Roberta L. Coles

Associate Professor
Sociology

(414) 288-3440
Contact via e-mail

Education

Ph.D. (Sociology) University of Wisconsin-Madison.
M.A. (Journalism) University of Missouri-Columbia.
B.A. (Communication Arts/Human Relations) Judson College.

 

Teaching Experience

Assistant Professor, Social and Cultural Sciences, Marquette University, 1995-present
Currently teaching Family, Race and Family, Race and Ethnic Relations, and Sex and Gender, Social Inequality, and Freshman Inquiry. Advising pre-majors, sociology majors, family studies minors and independent studies.

 

Lecturer, Department of Sociology, UW-Madison
Criminology, Fall 1994 and Spring 1995
Race and Ethnic, Spring 1994
Honors Tutorial, Fall 1992 and Spring 1993
Occasional substitute Lecturing for Criminal Justice.

 

Lecturer, Department of Child & Family Studies, UW-Madison
Gender Roles, Fall 1994
Ethnic Minority Families, Summer 1994; and Spring and Summer 1995
Teaching Assistant, Department of Sociology, UW-Madison
Criminal Justice, Spring 1987 through Spring 1992

Book

2005, Race & Family: A Structural Approach. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA.

 

Peer-Reviewed Publications (Reprints/copies available)

2003. Black Single Custodial Fathers: Factors influencing the decision to parent. Families
in Society 84 (2): 247-258.
2002. War and the Contest over National Identity. The Sociological Review 50(4): 586-609.
2002. Manifest Destiny adapted for 1990s’ war discourse: Mission and destiny
intertwined. Sociology of Religion 63(4): 403-426.
2002. Black single fathers: Choosing to parent full-time. Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography 31(4): 411-439.
2002. The parenting roles and goals of single black full-time fathers. Western
Journal of Black Studies 26(2) [misprint: journal says 2001] : 101-116.
2002. African American single full-time fathers: How are they doing? Journal of African
American Men. 6(2) (misprint: journal says 2001): 63-82.
2001. Building the Clinton legacy through frame alignment. Cultural Studies—Critical Methodologies. 1(4): 459-487..
2001. Elderly Narrative Reflections on the Contradictions in Turkish Village Family Life after Migration of Adult Children. Journal of Aging
Studies 15(4): 383-406.
1999. Race-focused Service-Learning Courses: Issues and Recommendations. Michigan
Journal of Community Service Learning. 6(Fall): 97-105.
1999. Odd Folk and Ordinary People: Collective Identity Disparities between peace groups in the Persian Gulf Crisis.
Sociological Spectrum 19(3): 325-357.
1998. Peaceniks and Warmongers’ Framing Fracas on the Home Front: Dominant and
Opposition Discourse Interaction during the Persian Gulf Crisis. Sociological
Quarterly. 39(3): 369-391.

 

Non Peer-Reviewed Publications

1988. Economic Development in the Occupied Territories. American-Arab Affairs Journal. (Summer) No. 25:75-85.

 

Pedagogical Publications

1997. Gender in America. A Course Guide for University of Wisconsin, Department of
Liberal Studies.
1996. Criminal Justice in America. A Course Guide for University of Wisconsin,
Department of Liberal Studies.

 

Grants and Awards

$3500 Urban-directed curriculum enhancement grant. Awarded 2002.
Nominated for Advising Award. 2002.
$5000 Manresa Curriculum Enhancement Grant for Soci 165: Social Inequality.
Awarded.
Spring 2002. Second-year Honors Seminar proposal for “Autobiographing with a
Sociological Narrative” accepted.
Spring 2001 Faculty Development Award of $400 for research on single Black fathers.
Awarded.
Fall 2000 Regular Research Grant of $1500 from Marquette University for research on single Black fathers. Awarded.
Summer 2000 Fellowship Grant of $4300 from Marquette University for research on
single Black fathers. Awarded.

