Featured Faculty

Laura Patterson

Laura received her PhD in Sociology from CU Boulder in 2011 and since then has been teaching Sociology and working in the field of program evaluation.  Her interests include Research Methods (including evaluation methods) and Statistics, Environmental Sociology, and the Sociology of Horror.  Laura also co-hosts a podcast examining the sociological implications of horror films called “Collective Nightmares,” which was recently featured in CU Boulder’s Arts & Sciences magazine (https://www.colorado.edu/asmagazine/2021/10/27/say-hello-our-collective-nightmares-horror-films).  Laura is currently working on developing a Sociology of Horror course for the Fall 2022 semester.

Mathieu Hikaru Desan

Mathieu Hikaru Desan is a historical sociologist with substantive interests in critical social theory and the histories of socialist and fascist thought. He has published on these and other topics in Comparative Studies in Society and History, Sociological Theory, History of the Human Sciences, Political Power and Social Theory, and Thesis Eleven. His current projects include an analysis of different modalities of “critique” in critical theory, a reconceptualization of the problem of “class reductionism” in Marxism, and a book manuscript on the “practical logic of political conversion, ” with a special focus on the case of the French “neosocialists” who became Nazi collaborators during World War II.

Graduate Student Spotlights

Jocelyn West Awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Melissa Villareal received the ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG)

Bertha Bermúdez Tapia awarded the Graduate School Dissertation Completion Fellowship

Bertha Bermúdez Tapia’s important work at the U.S.-Mexico border was highlighted in A&S Magazine!

The University of Colorado Boulder Department of Sociology emphasizes the importance of diverse voices and experiences for strengthening our teaching, research, and service to broader communities. As a department committed to justice and equity, our goal is to create an environment that welcomes and supports everyone. We are a member of the American Sociological Association, abide by its Code of Ethics, and expect our faculty, students, and staff to adhere to its code.

Here is the department of sociology's inclusive excellence plan.  

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