Faculty Spotlight
Justin Barnum, Ph.D.
Visiting Assistant Professor
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
A lot of my work is focused on teaching and builds on my classes. I am currently
working on a project looking at Visual Literacy. I am generally look at issues of
inequality and am playing with an idea on looking at disposable people.
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
- Hendrix College, Conway, AR: B.A. in International Relations and Global Studies
- University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR: M.A. in Sociology
- University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR: M.A. in French
- Howard University, Washington, D.C.: Ph.D. in Sociology
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
My very last semester of undergrad, I took my first sociology class. It was environmental
sociology with Dr. Stella Capek. It completely blew me away and I thought to myself,
I can’t believe it took me four years to find this and right before I graduate. After
speaking with her and other faculty they advised me to apply to the University of
Arkansas M.A. program to see if Sociology was right for me. It was.
What is your favorite course to teach?
That’s a difficult question. I love teaching Social Theory. Theory is what really
caught my attention when I was a student and had Dr. Zajicek as my professor. I also
really enjoyed qualitative research with Dr. Holyfield, but don’t plan on teaching
that. Theory is fun for me because it allows students to see where and how ideas
come into being and how concepts and thoughts from the beginning of sociology still
influence and impact society today.
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
I enjoy riding my bicycle, I try to commute to work when the weather is warm and its
not raining. I am also a Master Gardener through the University of Arkansas Extension
Service and enjoy gardening both at home where I grow food and flowers and around
town as a volunteer.
Mindy Sue Engen, Ph.D.
Director of Online Education & Professor
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
Sociology is the study of the group behavior at the intersections of biography and
history. I attended my undergraduate university because it was close to home and
offered me a scholarship. I was a poor country kid, and no one in my family had gone
to college. But a state-funded program provided scholarships to people like me. This
opportunity was there for me, and I seized it.
I'm living proof that quality public education, social programs, and access to affordable
higher education changes lives. I'm also proof that people are constantly choosing
among situationally-constrained alternatives. Options and opportunities vary, and
their presence or absence often have little to do with individual intelligence, talent,
or dedication. I became as social scientist because I recognized that much of my successes were
based not just on luck or my individual ability, but on the social circumstances in
which I lived. I had options not available for others, and their lives took different
courses. Others had options I would never know, and their lives turned out differently,
too. My work is driven by my commitment to informed policy and practice. I want to
help communities improve the circumstances in which people are situated and increase
the availability and attractiveness of prosocial opportunities.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in rural Georgia, running around in the woods.
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
I got my undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from the University of West Georgia.
I completed both my M.A. in Crime, Law, and Justice and my Ph.D. in Sociology (with
concentration in Crime, Law, and Justice) at The Penn State University. I was a Postdoctoral
Research Fellow at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, working in the Cecil
G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research.
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
I'm working on several projects, and ALWAYS have a bunch of different research areas
going! Some of my projects in the works include studies of victimization and gun-carrying
among LGBTQ youth, racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing, outcomes associated
with federal prosecution of Native American defendants, masculinity and media images
of men and male sexuality, the effect of animal-training programs on inmate well-being,
and spatial modeling of adult entertainment establishments and crime.
What is your favorite course to teach?
I love teaching Social Data Analysis (aka Statistics). Showing students that statistics
and statistical reasoning can be accessible, interesting, and relevant is incredibly
rewarding.
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
I enjoy walking, running, and being outdoors. Much of my non-work time is spent hiking
with my three dogs and chasing my twin toddlers around. I love True Crime and forensic
shows, binge-watching Netflix (Stranger Things, Riverdale, Good Girls, and Lucifer
are among my current favorites), and spending time with my family.
Casey T. Harris, Ph.D.
Assoc Professor & Co-Director, Center for Social Research
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
I attended Texas A&M for my Bachelor of Science and The Pennsylvania State University
for my Masters and PhD.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Bakersfield, California but grew up in central Wisconsin (Marshfield)
and central Texas (Temple).
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
My research focuses on the demography of crime, especially issues of inequality, race/ethnicity,
immigration, and communities. I like to have a lot of different types of projects
going at once. For instance, I have one project now where I’m looking at how immigrant
segregation affects patterns of crime across different cities, another that looks
at changes in new media coverage of immigration and crime over time, and another looking
at how street and sidewalk connectivity affect the movement of crime across different
neighborhoods. I also have a book I’m finishing up right now that is all about the
common issues and struggles that first year college students face and what research
tells us are the most successful strategies for overcoming or navigating them.
