Full Time Faculty

Dr. Leslie Gordon Simons, Meigs Professor of Sociology and Distinguished Scholar with the Owen's Institute of Social and Behavioral Research, joined the University of Georgia faculty in 2002. Leslie's primary areas of expertise are Family and Criminology. Her program of research focuses on the socio-contextual predictors and consequences of various family processes as well as the mediators and moderators of the relationship between…

Leslie Gordon Simons
Dr. Jody Clay-Warner, Meigs Professor of Sociology (view Dr. Clay-Warner's Meigs video) and Director of the Owens Institute for Behavioral Research, has been at the University of Georgia since 1998. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Emory University, and her specialty areas include social psychology, criminology, and gender.  She is the co-editor of Social Psychology Quarterly and the co-director of the Laboratory for the Study of…

Jody Clay-Warner
Dr. James E. Coverdill, Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Sociology (view Dr. Coverdill's Meigs video) has been at the University of Georgia since receiving a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University.  One main prong of his research explores the ways culture, social organization, and place (especially the rural/urban divide) intertwine to shape the work and training of surgeons.  This research is grounded in…

James E. Coverdill
Sarah K.S. Shannon joined the UGA Sociology Department in 2013 after receiving her PhD (and MSW) from the University of Minnesota.  Sarah's research focuses on systems of criminal punishment and their effects on social life. Her interdisciplinary research has been published in top journals in several fields including sociology, criminology, public health, social work, and geography. Sarah is also an award-winning teacher, having received…

Sarah Shannon
Joseph C. Hermanowicz (American pronunciation Her/mán/ō/whiz; alternatively Heirman/ó/vich) specializes in the study of higher education.  His work is connected to several substantive areas: professions and careers, organizational culture, life course studies, and the sociology of science.  Methodologically, Hermanowicz has helped to develop longitudinal applications to qualitatively-based interviewing.  His studies of science and…

Joseph C. Hermanowicz
Dr. Mark Cooney, Professor of Sociology, has been at the University of Georgia since 1991. He received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Virginia in 1991. In addition, Dr. Cooney holds a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Harvard Law School, received in 1988. His departmental specialty area is crime, law, and deviance. Dr. Cooney is interested in moral conflict, particularly violence. His publications have addressed a variety…

Mark Cooney
Dr. Pablo Lapegna obtained his Licenciatura in Sociology from the University of Buenos Aires, and his PhD in Sociology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He teaches and writes about social movements, environmental issues, critical agrarian studies, and global processes, with a focus on South America and using qualitative methods (see "Research" below for publications). He holds a joint appointment with the Latin American and…

Pablo Lapegna
Dawn T. Robinson is Professor of Sociology and Distinguished Scholar in the Owens Institute of Behavioral Research at the University of Georgia where she founded and co-directs the Laboratory for the Study of Social Interaction and the Computational Social Science Work Group and serves as Director of Faculty Development for the Owens Institute. Dr. Robinson received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University and held an NIMH postdoctoral…

Dawn T Robinson
Justine E. Tinkler is a Professor of Sociology. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University in 2007.  Her research is unified by an interest in examining the micro-level processes that create and reinforce gender and race inequality in both formal and informal institutions of social control. She employs experimental, survey-based, and qualitative research methods to provide empirical evidence for advancing theory in social…

Justine Tinkler
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