Faculty
Kylan Mattais de Vries
Professor – Sociology, Program Chair – Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
PhD and MA, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale); BA, Antioch University (Santa Barbara)
Kylan received his PhD as well as his MA from Southern Illinois University. Kylan’s interests and research includes topics such as intersectionality, which spans across disciplines not limited to transgender studies, queer studies, queer of color theory, critical race studies, and critical mixed race studies. He is also interested in the sociology of gender, social psychology (with emphasis on identity, collective identity, and symbolic interactionism) and qualitative research methods.
Office: Taylor Hall 125A
Phone: 541.552.6759
E-Mail: devriesk@sou.edu
Larry Gibbs
Associate Professor – Sociology and Anthropology
PhD, Bowling Green State University; MS and BS, University of the West Indies
Larry Gibbs received his PhD in Sociology (specializing in Demography) from Bowling Green State University, Ohio. Prior to joining SOU, Dr. Gibbs completed a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has taught several foundational and substantive sociology courses including Introduction to Sociology, Social Research, Sociology of Health and Health Care Professions and Families and Society. Dr. Gibbs goals for teaching are to have students develop critical thinking skills, comprehensive knowledge of sociology and the ability to apply this knowledge to their lives. His current research focuses on family demography and sociology of health. Specifically, he explores the reproductive behaviors of heterosexuals by relationship type during different developmental stages of the life course. In another strand of research, Dr. Gibbs examines the determinants of diabetes care outcomes among adults.
Office: Taylor Hall 214
Phone: 541.552.6281
E-Mail: gibbsl@sou.edu
Katherine Fox
Assistant Professor – Anthropology and Healthcare Administration
PhD, Medical Anthropology, Southern Methodist University (Dallas), 2022; MA, Medical Anthropology, Southern Methodist University (Dallas), 2015; BA, Spanish/Anthropology (Dual Major), Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2013
Katherine’s interests are in medical anthropology, LGBTQ+ health, immigration, Latinx and LGBTQ+ identities, social media and health behavior, qualitative research methods
Office: Taylor Hall 217
Phone: 541.552.6322
E-Mail: foxk@sou.edu
Jessica Piekielek
Chair, Sociology and Anthropology – Professor – Anthropology
PhD and MA, University of Arizona; BA, Guilford College
Jessica acquired her PhD and MA from the University of Arizona, after receiving her BA from Guilford College. Jessica’s main interests and teaching curriculum include topics such as conservation, environmentalism, applied anthropology, and border and migration studies, surrounding countries like Mexico, the US, as well Latin American studies.
Office: Taylor Hall 222
Phone: 541.552.6599
E-Mail: piekielj@sou.edu
Vincent Smith
Professor of Sociology, Director of the School of Science and Business
PhD, Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin (Madison), 2011; MS, Environmental Science and Education, Oregon State University, 2004; BA, Biology – Plant Ecology, Truman State University, 2001
Vincent’s research explores the complex coupled human-environment systems that shape the world in which we live. He is currently looking specifically at food system design, community food insecurity, and the relationships between food policy and health. He is also working on research with an undergraduate researcher exploring the nature of food purchasing decisions as they relate to local buying systems. Overall, his research is driven by community and/or regional problem-solving. He actively partners with communities to understand socio-environmental problems and then apply that research in decision-making contexts. His work spans several traditional disciplinary boundaries including human ecology, environmental sociology, landscape ecology, agroecology, and human geography.
Office: Britt Hall 134
Phone: 541.552.6802
E-Mail: vincep@sou.edu
Kelly Szott
Associate Professor – Sociology and Human Service
PhD and MA, Sociology, Syracuse University; BA, Social Science, University of Michigan
Research and teaching interests: the sociology of drug use, addiction, and public health; medicine and society; social theory; gender, sexuality, and women’s studies; and research methods
Kelly Szott is a medical sociologist who uses qualitative methods to study drug use and addiction. She received her Ph.D. in sociology from Syracuse University along with a Certificate in Advanced Studies in Women’s and Gender Studies. During her doctoral studies she completed a National Institute on Drug Abuse doctoral fellowship program. Her research examines how public health programs, such as needle exchange, and health care practitioners conceptualize the health of people who inject drugs. Her current project focuses on heroin use and harm reduction responses in rural contexts. Her work comes out of a concern for the ways drug users are treated by institutions entrusted to care for them. Her research has been published in the International Journal of Drug Policy, Health, and Critical Public Health. Kelly enjoys getting to know her students and doing creative and community-based projects in her classes.
