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Rachel Kulick

faculty

Rachel Kulick, PhD

Associate Professor

Sociology / Anthropology

Curriculum Vitae

Contact

508-999-8138

508-999-8808

Liberal Arts 392D

Education

2010Brandeis UniversityPhD in Sociology
2003Harvard Graduate School of EducationMEd in Education
1993Union CollegeBS in Psychology

Teaching

  • Sustainability
  • Media Studies
  • Research Methods
  • Social Constructions of Whiteness

Programs

Courses

Basic concepts and methodologies of qualitative and quantitative social scientific research. By conducting a semester-long mixed-method research project, engaging with examples of scholarly research, and critically examining the process of knowledge production, students learn about the ethics and principals of research design and develop skill in utilizing qualitative and quantitative methods, analyzing social scientific data, and effectively communicating research results.

A survey of the fundamental principles of sociology and the basic factors conditioning social behavior.

Quantitative and qualitative approaches to research design and analysis, to develop student competency in conducting and critiquing social research. What we observe - and what we overlook - guides our understanding of social life. Fundamental to anthropology and sociology is systematic design, collection, and analysis of observations, which become data for developing new concepts and theories about the social world.  

Internships in community-based, social service, cultural or other relevant organizations. Work will be supervised by an on-site sponsor as well as the seminar instructor. Students are responsible for securing their own placements, and are encouraged to consult the list of potential placements on the department website. All placements must be approved by the instructor. Students are required to attend several seminar meetings during the scheduled class time, keep a journal and write a final paper.

Fundamental principles of Sustainability. Goal is to provide a larger context for topics covered in sustainability courses. Topics covered include: What is Sustainability?, Climate Change and Environmental Challenges, systems Thinking/Systems Analysis, "Natural" Systems and Function, Human Interactions with Natural Systems, Ethics, and Values.

Research

Research activities

  • Community-based resilience and innovation in response to climate change
  • Community-based approaches to food justice and building local food systems

Research interests

  • Climate Change
  • Food Systems
  • Social Movements
  • Participatory Action Research

Select publications

See curriculum vitae for more publications

  • Rachel Kulick (2019).
    More time in the kitchen, less time on the streets: the micropolitics of cultivating an ethic of care in alternative food networks
    Local Environment: An International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 24, 37-51.
  • Rachel Kulick (2014).
    What do you see that I cannot? Peer Facilitations of Difference and Conflict in the Collective Production of Independent Youth Media
    Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements, 6, 301-327.
  • Rachel Kulick (2014).
    Making Media for Themselves: Strategic Dilemmas of Prefigurative Work in Independent Media Outlets
    Social Movement Studies, 13

Additional links