RESEARCH, OUTREACH, & ENGAGEMENT

Ensuring A Better Future Here & Afar

Our Research Mission & Values

Inspired by Colorado State University’s land-grant heritage, the Sociology Department support’s CSU’s commitment to excellence and to setting the standard for public research university research for the benefit of the citizens of Colorado, the United States and the world. Sociology at CSU has a long tradition of high quality research in support of effective solutions to complex social, economic development and environmental problems.

  • Our Sociology Department supports four research centers that actively contribute to CSU’s Tier 1 interdisciplinary community of faculty and graduate.
  • Sociology faculty members blend their research, teaching and outreach/engagement, bringing to their classrooms up-to-date knowledge and expertise about current societal problems and providing unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to work with them on research.
  • Sociology faculty are University leaders in “engaged scholarship,” which is encouraged by Colorado State University as a Carnegie Elective Classified University for Engagement. According to Carnegie, “Community engagement describes collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”

“Sociology helps get to the core of scientific questions by offering tools to understand why problems arise in the first place.” – Michael Carolan, Professor of Sociology

Recent Faculty Projects

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Stephanie Malin’s team receives $2 million DOE award to study spent nuclear fuel storage

August 18, 2023

As part of a U.S. Department of Energy study, CSU is partnering with Boise State University to research how to improve the approach of locating these storage facilities by encouraging meaningful community engagement and participation in decision-making to enhance environmental equity.

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CSU’s Food Systems Institute brings interdisciplinary work to one table

May 3, 2022

The new CIOSU will work to advance University efforts toward strengthening the economic, environmental, cultural and social foundations of the state’s local and regional food systems.

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mountain forest landscape

NSF funds Jeni Cross and transdisciplinary sustainability collaborators

March 21, 2022

Breaking free from the silo: Regional network focuses on all parts of the sustainability puzzle Article by Stacy Nick. Originally published on SOURCE. A new Colorado […]

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Prison Agriculture Lab launched by Joshua Sbicca, Becca Chalit Hernandez, Azmal Hossan, Julia Kovacs

December 15, 2021

Joshua Sbicca has launched the Prison Agriculture Lab, a collaborative space for inquiry and action that focuses on agricultural practices within the criminal punishment system. […]

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Recent Books & Publications

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Carrie Chennault and Joshua Sbicca’s prison agriculture research published by Agriculture and Human Values

November 7, 2022

Carrie Chennault (Anthropology and Geography) and Joshua Sbicca (Sociology) have published “Prison agriculture in the United States: racial capitalism and the disciplinary matrix of exploitation […]

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Michael Carolan wins international Business Impact Award for A Decent Meal

October 27, 2022

Michael Carolan received the Frankfurt Book Fair’s getAbstract 2022 International Book Award for Business Impact. Carolan was flown to Germany in October and honored during […]

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Building Something Better book cover

Stephanie Malin releases latest book Building Something Better: Environmental Crises and the Promise of Community Change

May 8, 2022

Stephanie Malin and co-author Meghan Kallman published Building Something Better: Environmental Crises and the Promise of Community Change through Rutgers University Press. In April, CSU’s Center for […]

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Presentations

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Kellie Alexander and Jeff Nowacki’s research on gender & promotion in policing published by Feminist Criminology

December 24, 2021

Ph.D. student Kellie Alexander and Dr. Jeff Nowacki’s research “Women in power? Examining gender and promotion in policing through an organizational perspective” was published December 24, 2021 by Feminist […]

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Jessie on radio show

Jessie Luna visits West Africa as keynote speaker and radio panelist on pesticides & public policies

November 20, 2021

Jessie Luna gave the keynote address at a fall conference in Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa) on Pesticides and Public Policies in the Global South. Her […]

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Michael Carolan keynote speaker for RIHN 15th International Symposium

February 9, 2021

Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) held its 15th International Symposium virtually January 13–16, 2021. This year’s theme was “Transitioning Cultures of Everyday Food […]

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Awards & Honors

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Prabha Unnithan honored at retirement gathering

By Sociology Communications | April 26, 2023

Prabha Unnithan’s retirement gathering was held April 26 at CSU’s Durrell Center. Current faculty, staff and graduate students were joined by emeritus professors and former graduate students in honoring Dr. Prabha Unnithan and Dr. Shashi Unnithan, his wife. Prabha grew up in Malaysia after his parents migrated there from India. After completing high school in […]

Carolan with award

Michael Carolan wins international Business Impact Award for A Decent Meal

By Sociology Communications | October 27, 2022

Michael Carolan received the Frankfurt Book Fair’s getAbstract 2022 International Book Award for Business Impact. Carolan was flown to Germany in October and honored during a formal ceremony. Carolan’s newest book, A Decent Meal: Building Empathy in a Divided America, was selected from 10,000 non-fiction titles. The jury chose it “for its timely relevance that […]

Prabha accepting award

Prabha Unnithan honored by the Academy of Criminal Justice Science

By Sociology Communications | March 26, 2022

The Academy of Criminal Justice Science (ACJS) presented Dr. Prabha Unnithan with the prestigious Gerhard O.W. Mueller Award for Distinguished Contributions to International Criminal Justice at the International Section’s Annual Awards Luncheon during the 2022 ACJS Annual Meeting held in Las Vegas in late March. This annual award is given to an individual who has made an […]

In The Media

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KuoRay Mao featured by CSU SOURCE in CLA’s wicked problems series

By Sociology Communications | March 4, 2021

Article by Jeff Dodge. Originally published on SOURCE. The walls between us: Building and rebuilding trust Liberal arts faculty examine role of U.S. in the world What is the appropriate role of the U.S. on the world stage? It’s a question that has been hotly debated by politicians and scholars alike for decades. The transition […]

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Stephanie Malin interviewed by WELL+GOOD about water quality

By Sociology Communications | March 3, 2021

Story by Seraphina Seow. Originally published by WELL+GOOD Why Access to Safe, Clean Water Is a Wellness Issue Photo: Getty Images / MStudioImages When Malini Ranganathan, PhD, an associate professor at American University and interim faculty director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center, conducted research in Exeter, a flourishing agriculture town in California’s Central Valley, […]

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Matt Greife wins case securing Colorado’s largest settlement for K-9 illegal use of force

By Sociology Communications | February 24, 2021

Faculty member and alum Matt Greife is also an attorney with Baumgartner Law in Denver. His recent legal victory is the largest K-9 unlawful use of force settlement in Colorado history. With assistance from Dr. William Terrill (Arizona State), Matt was able to empirically demonstrate an unreasonable basis for using the force as well as […]

“Sociology: because life is a team sport.”
– Lynn Hempel, Associate Professor of Sociology