Introduction to this Blog

Having studied sociology in high school, college, and graduate school, it is safe to say that I am a sociologist. Indeed, with a PhD in sociology, I am a doctorate level sociologist. Yet, my point is that my title is not the only or main qualification that makes me a sociologist, but it is the way I think. This is why I was drawn to the field in the first place. It is hard for me to leave the "sociological imagination" at home. Thus, not only in my research and teaching do I utilize or "do" sociology, but I view the world and my experiences through a sociological lens.

This blog is my sociological view of the world that includes not only social events that we can all observe, but also two other aspects that I consider to be "living sociology." One, like all others, I am a person who fills or plays numerous roles in society- parent, spouse, daughter, friend, and the so forth. As a gender sociologist, I am particularly attuned to the gendered (and other sociological concepts) that I see and live in these roles. But moreover, why I think the term "living sociology" is appropriate is because I live in an inner-city neighborhood that many may only study. It is a racially and economically diverse neighborhood (for the upper Midwest), where we deal with crime, homeless on the corners, the "urban river" (i.e. the freeway) bordering our house, and language and cultural differences with neighbors. These different factors are not all entirely positive or negative, but instead are what they are. I have been an active member of the neighborhood organizations and associations that address the host of issues the neighborhood faces in our tiny pocket of Minneapolis.

In concluding this introductory post, I do not purpose that what I write is or will be "systematic, rigorous" observations of the social world and my experiences that can be generalized. But nonetheless, I can provide sociological insight about the social world and these experiences.