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Professor of Sociology |
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| Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University
Fields: Community, Environmental Sociology, Social Psychology, Social Movements, Research Methods |
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| Office Location: 131 Grise Hall |
My work focuses on making sure that communities develop in sustainable ways that enhance their citizens' lives. For a complete list of my accomplishments, check out my curriculum vitae.
Here is my advising syllabus. Please take a look.
Here are my course syllabi:
 | Sociology 100: Introduction to Sociology |
| Sociology 210: Interactionism: Self and Society |
| Sociology 240: Global Social Problems |
| Sociology 245: Sociology of Popular Culture |
| Sociology 270: Introduction to Community, Environment, and Development |
| Sociology 302: Strategies of Social Research |
| Sociology 304: Sociological Theory |
| Sociology 312: Collective Behavior and Social Movements |
| Sociology 346: Disaster, Risk, and Society |
| Sociology 360: Community in Rural and Urban Settings |
| Sociology 372: Human-Wildlife Conflict |
| Sociology 452: Social Change |
| Sociology 470: Environmental Sociology |
| Sociology 470G: Environmental Sociology |
| Sociology 505: Proseminar |
| Sociology 512: Graduate Social Theory |
| Sociology 513: Methods of Social Research |
| Sociology 515: Advanced Data Analysis |
| Sociology 542: Community |
| Sociology 545: Rural Poverty |
| Sociology 561: Advanced Social Interaction |
| Sociology 571: Sociology of Rural Education |
| Criminology 572: Environmental Criminology |
Other information for these classes can be found below.
Did I miss anything?
Resume Advice:
Helpful Hints for Good Resumes
Powerpoint slides for Ch. 1 and 2
Powerpoint slides for Research Designs
Powerpoint slides for Paper Writing
Powerpoint slides for Quant Methods Chapter
Powerpoint slides for interviews
Powerpoint slides for questionnaires
Powerpoint slides for question wording
How to write a quantitative methods paper.
Sullvan Chapter on Designing Questions -- Part 1
Sullivan Chapter on Designing Questions -- Part 2
Links for Symbolic Interactionists
Klandermans article for Friday
Collective Behavior Compendium
Collective Behavior and Social Psychology of Institutions
Eugene Havens Center for the Study of Social Structure and Social Change -- Named in honor of the late professor of rural sociology Eugene Havens, the Center is dedicated to promoting critical social thought throughout the social sciences and humanities. At the site, visitors can learn about the annual Radfest gathering (which is a social forum for activists, policymakers, and academics in the Midwest), the Real Utopias project, and register for some of the center's upcoming conferences. The real treat of the site is the audio archive, which contains talks by various visiting scholars on a host of relevant topics, such as labor unions, social justice movements around the world, and critical race theory.
Free Press: Beginner's Guide to Media Reform -- The Free Press website is a clearinghouse of online material about the U.S. media reform movement. Some of the highlights of the site include profiles of all the organizations active in media reform, a detailed Learn About Media section with annotated background information, and original editorial content. One section that visitors will definitely want to take a close look at is the Media Policy area. Here users can receive current news information about the debates over media ownership as reflected by policy making decisions within the FCC, and also throughout the United States, and across the globe. The section dedicated to organizations is quite well-developed, and allows visitors to learn about various specific organizations interested in media reform, and how they may become involved with their work.
Before and After Disasters: Federal Funding for Cultural Institutions -- First created in 1992, this guide is intended to help cultural institutions prepare for emergencies and disasters that may strike their regions. This latest version of the report, prepared by FEMA and the National Endowment for the Arts, provides summary descriptions and contact information for 15 federal grant and loan programs. The report also includes an additional number of sources of federal assistance for preparedness, mitigation, and response. Within each resource listing, the report also provides information on which activities might be eligible for support and a listing of potential award amounts. This latest version also contains a host of online resources that will be most helpful, including links to the American Institute for Conservation and the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts.
Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma -- Currently located at the University of Washington, the Center is a “global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy.” On their site, visitors can learn about fellowship opportunities, read fact sheets about trauma research, and peruse their in-house blog. Journalists will appreciate the “Quick Tips” section on the homepage, as it covers a broad range of subjects, such as how to cover disasters, murder, suicide, and domestic violence in a sensitive manner. The site also has a rather impressive series of case studies on reporting on such events as the Columbine massacre and the genocide in Rwanda.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of South Carolina -- As with many interesting products of material culture, Sanborn Fire Insurance maps found themselves a new life as generations of historians, architects, and planners have rediscovered them over the years. The maps were originally created for insurance underwriters in the middle of the nineteenth century, and by World War II, the company had surveyed over 13,000 towns in the United States. This particular collection comes from the Digital Collections division of the University of South Carolina Libraries and includes some 580 maps of various cities in the state. Using the search engine, visitors can look for maps by city, year of publication, or county. One particular interesting wrinkle of the collection is that there are 232 previously unpublished maps included in this digital collection.