Professional Service

Reviewer for following journals/publishers

Allyn & Bacon
Greenhaven Press
Prentice-Hall
Social Problems
Sociological Perspectives
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
Journal of Marriage and the Family
Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology
First Annual Conference on Service Learning Research

Public Presentations

2005 Black fathers and their children. Presentation at Wisconsin Fatherhood Conference, Milwaukee WI April
2004. Guest on television - won $20,000!
2003. Presented research on Single Black Fathers at the Wisconsin Fatherhood
Conference. March 2003 in Milwaukee.
2002. Presented paper, “"The Parenting Roles and Goals of Single African American Full-time Fathers,"” at Midwest Sociological Society annual meeting, April. Milwaukee.
2001. Facilitated talk-back session on families coping with divorce following “"Ancestral Voices,"” a play. Chamber Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 30, 2001.
2001. Presented paper, “"Single African American Full-time Fathers: Their Choice to
Parent,"” at Midwest Sociology Society annual meeting, April 2001, St. Louis.
2000. Led workshop on “"Using Service Learning in Race-focused courses"” at
Conference on Service Learning in Sociology, sponsored by the Minnesota
Campus Compact in Minneapolis, MN, November 2000.
1999. Television Interview on Milwaukee Channel 15 News on family size and dynamics.

University and Department Service

Master of Ceremonies of Marquette Honors Convocation
Member, Core Revision Committee
Member TSAR Committee
A&S Mentor for new faculty
Member A&S Senior Speaker Committee
Member, Women's Studies Advisory Committee
Member A&S Senior Experience Committee
Chair, A&S Advising Committee.
Chair, McGee Lecture department committee
Chair, ad-hoc department committee on process for election of department chair.
Member, Anthropology Major committee, Sociology Major committee
Trained for teaching and advising Freshman Seminar in Fall 2003.
Steering committee member. Family Studies Interdisciplinary Minor. Locating program funding, revising minor, advising students.
Co-facilitated session on “"Cultural and Interreligous Issues" for Marquette
University Teach-in “"Roads to Understanding: Terrorism and the War in Afghanistan," November 1, 2001.
Member, faculty development department committee,
Member, Raynor Scholarship committee.
Member, African American Studies Committee, to revise interdisciplinary minor.
Founded and facilitated interracial women’s reading group on campus.
Guest lecturer in women’s studies colloquium.
Promoted use of Service Learning in my classes and through involvement
in SL workshops and meetings.

Community Service

Interviewing Committee member for hiring three elementary school principals for the
Madison Metropolitan School District. July 2001.
Block Captain, Hill Farms Neighborhood Association. Madison, WI, 2000-2003.
Welcome and recruit new members, facilitate health fund drive, mediate problems.
Member of Interracial Dialogue group in Madison, Wisconsin, sponsored by Wisconsin
Public Broadcasting, 1998-1999. Trained to facilitate Madison Race Study
Circles, November 2001.
Testified before University of Wisconsin Childcare Hearings, 1993.
Board member. Three Wishes Childcare Center. Madison, WI, 1992
Active member of Middle East Concerned Citizens Association, 1982-1988. Brought
speakers to Madison, met with state representatives.
Certified in ESOL by the National Affiliation for Literacy Advancement, May 1982.
Volunteer for the Madison Literacy Council, 1982-1983.
Raising two children to be productive community members (unpaid labor).

 

Past Administrative and Communicatons Experience

Self-employed from 1983 through 1985, during which time I did freelance writing for newspapers and magazines; contracted with local businesses to teach and do word-processing, presented seminars on Business English, and edited annual reports.
Publications Editor, UM-Columbia, Dept. of Journalism, Freedom of Information Center. 1979-1982. Supervised three staff writers to write and edit bi-monthly newsletter.
Communications Assistant and Program Supervisor. Inner City Impact, Humboldt Park, Chicago. In the former position, I wrote and edited newsletters, coordinated publicity programs and multimedia presentations. In the latter position, I coordinated youth and adult programs and trained summer interns.

 

Personal

U.S. citizen. Languages: English, some Arabic and Turkish.
Traveled in Middle East (Jordan, Palestine, Israel, and Egypt) and conducted field research in Turkey.