The Sociology Department brings together a faculty of nationally recognized scholars who are committed to teaching with talented undergraduates.
Dan Chambliss, Ph.D., Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology
(dchambli@hamilton.edu) A member of the Hamilton faculty since 1981, Chambliss earned a master's and Ph.D. from Yale University. His research interests are formal organizations, social psychology and research methods. His 1996 book, Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses and the Social Organization of Ethics, won the Eliot Freidson Prize in 1998 for the best book in the preceding two years in medical sociology from the American Sociological Association. He is also the winner of the ASA's Theory Prize for his work on organizational excellence. Chambliss is also the author of Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, which was named the 1991 Book of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and co-author, with Russell Schutt of Making Sense of the Social World, a research methods textbook currently in its third edition. Chambliss is currently director for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Project for Assessment of Liberal Arts Education at Hamilton. He was appointed to the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professorship in 2005.
Stephen Ellingson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology
(sellings@hamilton.edu ) Stephen Ellingson came to Hamilton from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif., where he was assistant professor of the sociology of religion. He earned a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago. His research interests are the sociology of religion, sociology of culture, and social movements and collective behavior. His current research, funded by the Louisville Institute, examines the relationships among religious and non-religious environmental organizations. He is the author of The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-First Century (University of Chicago Press, 2007), which won the 2007 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is also co-author of The Sexual Organization of the City (University of Chicago Press, 2004); co-editor of Religion and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Routledge, 2002) and co-author of Organizational Ethics in Health Care: Principles, Cases and Practical Solutions (Jossey-Bass, 2001). He has also taught at the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Religion, Ethics and Health Care and the University of Chicago. Ellingson has served as book review co-editor and associate editor of the American Journal of Sociology.
Dennis Gilbert, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology
(dgilbert@hamilton.edu) Gilbert, who joined the Hamilton faculty in 1976, earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Cornell University. His primary research interests are Latin American and American class system. Gilbert is the author of The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality (Sage, 2008), Mexico's Middle Class in the Neoliberal Era (University of Arizona Press, 2007), Sandinistas: the Party and the Revolution (Blackwell, 1988), and La Oligarquía Peruana: Historia de Tres familias (Horizonte, 1982). In 1990, he was research director to the successful congressional campaign of Bernard Sanders (Independent-VT) and later served as legislative assistant in Representative Sanders' congressional office. In collaboration with the polling firm Zogby International, Gilbert and his Hamilton students have conducted a series of widely reported national surveys, most examining the views of high school students, on such topics as gun control, gay rights, abortion, Muslims in America, and patriotism.
George Hobor, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology
(ghobor@hamilton.edu) George Hobor has a master's degree in political science from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Arizona. He has spent the last two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in Saint Louis, where he researched the political, social and economic mechanisms that account for successful industrial transformation in Rust Belt cities. Prior to this fellowship Hobor worked at the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. At the Urban Institute, he was part of a collaborative research project on grant-making expenditures and executive compensation patterns of large foundations. His current interests are in corporate commitment to place and social entrepreneurship.
Jenny Irons, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology
Jenny Irons completed work for her master’s degree and Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. She has published articles in Gender & Society and Mobilization. Irons' research interests include race, gender, social movements and culture. Her current research focuses on the relationship between the state, social movements and race. Irons is the author of a book forthcoming with Vanderbilt University Press, Reconstituting Whiteness: The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. In 2006 Irons received the John R. Hatch Class of 1925 Excellence in Teaching Award.
Isabel Martinez, Consortium for Faculty Diversity Fellow in Sociology
(imartine@hamilton.edu) Isabel Martinez is a doctoral candidate at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, in the program of sociology of education. Long involved with issues of educational attainment in Latina/o communities, her current research examines the transnational familial, labor and educational experiences of unaccompanied Mexican immigrant youth in New York City. Previously, she taught at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the CUNY system in the Department of Latina/o/Latin American Studies. She has been a Dissertation Fellow for the Spencer Foundation, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and currently, is a 2009-2010 Consortium for Faculty Diversity Scholar.