Pandemic Flu -- With the recent rise in flu outbreaks both across the United States and the rest of the world, the United States government has developed a broad range of strategies for keeping citizens up to date on the current status of these developments. The Pandemic Flu website is the official US government website for information on the subject (along with coverage of avian influenza) and should be of interest both to the general public and to those working in the fields of public health and policy. First-time visitors may want to begin by looking through the general information area on the homepage. Here they will find answers to basic questions as “What is an influenza pandemic?” and also be able to peruse materials about avian flu and vaccines and medications designed to treat both conditions. Most visitors will also want to learn about the official national strategy designed to both prepare and respond to an influenza pandemic. This document is available from the site’s homepage in its entirety, as is information about what agencies (nationally and internationally) are monitoring outbreaks of these diseases.
Pompeii: Stories from an Eruption -- Described by Pliny the Younger in part as “a fearful black cloud”, the massive eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 wiped out the settlement of Pompeii. Of course, a number of other small towns were also greatly affected, many of which also had fine architecture and advanced forms of public infrastructure, such as roadways and bridges. The story of the explosion and the subsequent archaeological digs in the area is the focus on this interactive online exhibit created by the Field Museum. A good place to start is the interactive timeline which allows users to move through the events of that fateful day to learn about the progression of the volcanic activity and the reaction by local residents. After looking over the timeline, visitors can learn about each of the cities affected by the eruption, including Oplontis, Herculaneum, and Terzigno.
Census of Agriculture -- Census of Agriculture is taken every 5 years in years ending in 2 and 7.
County and City Data Book -- A Comprehensive volume of statistical data, although not every city and town covered.
Kentucky Information in Cyberspace
Kentucky
State Development Districts
Profiles in America -- http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/ProfilesOfAmerica/
Resources
in Economic Development --
Vital
Statistics from
NEWSPAPERS -- What's the name of the local newspaper? Find it here:
NewsLink: http://newslink.org/statnews.html
U. S. Newspaper List: http://www.usnpl.com/
Yahoo! News
Directory: http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/Newspapers/By_Region/U_S__States/
The Windows on the Future article for the FINAL EXAM
Environmental Justice Evidence (Powerpoints)
Moments in Environmentalism
Ural Mountains Nuclear Disaster
Center for Environmental Health and Justice
Exxon Valdez
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Food & Society -- With an increased concern over the nature of food production across the globe, it would make sense that a number of organizations and foundations would see fit to address these conditions through any number of crucial initiatives. Launched in 2000, Food & Society is one such initiative. Created by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the purpose of the initiative is “to support the creation and expansion of community-based food systems that are locally owned and controlled, environmentally sound, and health promoting.” On their homepage, visitors can sign up to receive news updates and look through a calendar of upcoming events. Another highlight of the homepage is the “Food in the News”, which features the latest information on such topics as farmers’ markets and recent reports, such as “Perceptions of the U.S. Food System: What and How Americans Think About Their Food”. |
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International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements -- The demand for products grown under certified organic conditions continues to increase, and a number of organizations around the globe remain committed to this idea. One such organization is the International Federation of Organic Agriculture. From their homepage, visitors can learn about their organization, their sponsored events, and their advocacy efforts. Of course, those persons doing research on this field will want to take a look at their most recent report, The World of Organic Agriculture: Statistics and Emerging Trends 2005, which is available here. Those persons who may not be entirely familiar with the basic facts of what constitutes organic agriculture will definitely want ot take a look at the “Organic Facts” section of the site. Here they can learn about the basic principles of organic agriculture, along with materials on food security, food quality, and the organic certification process. |
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Out of Balance: Marketing of Soda, Candy, Snacks and Fast Foods Drowns Out Healthful Messages -- Despite the best intentions of many public health educators and concerned parents, the obesity problem in the United States continues to grow. A number of organizations have been interested in looking at the role of advertising as a part of this process, and this particular 31-page report on the subject will be of interest to many. Jointly published by the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network and the Consumers Union (the organization which publishes Consumer Reports), the report looks at the rather ubiquitous nature of advertising by the food, beverage, and restaurant industries as compared to the relatively small amount spent on communicating the importance of eating five or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day. The report contains a number of helpful graphs and charts, along with a set of policy recommendations at the conclusion of the report. |
