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 an on-going case study of one block in the racially integrated community of Oak Park.

Teaching Interests

Sociological Practice and Civic Engagement, Gender and Organizations, Youth and Youth Culture, Gender, Race & Class and the Built Environment, Community Organizing and Grassroots Activism.

Selective Publications

• “Community organizing or organizing community? Gender and the crafts of empowerment;”  With Randy Stoecker in The Community Development Reader, edited by James DeFilippis and Susan Saegert.  New York: Routledge, 2008.
• 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.
• “Case Studies of Successful PAR Projects: Researchers: Susan Stall, Roberta Feldman,” Collaborative Research: A Practical Introduction to Participatory Action Research (PAR) for Communities and Scholars.  Field Museum: Center for Cultural Understanding and Change, 2006.
• "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).

Performance

• Jeffers, Glenn and Barr, David (Collaborators with Susan Stall), “A Neighborhood Fight, “ David Barr & Glenn Jeffers’ Play adaptation of The Dignity of Resistance by Susan Stall and Roberta Feldman (in collaboration with Susan Stall). Chicago Humanities Festival, Peace and War: Facing Human Conflict. November 4, 2006. The Saturday Series, Chicago Dramatists. July 29, 2006.

Selective 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/
  Conference Organizer, Theme: Making Sociology More Public, March 27-30, 2008; St.Louis, Missouri.
• Board of Directors and Presidential Committee (2007-2010)
• Illinois State Representative, 2002-2004

External Service/Outreach Activities

• “Women of Mystery,” Teacher-Scholar, Illinois Humanities Council True Learning, True Teaching Weekend Residential Seminar for Illinois Teachers. Starved Rock State Park, Utica, IL., March 24-26, 2006.
• “Enhancing Action in Participatory Action Research” Workshop Presenter: Field Museum, Center for Cultural Understanding and Change.  February 6, 2006
• “Gender, Multiculturalism and Detective Fiction.” Workshop Organizer and Presenter, University of Michigan at Dearborn, Michigan. November 9, 2005
• 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

• Bryn Mawr Action Group, Chicago, NEIU Representative, Committee Member 2007-Present.
• Chicago Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS)  
• 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.