SUSAN STALL

Professor of Sociology & Women's Studies

Office: CLS-2089, Phone: (773) 442-4777
E-mail: S-Stall1@neiu.edu

Years at Northeastern Illinois University: 1990 to present

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Education

Ph.D., Sociology, 1991, Iowa State University

M.A., Sociology of Education, 1979, University of CA. Los Angeles

B.S, Social Science, 1969; Elementary Credential, 1970, California State Polytechnic University at Pomona

Professional Interests

I am a community sociologist who is interested in the public application of sociology. In my teaching I attempt to bridge the academy and the community. In my classes, students are introduced to organizational activists, and at times we take urban field trips to better understand community-based social action. I am an advocate of experiential education, and am always searching for more creative ways to present research findings including: theatre, video documentaries, and photographic images.

In my own research I have studied a variety of forms of community-based social activism--from small town rural women to urban public housing activists. I also look for sociology in unusual or "strange" places'for example, in an exploration of the social issues embedded in selected detective fiction by feminists and authors of color (www.neiu.edu/~mystery), and my current case study of one block in the racially integrated community of Oak Park.

Teaching Interests

Sociological Practice and Civic Engagement, Youth and Youth Culture, Gender and the Built Environment, Community Organizing and Grassroots Activism, Contemporary Social Issues.

Selective Publications

• The Dignity of Resistance: Women Residents' Activism in Chicago Public Housing. With Roberta Feldman. Cambridge University Press. 2004. Paperback, 2006. Click here to view excerpts from the book.
• "Toward a Gender Analysis of Community Organizing Models: Liminality and the Intersection of Spheres," With Randy Stoecker in Community Organizing and Community Building for Health, edited by Meredith Minkler. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, pp. 196-217, 2004. Click here to read the paper online.
• 'The Community Needs to Be Built by Us': Women Organizing In Chicago Public Housing," With R. Feldman and P. Wright in Nancy Naples (ed.) Community Activism and Feminist Politics: Organizing Across Race, Class, and Gender, Routledge, pp. 257-274, 1998.
• "Special Issue on Experiential Sociology." Edited with L. Scheible. Teaching Sociology, 26(4). 1998.

Awards

• EDRA/Places Research Award, Environmental Design Research Association Award for The Dignity of Resistance: Women Residents' Activism in Chicago Public Housing, Fall, 2005.
• Feminist Activism Award, Sociologists for Women in Society (In recognition of work and advocacy to improve the lives of women), 1996.

Grants

• Illinois Humanities Council Grant for "Gender, Multiculturalism, and Detective Fiction," $10,000.00 for Summer and Fall. 2004.
• Institute Award in the Urban Research and Curriculum Transformation Faculty Summer Institute, "Engaging Community Voices through Participatory Research: Developing Curricula, "Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, the Field Museum, Chicago, IL, $4,000.00. Summer, 2003.

Video Development

• Fall, 2006 to Present Transitions and Challenges: NEIU’s El Centro’s Latino Students (with Cyndi Moran and Maria Luna-Duarte).
• Fall 2005 Igniting Civic Engagement Through Service Learning (with Cyndi Moran).
• Spring 2003 Tolerance, It's Got to be Taught (with Cyndi Moran).

Presentations

• "Igniting Civic Engagement Through Service Learning," Linking Adults with Community: A Symposium on Adult Education & Service Learning at DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 2005.
• "It's Academic, My Dear Watson: Crime Fiction in the Classroom," Bouchercon International Mystery Conference, Chicago, IL.2005
• "The Life Trajectory of an Academic Career." Sociologists for Women in Society's Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2005.
• "Going Public: Participatory Action Research as Object and Method of Teaching Sociology and Transforming Communities" (With Greg Scott, and Alex Trillo). American Sociological Association Meeting, San Francisco, CA., 2004
• "Organizing Members to Organize Communities Around Adequacy & Equity," National Educators Association (NEA) Regional Leadership Conference, St. Petersburg, FL. (May); Oklahoma City, OK. (January) 2004.
• "Urban Project Exit Strategies Workshop," International Conference: Revitalizing Urban Neighborhoods, Copenhagen. 2001.

Professional Involvement

National

• American Sociological Association (ASA)
  Distinguished Career Award for the Practice of Sociology Selection Committee
  (2006-2009)

Regional

• Midwest Sociological Society (MSS)
  President-Elect, 2006-2007
  Program Committee, Chair 2006-2007 http://www.themss.org/
  Board of Directors and Presidential Committee (2007-2010)
  
• Illinois State Representative, 2002-2004

External Service/Outreach Activities

• Presentation to Community Groups, "Capacity-Building Research with Communities," Presented at the Field Museum's Center for Cultural Understanding and Change. June, 2004.

Community Involvement

• Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, Oak Park, IL *Steering Committee, 2002-2004
• Evaluation Researcher, Greater School Improvement Campaign, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)., 1999.