Associate Professor Simona J. Hill

Why I Like Sociology

Sociology is on the cutting edge and is always ready to look at the world through critical eyes. As a discipline, it addresses the most challenging issues that society and individuals face in a rapidly changing world. I can explore diverse subjects such as racism, sexism, violence and mass media, family, conformity, deviance, social justice, and youth culture, to name just a few. I've always wanted to understand the way people exist in collective life--in families, schools, workplaces, and communities. Best of all, sociology allows me to give voice to my observations, in a scholarly way, about social space, difference, and inequality.

Biography

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Ph.D. in Sociology, 1989.
B.A. and M.A. in Sociology awarded concurrently, August 1983.
Interests: social control and deviance, family, racial and ethnic minorities, teaching, urban ethnography, and Women's Studies.

Current Courses

SOCI:231:W1 Social Control
HONS:400:02 Senior Honors Seminar

Courses

SOCI:102 Social Problems
WMST:151 Introduction to Women's Studies
SOCI:200, WMST:200, HONS:300, Cultural Roles of Black Women in the Diaspora
SOCI:231 Social Control
HONS:250 Thought and Social Science (Social Justice and Society)
WMST:334 Gender Stereotypes
SOCI:341 Family
DIVS:400 Diversity Encounters for a Changing World: Models of Impact
SOCI:413 Race, Ethnicity, and Minorities
SOCI:500 Rap, Reggae, Hip, Hop and Calypso Seminar
SOCI:501 Independent Study
SOCI:570, SOCI:571 Practicum

Research

My research addresses questions of gender, diversity, and critical pedagogy (ways of teaching). At this point in my career, I study how privilege influences teaching, ways of combating oppression through education, and third wave feminism. My research interests are varied, but include categories of pedagogy, social justice, and “wanksta” feminism. I am a contributor to the new anthology This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions For Transformation by Gloria Anzaldúa and AnaLouise Keating . For my new research project, I am collecting a series of in-depth interviews on women who have lived celibate lives in Father Divine's Peace Mission movement. I enjoy applied sociology (the practical application of social science research in solving contemporary social problems). In the academic year 2002-2003year, I was co-coordinator (with Dr. Amy Winans) of the Diversity Initiative Project at Susquehanna University . Through a series of workshops and special events, we examined how invisible forms of diversity influence learning and teaching. The work of the Diversity Initiative Project paved the way to this year's Presidential Taskforce on Diversity. Currently, I am organizing the 2004 Mid-Atlantic Women's Studies Association regional conference, “Women in Rural Communities: Maintaining Activism, Cultivating New Experiences, and Advancing Scholarship” which Susquehanna University is hosting this year. Please visit www.susqu.edu/mawsa for more information. Peace!

Curriculum Vitae

Contact

Office: Steele 205
Office Hours: Tuesdays 8:00-9:30 a.m. and 12:30-2:30 p.m..; Wednesdays 3:00-4:00p.m. and by appointment. Scholar House Thursdays 7:30-9:00 a.m.
Office Phone: 570-372-4263
E-mail: hill@susqu.edu

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