Michelle Robertson

Michelle L. Robertson will join the Department of Sociology in the Fall 2009 semester. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at Washington State University-Pullman and has held visiting professor positions at Willamette University and Washington State University-Vancouver. Her introduction to a small liberal arts school as a visiting professor inspired her to seek a tenure track position in a small liberal arts environment like that of St. Edward’s University. Dr. Robertson’s teaching philosophy stresses the development of students’ critical thinking skills and the discovery of their “voice” in a highly interactive classroom environment. She looks at education as a collaborative process in which faculty and students work in concert with each other toward an understanding of important sociological issues. At St Edward’s she will teach core Sociology courses like – Introductory Sociology, Research Methods, and Sociological Theory – and offer courses in her areas of specialty like – Intersections of Race/Class/Gender/Sexuality, Masculinities, Sociology of Sport, Sociology of Gender, and Work & Occupations. In addition, she is very excited about her opportunity to contribute to the General Education program by teaching the American Dilemmas course. In the spirit of the “teacher-scholar” model, her teaching interests overlap with her research which builds on her own intellectual curiosity and allows her to share new sociological knowledge in the classroom. Her intellectual agenda is to enhance people’s understanding of social inequality and demographic diversity in social institutions including the labor market, sport, and education. In particular, her research interests focus on various aspects of social inequality with a specific emphasis on gender in the intersecting spheres of work/occupations and sport. She is also working on a project that examines the relationship between racial diversity and workgroup performance in Major League Soccer (MLS) and a manuscript that traces the trends in Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender studies in the American Sociological Association. In addition, she furthers her professional development by presenting papers at regional and national Sociology conferences, serving as a manuscript reviewer for sociological journals, and submitting her own research manuscripts for publication. In her free time Dr. Robertson looks forward to exploring the Southwest and Austin. She is excited to learn more about some of the things Austin is known for – biking, sustainability, art, music, all things local (“Keep Austin Weird”), sports, and a thriving restaurant scene. Indeed she has been told that her transition from Portland, Oregon to Austin should go smoothly as these cities seem to have a lot in common!