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
I actually started off as an aerospace engineer at Texas A&M, but couldn’t stand the
prospect of sitting behind a computer designing rivets and bolts for years on end.
I ended up taking a social problems course my sophomore year and fell in love with
the idea of studying people. I was lucky enough to have a handful of faculty mentors
who were really interested in teaching undergraduate students how to actually do research
and my math background naturally fit.
What is your favorite course to teach?
I really love teaching statistics, which may seem odd to some. A lot of students
dread taking the course because they think they “hate math.” I really enjoy watching
those same students, assuming that they work hard and ask question, succeed in something
they may have previously thought impossible. I’ve actually seen quite a few students
come to actually enjoy the prospect of research and appreciate how statistics are
not just lies (to counter Benjamin Disraeli and Mark Twain).
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
Pretty much anything “outdoorsy.” I’ve been an avid rock climber and boulderer for
over 20 years and I’m currently trying to summit all fifty-three 14,000 foot peaks
in Colorado (I’ve done 22 so far). I also trail run, paddle board, kayak, and mountain
bike quite a bit.
Lori Holyfield, Ph.D.
Undergraduate Program Director & Professor
What is your favorite course to teach?
I enjoy teaching a lot of different classes but my favorites are Sociology of Culture
and General Sociology
Where did you grow up?
From Chico California to Bentonville Arkansas
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
University of Arkansas and then University of Georgia for PhD
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
I loved it from the first class I took. Understanding how structural conditions shapes
our lives, helped me to have more empathy for others. It also empowered me to see
that we have more agency than we think!
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
Currently I am looking into Collective memory and the role Civil War memory brokers
-- groups that have a stake in how we remember our past.
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
I play guitar and write songs and travel to music festivals!
Robert Wayne Mortenson
Instructor
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
I love to ride a bike, walk in the woods, camp & kayak – so commning with nature is high on my list. But I particularly enjoy making music – both
introspectively AND especially communally with other musicians. (Did I mention my
interest in the aesthetic moment)?
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in and near Chicago. When I was 4 years old, we moved from the west side
of Chicago to a rural community just west of O’Hare Airport. During my junior high school years, the suburbs “moved to us.” Several of the large farms became “house fields”
and Elk Grove Village was born.
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
I attended Western Illinois University and University of Illinois Chicago. I completed
a BA in Psychology and an MA in Sociology at UA Fayetteville.
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
Sociology caught my interest because of its broad based nature. From my perspective,
sociology is a field that “touches” pretty much all other social sciences in some
fashion. AND I had several friends who had pursued sociology.
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
I have written papers on homelessness in NWA, emotional labor in the music profession
and the aesthetic moment. Currently, the bulk of my research is related to teaching.
What is your favorite course to teach?
I really enjoy teaching Introduction to Sociology and Criminal Justice. The topics
are inherently relevant to all students and the application to the “real world” are
endless.
Rocio A. Paez, Ph.D
Visiting Assistant Professor
I was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico. After graduating high school, I decided
I wanted to learn English, so I enrolled in a student exchange program. Needless to
say, my intended one-year journey turned into me calling the United States my home.
I spent about 6 years in Anchorage, Alaska (for those of you wondering, no, I did
not live in an igloo) and about 7 years in Little Rock, Arkansas, where I completed
most of my studies. I received my B.A. (2012, summa cum laude), M.A. (2014) and Ph.D.
(2017) in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I taught
at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana during the 2017-2018 academic year. While
I loved my time in the Midwest, I realized how much I love the south... so here I
am! This is my first year at the University of Arkansas and I could not be more excited
about it!
I enjoy teaching criminal justice and criminology courses because we get to examine
and learn about the nature, function, and causes of crime in society. When I am not
teaching, much of my time is allocated to research. My research interests include
juvenile delinquency, the intersection of race, immigration, and crime and the role
that networks and institutions play in neighborhood crime. My work has been published
in journals such as American Journal of Criminal Justice and Deviant Behavior. I am
a member of the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice
Sciences and I regularly present my work at regional, national, and international
conferences.
