Faculty

Several faculty members from the Department of Sociology in a library, some seated, some standing.

Our faculty members serve on advisory boards, travel the globe to speak at conferences, appear in the media, and publish the books and articles that drive the direction of the discipline. We share the University's commitment to value a diversity of viewpoints and experiences, and to strive to provide a productive work environment for all University of Minnesota scholars from varying racial, ethnic, religious, social class, sexual identity, and national backgrounds.

You can also review our recent Faculty Publications and our Faculty Research Brochure to learn more about faculty members and their areas of interest.

Regular Faculty

Name Contact Specialty
Cawo Abdi
Associate Professor
1033 Social Sci Bldg
cabdi@umn.edu
Migration; Gender, Race, and Class; Family; Islam; Education; Development Studies; Human Rights; Globalization; Africa; Middle East.
Yanjie Bian
Professor
Sabbatical Fa24 
967 Social Sci Bldg
bianx001@umn.edu
Economic Sociology; Social Networks; Social Stratification; Chinese Society.
Elizabeth Heger Boyle
Professor
Sabbatical Sp25 
1123 Social Sci Bldg
boyle014@umn.edu
Sociology of Law; Globalization; Children’s and Women’s Rights.
Penny Edgell
Professor 
1039 Social Sci Bldg
edgell@umn.edu
Culture; Religion; Gender & Family; Symbolic Boundaries & Inequality.
Michael Esposito
Assistant Professor
1078 Social Sci Bldg
mesposit@umn.edu
Demography; Statistics; Structural Racism; Policing; Neighborhoods; Health.
Laura Garbes
Assistant Professor 
925 Social Sci Bldg
garbes@umn.edu
Racial Theory; Organizations; Media Theory; Cultural Studies; Sound Studies; Economic Sociology.
Joseph Gerteis
Professor 
948 Social Sci Bldg
gerte004@umn.edu
Politics and Political Culture; Historical Sociology; Social Theory; Inclusion and Exclusion in American Society.
Michael Goldman
Associate Professor
1070 Social Sci Bldg
mgoldman@umn.edu
Transnational, Political Economic, and Urban Sociology; Transnational Institutions of Finance, Development, and Expertise.
Nick Graetz
Assistant Professor
1172 Social Sci Bldg
ngraetz@umn.edu
Social Demography; Housing; Population Health; Race; Climate; Inequality; Policy.
Douglas Hartmann
Professor 
1014B Social Sci Bldg
hartm021@umn.edu
Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; Sociology of Culture; Sport Studies; Social Movements and Political Sociology; American Society; Field Methods; Contemporary Theory; Public Engagement.
Kathleen Hull
Professor & Chair
909A Social Sci Bldg
hull@umn.edu
Culture; Law; Family; Gender and Sexuality; Social Movements.
Claire Kamp Dush
Professor
Sabbatical Fa24 & Sp25
1031 Social Sci Bldg
kampdush@umn.edu
Family & the Life Course; Population Health; Human Development & Family Studies; Intimacy/Sexuality; Gender & Work; Sexual & Gender Minorities & Health
David Knoke
Professor 
939 Social Sci Bldg
knoke001@umn.edu
Social Networks; Political Sociology; Economic Sociology; Organizations.
Carolyn Liebler
Professor
Sabbatical Fa24 & Sp25
1135 Social Sci Bldg
liebler@umn.edu
Race and Ethnicity; Social Demography; Indigenous Peoples; Social Stratification; Sociology of the Family and Life Course; Social Support.
Enid Logan
Associate Professor 
956 Social Sci Bldg
elogan@umn.edu
Blackness in the Americas; Race & the Body; Race & Electoral Politics; Race & Parenting; Blacks and Social Class; Afro-Latin America.
Ann Meier
Professor
Associate Dean
1127 Social Sci Bldg
meierann@umn.edu
Family and Life Course; Adolescent and Young Adult Development; Gender.
Natalia Otto
Instructor Tenure Track
1178 Social Sci Bldg
notto@umn.edu
International Criminology; Gender & Violence; Narrative Methods.
Joshua Page
Professor 
Associate Chair
 
