Faculty Profile
Erik Love
Associate Professor of Sociology (2009; 2012)
Contact Information
Denny Hall Room 215
717-245-1225
http://www.eriklove.com
Bio
Erik Love teaches courses on social movements, race and racism, and qualitative methods. He studies civil rights advocacy organizations in the United States. His first book, Islamophobia and Racism in America, was published in 2017. He has presented his research on the efforts of Arab, Muslim, Sikh, and South Asian American advocacy organizations at several academic conferences, in peer-reviewed journals, and he has contributed to a wide range of popular publications. His work has won the support of the National Science Foundation, the Richard Flacks Fund for the Study of Democracy, and Emory University's James Weldon Johnson Center for the Study of Race and Difference. Originally from Detroit, he has traveled widely, including stints studying and working in places like Jerusalem, Cairo, and Kyoto. Erik holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he was a Regents Fellow.
Education
- B.A., Albion College, 2001
- M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, 2006
- Ph.D., 2011
2024-2025 Academic Year
Fall 2024
SOCI 225 Race and Ethnicity
This course explores the historical and contemporary significance of race and ethnicity in the United States. Students will examine how racial inequality has become a pervasive aspect of U.S. society and why it continues to impact our life chances. We will address race and ethnicity as socio-historical concepts and consider how these “social fictions” (in collusion with gender, class, and sexuality) produce very real material conditions in everyday life. We will develop a theoretical vocabulary for discussing racial stratification by examining concepts such as prejudice, discrimination, systemic/institutional racism, racial formations, and racial hegemony. We will then look closely at colorblind racism, and examine how this dominant ideology naturalizes social inequality. With this framework in place, students will investigate racial stratification in relation to schools, the labor market, the criminal justice system, neighborhood segregation, immigration, etc. Finally, we will discuss strategies of anti-racism that seek to eliminate enduring racial hierarchies. Offered every two years.
SOCI 236 Inequalities in the U.S.
This course takes a critical look at the layers of American society that shape, construct, and inhibit the basic pursuit for equality of opportunity. Students will be asked to examine how the three most fundamental elements of social stratification (race, class, gender) function both separately and in tandem to organize systems of inequality. The course uses theoretical and practical applications of stratification to evaluate how social constructions of difference influence the institutions and social policy. Additionally, class discussions will also consider how the forces of racism, sexism, and classism impact the attainment of basic needs, such as wages, health care and housing. Offered every year.
MEST 272 Islam and the West
Cross-listed with SOCI 272-01.
SOCI 272 Islam and the West
Cross-listed with MEST 272-01.