I like to spend my free time with friends, family, and my dogs - Señor Dickie and
Pisa. I also love to run and enjoy the outdoors. I am a huge sports fan and I am very
proud to say I am now a Razorback - Woo Pig Sooie!
Lauren Sabon, Ph.D.
Teaching Assistant Professor
What are your favorite past-time or hobby?
I love to read. My husband and I live on 10 acres with goats, a pig, rabbits, chickens,
cats, and a dog. Our animals keep us busy when we are not working on our house.
Where did you grow up?
Ona, WV- small unincorporated town in the Ohio River Valley
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
- West Virginia University (Morgantown, WV)- BA in Criminology and Investigations
- Marshall University (Huntington, WV)- MS in Criminal Justice
- University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN)- Ph.D. in Sociology with Concentration in
Criminology
Why were you interested in studying sociology/criminology?
I began my undergrad as a biotechnology major but decided this was not the path I
wanted although I thoroughly enjoyed DNA analysis. I transferred schools and entered
a criminology program. I grew up with a love of reading, mystery novels in particular,
and this fueled my interest in criminology and criminal justice.
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
I am currently working on a series of projects related to Latino sex trafficking and
law/society studies. I am focusing on the use of social networks in sex trafficking
and legal framing of crime in court proceedings. I am also involved in local community
research on re-entry and support for the justice-involved.
What is your favorite course to teach?
I enjoy all of the courses I teach, but particularly like connecting with new and
non-majors in Introduction to Criminology and Criminal Justice. I find being able
to introduce students to the field of criminology is very important and rewarding
to see their interest grow. Also, I find my special topics course on the death penalty
to be particularly interesting and informative to students.
Steven Worden, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
What is your favorite past-time or hobby?
Volunteering. I visit people in nursing homes (when not in lockdown). I volunteer
in a hospice organization (also when not in lockdown) and CEO (the Cooperative Emergency
Outreach food bank).
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a small town in the sage brush desert of Southern Idaho. Summers, I lived
on a remote cattle ranch.
Where did you go to college (undergrad through Ph.D.)?
I attended the University of Idaho, earned a B.S. and an M.A. at Portland State University
in Portland, Oregon. I then went on to earn a Ph.D. at the University of Texas at
Austin. I am proud that all my degrees are in sociology.
Why were you interested in studying sociology?
As a teenager, my older brother introduced me to the “Beat” intellectual tradition
of Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso and Gary Snyder, etc. This worldview was reinforced
when I went away to college at the height of the Sixties. There, I fell in with a
group of creative, joyous, counter-cultural folks, who were confident of the dawning
of a lustrous new age.
More specifically, as I remember, a friend invited me to a sociology class as I was
unfamiliar with the discipline. As we took our seats in a large classroom, we heard
the rumble of a motorcycle outside. A moment later, in strode a guy in a black leather
jacket replete with clinking silver chains. As he made his way down the aisle to
the podium, we could make out the patch on the back of his jacket which read, “UP
AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERF**KERS MOTORCYCLE CLUB (Three Forks Branch)”. As I smiled
at this presentation of self, my friend leaned over to me and whispered, “That’s the
instructor . . .”
I was hooked.
What are your research interests/what are you currently working on?
I love studying the plausibility structures of religious subcultures, particularly
those flatly challenging the dominant materialistic ethos of the American business
culture.
I study the tradition of Catholic Anarchism, exemplified by Dorothy Day and the Catholic
Worker Movement and others. Somewhat allied with this, Jim Findley, Richard Rohr,
and the Center for Contemplation and Action promulgate the countercultural Franciscan
narrative of an incarnational “Christ saturated world.”
What is your favorite course to teach?
I love sociological social psychology, emphasizing a phenomenological/ dramaturgical/symbolic
interactionist perspective.
What is your favorite past-time or hobby?
International Traveling
When I can, I visit sites such as Mexico City, Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje and other
sites where the Virgin Mary appeared. I look forward to going back to East Asia and
exploring Eastern religious shrines when things calm down.
I am also a member of the Legion of Mary. I participate in several book clubs including
the Merton Society, and two metaphysical reading groups discussing the books, A Course
in Miracles, and A Course in Love.
Lastly, I walk and play with my big German Shepherd, sit out on my deck, read, watch
my cats fight, drink tea and await the coming Apocalypse.