Karen M. McCormack
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Office: Knapton 302
Office Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays 11:00-12:30
Phone: 508-286-3643
Email: mccormack_karen@wheatonma.edu
Degrees
Ph.D., M.A., Boston College
B.A., Clark University
Main Interests
I am interested in inequality in all forms, with a focus on the United States. My research and teaching revolve around the areas of class, race, gender, and sexuality.
Research Interests
Currently, I working on a project that examines the consequences of home loss from foreclosures resulting from high risk lending practices. These high risk loans were disproportionately sold to people from racial minority groups and to single parents. But what happens to these people when they lose their homes? What resources are available for them? What does it mean to lose a home? And is there a disparity by race, gender, or marital status in the ability to re-establish a home and some sense of economic security?
Teaching Interests
SOC 190: Self & Society
SOC 230: Race & Ethnicity
SOC 275: Media & Society
SOC 298: Sociology of Sexuality
SOC 301: Sociological Theory
SOC 302: Research Methods
SOC 320: Race,Gender, & Poverty
SOC 362: Fieldwork in Formal Organizations
SOC 402: Senior Research Seminar
Student Projects
2008/2009 Wheaton Research Partnership, Joe Donahue. Research on the effects of Foreclosures, tracing the history of discriminatory housing practices and the implications for homeownership today.
Publications
2009. "The Place of Resistance", in Studies in Law, Politics, and Society.
2006. "Resisting the Welfare Mother" with updated afterward. In Culture, Power, and History: Studies in Critical Sociology, edited by Stephen Pfohl, et. al. Brill Publishing, pages 261-291.
2005. "Stratified Reproduction and Poor Women's Resistance." Gender & Society 19: 660-679.
2004. "Resisting the Welfare Mother: The Power of Welfare Discourse and Tactics of Resistance." Critical Sociology, volume 30(4): 354-383.
Creative Work