1133 Social Sci Bldg
page@umn.edu
Crime, Law, Deviance, and Punishment; Labor and Unionization; Political Sociology; Qualitative Research Methods; Social Theory.
Michelle Phelps
Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
1035 Social Sci Bldg
phelps@umn.edu
Crime, Law, and Deviance; Inequality; Mixed Methods.
Joachim Savelsberg
Professor  
Arsham & Charlotte Ohanessian Chair
Offsite Fa24
1144 Social Sci Bldg
savel001@umn.edu
Knowledge, Memory & Representations; Law, Crime & Punishment; Human Rights; Comparative; Theory.
Teresa Swartz
Professor
Sabbatical Fa24 & Sp25
1125 Social Sci Bldg
tswartz@umn.edu
Families; Intergenerational Relations; Social Inequality; Asian American Studies; Gender; Welfare State; Children, Youth and Young Adulthood.
Christopher Uggen
Regents Professor
1014A Social Sci Bldg
612-624-4016
uggen001@umn.edu
Crime, Law, Justice; Life Course; Inequality; Methods; Policy.
Jane VanHeuvelen
Assistant Professor
Director of Undergraduate Studies
1178 Social Sci Bldg
jvanheuv@umn.edu
Medical Sociology; Organizations; Mental Health & Illness: Health Disparities; Work & Occupations.
Tom VanHeuvelen
Associate Professor
1131 Social Sci Bldg
tvanheuv@umn.edu
Stratification & Inequality; Comparative & Historical Sociology; Quantitative Methodology; Sociology of Development.
Michael L. Walker
Associate Professor
952 Social Sci Bldg
walkerml@umn.edu
Social Control; Stratification; Inequality; Criminal Justice.
Rob Warren
Professor  
 
1167 Social Sci Bldg
warre046@umn.edu
Social Inequality; Education; Health Disparities; Demography.
Elizabeth Wrigley-Field
Associate Professor
935 Social Sci Bldg
ewf@umn.edu
Formal Demography; Social Demography; Race; Health; Inequality.

Associate Faculty

Name Contact Specialty
Ed Cornelius
Instructor 
960 Social Sci Bldg
ecorneli@umn.edu
Law & Society; Punishment; Globalization; Sociological Theory.
Gabrielle Ferrales
Sr Lecturer
1152 Social Sci Bldg
ferrales@umn.edu
Law and Society; Gender; Criminology and Criminal Justice; International Criminal Law; Quantitative and Qualitative Methods; Factorial Survey Methods for Empirical Analysis.
Austin Luzbetak
Lecturer
1156 Social Sci Bldg
aluz@umn.edu
Environmental Justice; Critical Criminology & Green Criminology; Human Dimensions of Climate Change; Punishment & Society.

Affiliate Faculty

Name Contact
Ryan Allen
Associate Professor
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
295B Humphrey School
allen650@umn.edu
Valerie Belair-Gagnon
Assistant Professor
Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication
329 Murphy Hall
vbg@umn.edu
Rose Brewer
Professor
African American & African Studies
810 Social Sciences
brewe001@umn.edu
Kathleen Call
Professor
School of Public Health
15-223 Phillips Wangensteen Building
callx001@umn.edu
Brooke Cunningham
Assistant Professor
Department of Family Medicine and Community Health
717 Delaware St SE, Rm 420
bcunning@umn.edu
Christina Ewig
Professor
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
301 – 19th Avenue South
cewig@umn.edu
Sarah Flood
Research Manager
Institute for Social Research & Data Innovation
50 Willey Hall
floo0017@umn.edu
Karen Ho
Associate Professor
Anthropology
395 HHH Center
karenho@umn.edu
Donna McAlpine
Associate Professor
School of Public Health
D362 Mayo
mcalp004@umn.edu
Carrie Oelberger
Assistant Professor
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
249 Humphrey School
coelberg@umn.edu
Jennifer Pierce
Professor
American Studies
204 Scott Hall
pierc012@umn.edu
Christopher Roberts
Associate Professor
Law School
450 Mondale Hall
cnr@umn.edu
Evan Roberts
Assistant Professor
Medical School, History of Medicine
505 Diehl Hall
eroberts@umn.edu
Steven Ruggles
Professor
History & Founder of ISRDI & the MN Population Center
945 Heller Hall
ruggl001@umn.edu
Karen Seashore
Regents Professor Emerita
CEHD, Org. Leadership, Policy & Development
330 Burton Hall
klouis@umn.edu
Tetyana Shippee
Professor
School of Public Health
tshippee@umn.edu
Mark Snyder
Professor
Psychology
N218 Elliott Hall
msnyder@umn.edu
Joe Soss
Professor
Humphrey School of Public Affairs
261 Humphrey School
jbsoss@umn.edu

Emeriti Faculty

Name Contact
Ron Aminzade
Professor Emeritus
aminzade@umn.edu
Jeffrey Broadbent
Professor Emeritus
broad001@umn.edu
Teresa Gowan
Professor Emeritus
tgowan@umn.edu
Phyllis Moen
Professor Emeritus
1168 Social Sci Bldg
phylmoen@umn.edu
Jeylan Mortimer
Professor Emeritus
morti002@umn.edu
Joel Nelson
Professor Emeritus
nelso004@umn.edu
Ira Reiss
Professor Emeritus
 
Joel Samaha
Professor Emeritus
jbs@umn.edu
David Ward
Professor Emeritus
dward1144@aol.com