Yvonne Zylan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology
(yzylan@hamilton.edu) Yvonne Zylan, assistant professor of sociology, earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University, a Ph.D. in sociology from New York University and a juris doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law. She has published articles in the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Gender & Society, Social Forces, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. She is currently working on a book-length study of sexuality, social theory, and the law, titled States of Passion: Law, Identity, and the Social Construction of Desire, which will be published by Oxford University Press. Her areas of scholarship include law and society, sexuality, social theory, political sociology, and the state and social policy. Prior to joining the Hamilton faculty, she practiced law for three years in the litigation department at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
We believe that intellectual life should be both serious and fun. The sociology program provides training in essential principles and standards of scientific and statistical research, but it also encourages original, creative thinking. Sociology is about making connections and looking past the surface.
Honoring Excellence
The Hamilton program produces a senior fellow — a top honors student who undertakes a single project for his or her entire senior year — every other year, on average. Our senior fellows reflect the innovative curriculum and high standards of the sociology program as a whole.
Renowned Teaching Scholars
The College's emphasis on strong communication skills is underscored by the sociology faculty's ongoing commitment to publishing in a variety of fields. Faculty members have written and edited eight books, ranging from a highly regarded textbook to award-winning studies of medical ethics and Olympic athletes to works on social inequality, sexuality and religion.
Youth Polls
Many students have the opportunity to work on one of sociology's front lines by studying public opinion polling and conducting surveys in collaboration with the locally based Zogby International polling organization. Recent surveys, widely reported in the national media, have covered such topics as gun control, gay rights, Muslims in America and patriotism.
Endless Possibilities
Hamilton's program offers training for researchers, but another key mission is to encourage a high level of analytical, critical and creative thinking. These are abilities that produce leaders in a wide range of fields. Recent sociology graduates have found success in health care, law, entertainment finance, educational psychology, labor relations, social work and teaching at a variety of levels.
We believe that intellectual life should be both serious and fun. The sociology program provides training in essential principles and standards of scientific and statistical research, but it also encourages original, creative thinking. Sociology is about making connections and looking past the surface.
Honoring Excellence
The Hamilton program produces a senior fellow — a top honors student who undertakes a single project for his or her entire senior year — every other year, on average. Our senior fellows reflect the innovative curriculum and high standards of the sociology program as a whole.
Renowned Teaching Scholars
The College's emphasis on strong communication skills is underscored by the sociology faculty's ongoing commitment to publishing in a variety of fields. Faculty members have written and edited eight books, ranging from a highly regarded textbook to award-winning studies of medical ethics and Olympic athletes to works on social inequality, sexuality and religion.
Youth Polls
Many students have the opportunity to work on one of sociology's front lines by studying public opinion polling and conducting surveys in collaboration with the locally based Zogby International polling organization. Recent surveys, widely reported in the national media, have covered such topics as gun control, gay rights, Muslims in America and patriotism.
Endless Possibilities
Hamilton's program offers training for researchers, but another key mission is to encourage a high level of analytical, critical and creative thinking. These are abilities that produce leaders in a wide range of fields. Recent sociology graduates have found success in health care, law, entertainment finance, educational psychology, labor relations, social work and teaching at a variety of levels.
We believe that intellectual life should be both serious and fun. The sociology program provides training in essential principles and standards of scientific and statistical research, but it also encourages original, creative thinking. Sociology is about making connections and looking past the surface.
Honoring Excellence
The Hamilton program produces a senior fellow — a top honors student who undertakes a single project for his or her entire senior year — every other year, on average. Our senior fellows reflect the innovative curriculum and high standards of the sociology program as a whole.
Renowned Teaching Scholars
The College's emphasis on strong communication skills is underscored by the sociology faculty's ongoing commitment to publishing in a variety of fields. Faculty members have written and edited eight books, ranging from a highly regarded textbook to award-winning studies of medical ethics and Olympic athletes to works on social inequality, sexuality and religion.