Office: Ashland – TA 219 and Medford – HEC 201E
Phone: Ashland: 541.552.8254 Medford: 541.552.8153
E-Mail: szottk@sou.edu
Mark Tveskov
Professor – Anthropology
PhD, University of Oregon, 2000; MA and BA, University of Connecticut
Mark Tveskov is an archaeologist and ethnohistorian interested in historical memory, colonialism, ecology, and conflict archaeology. He has conducted research in Iceland, New England, southern California, and Alaska; most of his work takes place in Oregon in collaboration with federal, state, and local agencies and Indigenous nations. His current research focuses on the Rogue River War of the early 1850s in southern Oregon, the ontology and ecology of shell middens on the Oregon Coast, and on the African American logging community of Maxville in eastern Oregon. Tveskov is a member of the Governor of Oregon’s State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation.
Office: Taylor Hall 230
Phone: 541.552.6345
E-Mail: tveskovm@sou.edu
Research Associates and Affiliate Faculty
Maureen Flanagan Battistella
Research Anthropologist – Sociology and Anthropology
MLS and BA, Rutgers University
Maureen’s research interests involve cultural studies of Southern Oregon grape growers and winemakers, land use changes and heritage agriculture, as well as culinary narrative and regional foodways. She received her MLS and her BA from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Office: Taylor Hall 117
Phone: 541.552.6763
E-Mail: battistem@sou.edu
Katie Johnson
Lab Manager/Archaeologist – SOU Laboratory of Anthropology
Katie is a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) specialist at the SOU Laboratory of Anthropology and has published a few articles in the Jacksonville Review about her archeological findings. Along with being a staff archaeologist, some of her research interests involve GIS, cultural resource management, zooarchaeology, cartography, and photography.
Office: TA 230
Phone: 541.552.6764
E-Mail: johnsonka@sou.edu
Chelsea Rose
Director – Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology
MA, Sonoma State University; BA, University of Oregon
Chelsea Rose is a historical archaeologist who focuses on the settlement and development of the American West. She graduated with honors from the University of Oregon, and received her graduate degree in Cultural Resources Management from Sonoma State University. Rose’s recent work has included research in the Jacksonville Chinese Quarter, the homestead of frontier photographer Peter Britt, the native Hawaiian mining camp of Kanaka Flat, and the Historic Applegate Trail. Rose has been working with state and federal agencies to create a research partnership that focuses on Oregon’s Chinese migrant history, and regularly works with the media, students, and community volunteers in an effort to promote archaeological awareness and encourage historical stewardship. Rose serves on the board of the Oregon Historical Quarterly and is a member of the governor appointed Oregon Heritage Commission. Rose was recently featured in a book teaching young women about careers in science, called “Archaeology: Cool Women Who Dig by Nomad Press.”
Office: Taylor Hall 230
Phone: 541.552.6764
E-Mail: rosec@sou.edu
Eva Skuratowicz
Research Sociologist, Director of Southern Oregon University Research Center
PhD and MA, University of California (Davis); BA, Univeristy of California (Berkeley)
Eva’s research and teaching interests revolve around topics such as gender, feminism, work and occupations, organizations, regional studies, applied research, qualitative methods, as well as survey methodology. She received her PhD and MA from the University of California (Davis) after receiving her BA from Berkeley.
Office: Taylor Hall 201
Phone: 541.552.6278
E-Mail: skuratoe@sou.edu
Carey Jean Sojka
Instructor – Sociology, Assistant Professor – Gender Sexuality and Women’s Studies
PhD and MA, University at Albany (SUNY); BA, Luther College
Carey received her PhD and MA from the University at Albany (SUNY) and has a BA from Luther College. Her research revolves around sociological embodiment, sexuality, gender, race, transgender studies, queer theory, and feminism.
Office: TA 125B
Phone: 541.552.6750
E-Mail: sojkac@sou.edu
Emeritus Faculty
Anne Chambers
Echo Fields
Jean Maxwell
Mark Shibley
Vicky Sturtevant
Contact the Sociology and Anthropology Program
SOU Sociology & Anthropology Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6761
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