Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak
     Assistant Professor
     Department of Sociology
     University of Memphis
     Clement Hall, Room 309D
     Memphis TN 38152

     Phone: (901) 678-3778
     Fax:     (901) 678-2525
     cpelak@memphis.edu


Cynthia Fabrizio Pelak is Assistant Professor of Sociology. She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 2002. Her primary research interests include anti-racist feminist theory, intersections of race/class/gender inequality, race and ethnic relations, social change movements, globalization, and South African studies. She is currently engaged in research projects on (1) reclaiming the theoretical genius of Beah Richards, who is best known for her role as Sidney Poitier in the 1967 film Guess Whose Coming to Dinner?; (2) the role of institutional racism in the relationship between sexist naming practices and the level of athletic opportunities for women students at southern colleges and universities (recently published in Sociology of Education); and (3) an examination of race, class, neoliberal urban governance, and the collective memory of the civil rights movement.

She has published articles and book chapters on gender inequality in higher education, intersections of race and gender, women's movements in the United States, international gender movements, feminism and women of color, gender/race and sports, globalization and democratization, and Title IX and gender equity in education. Her work has been published in Sociology of Education Journal, Gender and Society, Sociology of Sport Journal, International Review of the Sociology of Sport, and Afrika Spectrum. Dr. Pelak is a faculty affiliate of the Center for Research on Women (CROW) and the Benjamin Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis. She is also the faculty organizer for the Southern African Research Group (SARG) at the University of Memphis, which brings together faculty, staff, students, and members from the broader Memphis community to enhance the collective knowledge of Southern Africa and civil rights movements around the globe.

Dr. Pelak teaches courses in the Department of Sociology and the Women's Studies Program on the Sociology of Gender, Race and Ethnic Minorities, Multi-racial Feminist Theories, Women, Race, and Social Inequalities, and Research Methodology. She won a Teaching Excellence Award from the Department of Sociology at Ohio State University in 2000. In 2006, she was awarded the Sociology of Sport Journal Outstanding Article award by the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport (NASSS). In addition, this past year she was nominated for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Human Rights Award at the University of Memphis.

Annual Sociology Survey

During the spring of each year, the graduate students enrolled in Dr. Pelak's "Methods of Social Research Seminar" conduct a representative survey of students enrolled in sociology classes at the University of Memphis. The surveys focus on current social issues and vary from year to year. To learn more about the findings for recent surveys click on the below links.

2004 Gender Equity & Title IX Survey
2005 Gender Equity & Title IX Survey
2006 Hurricane Katrina Survey
2007 Racial Climate Survey

 

SYLLABI for recent courses taught by Dr. Pelak

Sociology of Gender (undergraduate) - SOCI 3432, Fall 2006
Sociology of Gender (graduate) - SOCI 7410/8410, Fall 2004
Women, Race, and Social Inequality (graduate) - WMST 7310, Spring 2007
Seminar in Methods of Social Research (graduate) - SOCI 7320/8320, Spring 2007
Multi-Racial Feminist Theory (graduate) - SOCI 7212/8212, Fall 2006

 

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