CV / résumé
Associate Professor of Sociology
California State University-Fresno
Education
PhD in Sociology, University of Missouri
MA in Sociology, University of South Florida
BA in Sociology & Religious Studies (dual concentration), University of South Florida
Publications
2026 - “Shpilkes & Other Needles: The Sensory Experience of Being Tattooed” in the edited volume Sensing Life (Routledge)
2025 - “All I See Are the Gaps: Semiotic Realignments in the Post-Renaissance Tattoo Culture” in Symbolic Interaction
2023 - The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism (co-edited with Wayne Brekhus & Tom DeGloma)
2020/22 - "Tattooing in the Age of Instagram" in Deviant Behavior
2018 - “Toward a Cryptoscience" in the edited volume The Supernatural in History, Society, and Culture (Temple)
2015 - "Trick-or-Treating" in the edited volume Popular Culture as Everyday Life (Routledge)
2010 - "The Code of Harry: Performing Normativity in Dexter" in Crime, Media, Culture
2009 - "Consumption Styles and the Fluid Complexity of Punk Authenticity" in Symbolic Interaction
Speaking Engagements
"Tattoo Culture & Social Media" in Café Scientifique at Tioga-Sequoia Beer Garden (Fresno, CA). 2025.
"Professional as F*ck: Tattooing in the Age of Instagram" in Third Thursdays Sociology Department Colloquium Series at Fresno State (Fresno, CA). 2023.
“Check My Story: Tattooing in the Age of Instagram” in the panel event Identity Ink: Ethnographic Stories on Gender and Tattoos at SUNY Oneonta (Oneonta, NY). 2019.
"Teaching (White Dudes) To Transgress: Applying a Radical Pedagogy in a Difficult Context" in the Criminology Department Colloquium at Lancaster University (Lancaster, UK). 2017.
“Understanding Transgressive Television” in Tema de la Semana series at Netflix corporate headquarters (Los Gatos, CA). 2015.
"Introduction to Ethnographic Research” (workshop) at Netflix corporate headquarters (Los Gatos, CA). 2015.
“Ghostliness and Monstrosity in Queer Life” at School of Law Faculty workshop at Western New England University (Springfield, MA). 2014.
“Walter White, Identity Chemist” in Department of Sociology Colloquium Series at University of South Florida (Tampa, FL). 2012.
“The Ethnographic Method” at the annual meeting of the Qualitative Research ConsultantsAssociation, mid-Missouri chapter (Columbia, MO). 2010.
“Allies & Enemies” at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault support groups at The Shelter counseling services (Columbia, MO). 2009.