Youth Polls
Many students have the opportunity to work on one of sociology's front lines by studying public opinion polling and conducting surveys in collaboration with the locally based Zogby International polling organization. Recent surveys, widely reported in the national media, have covered such topics as gun control, gay rights, Muslims in America and patriotism.
Endless Possibilities
Hamilton's program offers training for researchers, but another key mission is to encourage a high level of analytical, critical and creative thinking. These are abilities that produce leaders in a wide range of fields. Recent sociology graduates have found success in health care, law, entertainment finance, educational psychology, labor relations, social work and teaching at a variety of levels.
We believe that intellectual life should be both serious and fun. The sociology program provides training in essential principles and standards of scientific and statistical research, but it also encourages original, creative thinking. Sociology is about making connections and looking past the surface.
Honoring Excellence
The Hamilton program produces a senior fellow — a top honors student who undertakes a single project for his or her entire senior year — every other year, on average. Our senior fellows reflect the innovative curriculum and high standards of the sociology program as a whole.
Renowned Teaching Scholars
The College's emphasis on strong communication skills is underscored by the sociology faculty's ongoing commitment to publishing in a variety of fields. Faculty members have written and edited eight books, ranging from a highly regarded textbook to award-winning studies of medical ethics and Olympic athletes to works on social inequality, sexuality and religion.
Youth Polls
Many students have the opportunity to work on one of sociology's front lines by studying public opinion polling and conducting surveys in collaboration with the locally based Zogby International polling organization. Recent surveys, widely reported in the national media, have covered such topics as gun control, gay rights, Muslims in America and patriotism.
Endless Possibilities
Hamilton's program offers training for researchers, but another key mission is to encourage a high level of analytical, critical and creative thinking. These are abilities that produce leaders in a wide range of fields. Recent sociology graduates have found success in health care, law, entertainment finance, educational psychology, labor relations, social work and teaching at a variety of levels.
We believe that intellectual life should be both serious and fun. The sociology program provides training in essential principles and standards of scientific and statistical research, but it also encourages original, creative thinking. Sociology is about making connections and looking past the surface.
Honoring Excellence
The Hamilton program produces a senior fellow — a top honors student who undertakes a single project for his or her entire senior year — every other year, on average. Our senior fellows reflect the innovative curriculum and high standards of the sociology program as a whole.
Renowned Teaching Scholars
The College's emphasis on strong communication skills is underscored by the sociology faculty's ongoing commitment to publishing in a variety of fields. Faculty members have written and edited eight books, ranging from a highly regarded textbook to award-winning studies of medical ethics and Olympic athletes to works on social inequality, sexuality and religion.
Youth Polls
Many students have the opportunity to work on one of sociology's front lines by studying public opinion polling and conducting surveys in collaboration with the locally based Zogby International polling organization. Recent surveys, widely reported in the national media, have covered such topics as gun control, gay rights, Muslims in America and patriotism.
Endless Possibilities
Hamilton's program offers training for researchers, but another key mission is to encourage a high level of analytical, critical and creative thinking. These are abilities that produce leaders in a wide range of fields. Recent sociology graduates have found success in health care, law, entertainment finance, educational psychology, labor relations, social work and teaching at a variety of levels.
AFTER HAMILTON
Hamilton graduates who concentrated in Sociology are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
Associate Photo Editor, Martha Stewart Living/Weddings
Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Albuquerque, N.M.
Deputy Director of Development, U.S. Fund for Unicef
Director of Finance, Health Volunteers Overseas
Social Worker, Jewish Child Care Association
School Psychologist, Cresskill Board of Education
Social Worker/Child & Family Therapist, Child Guidance Center of S. Connecticut
Senior Financial Analyst, Merck & Co., Inc.
