M.A., Ph.D. University of Connecticut
A.B. University of Notre Dame
Areas of Expertise:
Population studies, methods of survey research, poverty, quality of life issues, student religiousness.
Courses I Teach:
- Introduction to Sociology
- Poverty
- Population Analysis
- Research Methods
- Social Problems
- Work, Education and Vocation
I have done over 35 research projects (usually surveys) with students in my classes. The new information they learn shapes what I teach in each of my other classes. I have great respect for what research has to teach. In 2009 I was asked to write an article for a national newspaper of sociology on how doing research with students is mutually beneficial.
I recently completed, with my colleague in economics, Professor Herb Kessel, a 160-page book focusing on changes and trends in Vermont over the past several decades. Vermont in Transition: A Summary of Social, Economic and Environmental Trends contains about 320 charts, graphs and tables. I also just finished the latest 2010 study of The Pulse of Vermont: Quality of Life in 2010. In 2007, I was recognized as the Vermont Service-Learning Teacher of the Year by Vermont Campus Compact.
Life Off Campus:
I enjoy my family, my grandchildren, my gardens and my woodlot.