Curriculum Vitae (PDF Document, 12.4kb)
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I became a sociologist purely by chance! I grew up in small rural community in northeastern Oregon and had never heard of sociology. In fact, I didn't know what a Ph. D. degree was until my sophomore year in college. As I was growing up I was interested in either being a missionary or an architect. The first came from my involvement in the church, and the second from my familiarity with the building trade. By the time I was a senior in high school I had opted for architecture.
After graduation from high school I went to the University of Oregon for one term where I took remedial English and remedial mathematics. In that first term I became disenchanted with architecture, so took myself back home and worked as an apprentice bricklayer until the following September, at which time I enrolled at Columbia Basin Community College in Pasco, Washington. I assumed that if I paid attention to my academic work and took advantage of whateveropportunities were available, I would eventually discover what I wanted to do with my life.
By the time I finished two years later I had decided I would pursue a baccalaureate in social work at Washington State University. My first social work class impressed me as having no intellectual substance, so I changed my major to sociology. Still, I applied to MSW programs at three universities several months before I graduated. Two of these did not offer adequate financial assistance, and the third assured me a lucrative fellowship would be available shortly. Late in the spring term a faculty member in the Department asked what my plans were for the following year. I told him I was waiting for verification on a fellowship to pursue an MSW. His reply was, "I have a research assistantship available on one of my projects. Why don't you stay here and get an MA in Sociology?" So I did.
Near the end of my MA degree I considered the possibility of a divinity degree and the ministry, but decided instead to apply for jobs at several community colleges in the state of Washington. When a couple of the faculty in Department became aware of what I was doing, they sat me down and, in unmistakable language, said I should apply to a Ph. D. program. So I did. I figured "What the hell, I like school so let's see how far I can take this process." The following September found me at Southern Illinois University, primarily because someone in the Department at WSU knew someone in sociology at SIU. Besides, the Department at SIU offered more money than the other Ph. D. programs to which I had applied.
It was in the program at SIU that I began to feel like I might really want to be a "sociologist." This came about not because of any particular experience that I can recall. In retrospect, my best guess is that I had by that time developed a working knowledge of some sociology, there was a competent and caring faculty, and I became part of a close group of supportive graduate students. Together these led me to believe that I just might be able to complete a Ph. D. degree.
I do not want to leave you with the impression that my practice of sociology has been something I have since pursued in a linear fashion. Quite the contrary, many times I have been plagued by self-doubt, started projects and never finished, been frustrated with the administrative bureaucracy, and despaired that neither I nor the students in my classes were learning very much.
Do I like being a "sociologist"? Yes! I feel strongly that in the process of"becoming" whoever we are supposed to be, we look for that which contributes to our growth and enriches our lives. The practice of sociology is one of the things that does this for me. It certainly embodies what most people would call a "career" or as some, including myself, would say, "my day job." It is, however, more than just a "career" or a "day job." At its best, my practice of sociology contributes to both the intellectual and the emotional dimensions of my life; it suggests a direction for my journey in this world. I guess you could say, certainly I would, that I still see myself as in the process of "becoming" a "sociologist." Perhaps I will meet some of you along the way.
Alcohol and Other Drugs:
Hamill, Pete. 1994. A Drinking Life: A Memoir. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
Family Life:
McMillan, Terry. 1987. Mama. New York. Pocket Books.
McMillan, Terry. 1992. Waiting to Exhale. New York: Pocket Books.
Naylor, Gloria. 1992 [1980]. The Women of Brewster Place. New York: Penguin Books.
Powell, Patricia. 1993. Me Dying Trial. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann Educational.
Growing Old:
Morrison, Blake. 1993. When Did You Last See Your Father? A Sonšs Memoir of Love and Loss. New York: Picador USA.
Social Theory:
Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought. Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge.
Harvey, David. 1990. The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Blackwell.
Poems by Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi
Poems by Umar ibn Ibrahim al-Kahayyam
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