Teacher/Magnet Team Specialist, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School
A member of the Hamilton faculty since 1981, Chambliss earned a master's and Ph.D. from Yale University. His research interests are formal organizations, social psychology and research methods. His 1996 book, Beyond Caring: Hospitals, Nurses and the Social Organization of Ethics, won the Eliot Freidson Prize in 1998 for the best book in the preceding two years in medical sociology from the American Sociological Association. He is also the winner of the ASA's Theory Prize for his work on organizational excellence. Chambliss is also the author of Champions: The Making of Olympic Swimmers, which was named the 1991 Book of the Year by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and co-author, with Russell Schutt of Making Sense of the Social World, a research methods textbook currently in its third edition. Chambliss is currently director for the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Project for Assessment of Liberal Arts Education at Hamilton. He was appointed to the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professorship in 2005.
Stephen Ellingson came to Hamilton from Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, Calif., where he was assistant professor of the sociology of religion. He earned a doctorate and master’s degree in sociology from the University of Chicago. His research interests are the sociology of religion, sociology of culture, and social movements and collective behavior. His current research, funded by the Louisville Institute, examines the relationships among religious and non-religious environmental organizations. He is the author of The Megachurch and the Mainline: Remaking Religious Tradition in the Twenty-First Century (University of Chicago Press, 2007), which won the 2007 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. He is also co-author of The Sexual Organization of the City (University of Chicago Press, 2004); co-editor of Religion and Sexuality in Cross-Cultural Perspective (Routledge, 2002) and co-author of Organizational Ethics in Health Care: Principles, Cases and Practical Solutions (Jossey-Bass, 2001). He has also taught at the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Religion, Ethics and Health Care and the University of Chicago. Ellingson has served as book review co-editor and associate editor of the American Journal of Sociology.
Gilbert, who joined the Hamilton faculty in 1976, earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Cornell University. His primary research interests are Latin American and American class system. Gilbert is the author of The American Class Structure in an Age of Growing Inequality (Sage, 2008), Mexico's Middle Class in the Neoliberal Era (University of Arizona Press, 2007), Sandinistas: the Party and the Revolution (Blackwell, 1988), and La Oligarquía Peruana: Historia de Tres familias (Horizonte, 1982). In 1990, he was research director to the successful congressional campaign of Bernard Sanders (Independent-VT) and later served as legislative assistant in Representative Sanders' congressional office. In collaboration with the polling firm Zogby International, Gilbert and his Hamilton students have conducted a series of widely reported national surveys, most examining the views of high school students, on such topics as gun control, gay rights, abortion, Muslims in America, and patriotism.
George Hobor has a master's degree in political science from Syracuse University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Arizona. He has spent the last two years as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Urban Research and Public Policy at Washington University in Saint Louis, where he researched the political, social and economic mechanisms that account for successful industrial transformation in Rust Belt cities. Prior to this fellowship Hobor worked at the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. At the Urban Institute, he was part of a collaborative research project on grant-making expenditures and executive compensation patterns of large foundations. His current interests are in corporate commitment to place and social entrepreneurship.
Isabel Martinez is a doctoral candidate at Teacher’s College, Columbia University, in the program of sociology of education. Long involved with issues of educational attainment in Latina/o communities, her current research examines the transnational familial, labor and educational experiences of unaccompanied Mexican immigrant youth in New York City. Previously, she taught at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the CUNY system in the Department of Latina/o/Latin American Studies. She has been a Dissertation Fellow for the Spencer Foundation, the Society for the Study of Social Problems, and currently, is a 2009-2010 Consortium for Faculty Diversity Scholar. 
Yvonne Zylan, assistant professor of sociology, earned a B.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University, a Ph.D. in sociology from New York University and a juris doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law. She has published articles in the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, Gender & Society, Social Forces, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. She is currently working on a book-length study of sexuality, social theory, and the law, titled States of Passion: Law, Identity, and the Social Construction of Desire, which will be published by Oxford University Press. Her areas of scholarship include law and society, sexuality, social theory, political sociology, and the state and social policy. Prior to joining the Hamilton faculty, she practiced law for three years in the litigation department at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
