Our Social World

Jeanne H. Ballantine is Emerita Professor of Sociology at Wright State University, a state university of about 17,000 students in Ohio. She has also taught at several 4-year colleges, including an "alternative" college and a traditionally Black college, and at international programs in universities abroad. She has been teaching introductory sociology for more than 30 years with a mission to introduce the uninitiated to the field and to help students see the usefulness and value in sociology. She has been active in the teaching movement, shaping curriculum, writing and presenting research on teaching, and offering workshops and consulting in regional, national, and international forums. She is a Fulbright Senior Scholar and serves as a Departmental Resources Group consultant and evaluator. Jeanne has written several textbooks, all with the goal of reaching the student audience. As the original director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Wright State University, she scoured the literature on student learning and served as a mentor to teachers in a wide variety of disciplines. Local, regional, and national organizations have honored her for her teaching and for her contributions to helping others become effective teachers. In 1986, the American Sociological Association's Section on Undergraduate Education (now called the Section on Teaching and Learning in Sociology) recognized her with the Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Teaching of Sociology. In 2004, she was honored by the American Sociological Association with its Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award. In 2010, the North Central Sociological Association awarded her the J. Milton Yinger Award for Distinguished Career in Sociology. Keith A. Roberts (1947-2018) was Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Hanover College in Indiana. In 2000, he received the Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology from the ASA Section on Teaching and Learning, and in 2010, his work in the scholarship of teaching and learning was recognized with the American Sociological Association's Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award. Kathleen Odell Korgen is Professor of Sociology at William Paterson University, a comprehensive university in Wayne, New Jersey. Kathleen enjoys teaching her students that sociology is a remarkably useful discipline and highlights how "Sociologists in Action" make a positive impact on society. Her published works on race relations and racial identity include From Black to Biracial, Crossing the Racial Divide, Multiracial Americans and Social Class, Race Policy and Multiracial Americans. Her teaching texts, in addition to Sociology in Action, include Our Social World, The Engaged Sociologist, Sociologists in Action,, and Social Problems in Action. Kathleen is also the editor of The Cambridge Handbook of Sociology. Kathleen works as a consultant for other sociology departments as a member of the American Sociological Association Departmental Resources Group and received William Paterson University's award for Excellence in Scholarship/Creative Expression in 2006 and the university's award for Excellence in Teaching in 2014.