for everything she has done to advance the mission of Boise State University.

    Virginia Husting:; Vita

    Professor Husting retired in 2023

    Hello Past and Present Gender Studies Students!

    The Department of Sociology reluctantly announces the retirement of Professor Ginna Husting

    Ginna’s contributions over 24 years of service to Boise State cannot be overstated. Most significantly, she has been Director of Gender Studies since 2011, guiding that program through difficult times. Gender Studies is, on all campuses and even in the best of times, devalued relative to its centrality in our lives. It has taken extraordinary effort and personal sacrifice to cultivate this as a center for education, research and community.

    As a scholar, her work has received international acclaim. Throughout, Dr. Husting has looked at how self, emotions and subjectivities are shaped by systems of inequality and domination. She has become a recognized expert in the work of Hannah Arendt, applying this to, among other things, the problems of digital capitalism. She has also produced some of the foundational work in the now rapidly growing interdisciplinary study of conspiracy theories. Her scholarship will continue to inform and inspire future research.

    Above all, Professor Husting has been motivated by the needs and interests of her students. She is renowned for both her empathy and rigor. In courses like Feminist Theory, Social Inequality, Environmental Sociology, Science and Technology and many more, her students have not just been exposed to theories and skills, but they have learned about themselves and their place in the world. As her students contribute to their families and communities throughout their lives, her impact on her students will reverberate across generations.

    Professor Husting’s contributions will continue to shape this campus, scholarship, and the lives of those who have worked with her and learned from her. We can’t thank her enough for everything she has done to advance the mission of Boise State University.