Jennifer C. Mueller

Associate Professor of Sociology

Intergroup Relations Program (IGR) Faculty Affiliate

On research sabbatical for the 2023-2024 academic year.

Office: Tisch Learning Center 226
Phone: (518) 580-5441
Email: jmueller@skidmore.edu

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., Texas A&M University
• M.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

BIOGRAPHY

I’m what you’d call a late arrival to sociology. I was a psychology major in college and quickly followed with a master’s degree in counseling–both from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). I moved on to professional positions with the university, first as an academic advisor and, later, as Assistant Director in UIUC’s Office of Minority Student Affairs. During my time in that position I received a unique opportunity – to train and work as an intergroup dialogue facilitator through UIUC’s Program on Intergroup Relations. Participating in this program sparked new ideas about what I wanted to do with my life, and I began to nurture thoughts about returning to graduate school. I knew I wanted to study and teach about racism and social justice, but in what? So, I asked myself: ‘who is producing the work you’re most inspired by’? Again and again, I found myself returning to sociologists. Though I had only taken an introductory sociology course in college, I decided to take the big leap. Turns out, I ended up right where I belonged.

I received my Ph.D. in sociology from Texas A&M University in 2013 and in the fall of that year joined the Skidmore College faculty. Today, I study mechanisms that sustain racial inequality and broader white supremacy and, most importantly, work to uncover factors that inspire social consciousness, resistance, and social change.  My scholarship appears in journals including Sociological Theory, Social Problems, Sociology of Raceand Ethnicity, and Teaching Sociology.

PERSONAL WEBSITE: https://www.jennimueller.com

RESEARCH & TEACHING INTERESTS

Race and Ethnicity, Social Inequality and Intersectionality, Critical Race Theory, Cultural Sociology, Qualitative Methods, Teaching Pedagogy

COURSES

• Sociological Perspectives (SO 101)
• Social Issues (SO 201)
• Race, Class and Gender (SO 204)
• Race and Power (SO 219C)
• Social Research Methods (SO 227)
• Consciousness, Ignorance, and the Sociology of Knowing (SO 251C)
• Racial Identities: Theory and Praxis (SO 361)
• Practicum in Facilitating (IG 364)