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World Agricultural Information Centre Portal -- Disseminating information about any subject to a broad range of constituents and concerned parties and organizations can be a formidable task, no matter what the medium might be. This website is designed to achieve just that goal for agriculture, and it has a mandate from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. The World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) is designed to provide a framework for disseminating agricultural information. In many ways functions as a portal, collecting links to relevant websites and documents through a series of topical and subtopical headings. Additionally, visitors can take advantage of a sophisticated search engine offered here, or just browse around through such topics as agroindustry and forest management. |
For Folk interested in China
The East Asian Collection -- The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections initiative continues to surprise and delight visitors to their collections. Their latest offering is certainly no different; it includes historical images that present a visual archive of 20th century East Asian cultural heritage. The collection is actually comprised of two subcollections, namely the Holmes Welch Collection and the China in the 30s Collection. Holmes Welch was a scholar of modern Chinese religions whose family donated his library of primary photographic materials of religious life in China and Hong Kong to the University of Wisconsin after he died in 1981. The China in the 1930s Collection contains a number of images connected with the military, which are mostly associated with the Japanese invasion of China and the Sino-Japanese Conflict.
Career Services will also be hosting a monthly chat room on a variety of career planning topics and distributing Career Compass, our monthly eNewsletter. Chat and eNewsletter publishing dates to be announced.
Further information can be found at the Career Center Web site: http://www.wku.edu/CareerServ/
| Volunteering and Nonprofit Careers |
| Australian Help |
| Campus California TG -- The Campus California Teacher Group is a non-profit organization training and placing volunteers to work at humanitarian and environmental projects in Africa and Central America. |
| Geekcorps -- helps people in communities around the world to gain access to information technology and to build businesses on the web. |
| Global Citizens Network -- seeks to create a network of people who are committed to the shared values of peace, justice, tolerance, cross-cultural understanding and global cooperation, to the preservation of indigenous cultures, traditions and ecologies, and to the enhancement of the quality of life around the world. GCN has a Project Site at Lucky Fork in Owsley County. |
| Global Volunteer Network -- offers volunteer opportunities in community projects throughout the world. They currently provide volunteer programs through our partner organizations in China, Ecuador, Ghana, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Thailand, and Uganda. |
| Global Volunteers -- founded in 1984 with the goal of helping to establish a foundation for peace through mutual international understanding. |
| Idealist.org -- a searchable index of over 26,000 nonprofit and community organizations in 153 countries. |
| Passport in Time -- a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program of the USDA Forest Service |
| Sousson Foundation -- organizes volunteers to help bridge the gap where government resources are unable to meet the growing need for preservation and rehabilitation of fragile wilderness ecosystems within our National Parks. |
| Volunteers for Peace -- provides programs where people from diverse backgrounds can work together to help overcome the need, violence and environmental decay facing our planet. |
| Volunteers
International -- another up to date search site for international
volunteer and internship opportunities. |
ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE?
The deadline for voter registration is Oct 4 in Kentucky and Tennessee. Voting is one of your most important community duties and this year it's more important than ever. Go here to download a registration form for Kentucky. or Go here to download a registration form for Tennessee.
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An Image Bank for Everyday Revolutionary Life -- Mexican Muralist David Afaro Siqueiros, (1896-1974), collected over 11,000 photographic images as research materials for his artwork, often sketching on top of photographs, and asking photographers to stage scenes that would later appear in his work. Siqueiros wanted this archive made available to other artists for inspiration, and wrote, "Nothing can give the [artist] of today the essential feeling of the modern era's dynamic and subversive elements more than the photographic document." The Siqueiros Photographic Archive at the Sala de Arte Publico follows Siqueiros' wishes by providing this web-accessible image bank. Approximately half of the archive is now online, organized according to Siqueiros' original categories, which include Architecture, Objects, People and Historical Figures, Models, Workers & Industry, and Personal Photography, the largest category, with over 1600 images. |
Last Revised: Tuesday, January 17, 2023
Department of Sociology, Potter College of Arts and
Sciences, Western Kentucky University
Comments to Douglas.Smith@wku.edu