People

Faculty

Associate Professor
Amie Bostic, PhD
Associate Professor

(956) 882-8894
Edinburg, ELABN 336
Specialization: Social policy, poverty, political sociology, immigration, gender
Curriculum Vitae
Lecturer I
Cecile Caddel, MA
Lecturer I

(956) 882-7112
Brownsville, Main 1.438
Specialization: Sociology of education, gender, border studies, critical pedagogy, Latinx populations
Curriculum Vitae
Professor
Walter Diaz, PhD
Professor

(956) 665-7298
Edinburg, ELABN 301
Specialization: Social dimensions of disasters, Research Methodology, Access and Success in Higher Education, Political Participation and Activism (Electoral and non-electoral)
Curriculum Vitae
Professor & Department Chair
William Donner, PhD
Professor & Department Chair

(956) 665-2367
Edinburg, ELABN 344A
Specialization: Environmental sociology, disasters, demography, quantitative methods, statistics
Curriculum Vitae
Lecturer I
Joab Esamwata, PhD
Lecturer I

(956) 665-3321
Brownsville, BMAIN 1.438
Specialization: International Immigration, Social inequality, Food Security and Education
Curriculum Vitae
Associate Professor
Steven Foy, PhD
Associate Professor

Phone: 956-665-3703
Edinburg, ELABN 360
Specialization: Medical sociology, social psychology, race and ethnicity
Curriculum Vitae
Assistant Professor
Serap Kavas, PhD
Assistant Professor

(956) 665-3321
Brownsville, BMAIN 1.436
Specialization: Family demography, Developmental idealism, Gender, and Migration
Curriculum Vitae
Professor & Disaster Studies Program Coordinator
Dean Kyne, PhD
Professor & Disaster Studies Program Coordinator

Phone: 956-665-2572
Edinburg, ELABN 343
Specialization: Disasters, sustainability, environmental justice, nuclear power disasters, GIS
Curriculum Vitae
Associate Professor
Arlett Lomeli, PhD
Associate Professor

Phone: 956-665-3318
Edinburg, ELABN 350
Specialization: Race/ethnicity, gender, criminology, ecofeminism, disasters, education
Assistant Professor
James Parisot, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor

(956) 665-8065
Edinburg, ELABN 309
Specialization: Historical Sociology, Sociological Theory, History of Capitalism, Globalization
Curriculum Vitae
Professor
Marla D. Perez-Lugo, PhD
Professor

(956) 665-8160
Edinburg, ELABN 353
Specialization: Environmental Sociology
Curriculum Vitae
Professor & Sociology Graduate Program Coordinator
Salvatore Restifo, PhD
Professor & Sociology Graduate Program Coordinator

Phone: 956-665-8798
Edinburg, ELABN 337
Specialization: Race/ethnicity, immigration, political economy, collective behavior, mass media
Curriculum Vitae
Emeritus Professor
Chad Richardson, PhD
Emeritus Professor

956-665-3321
Edinburg, ELABN 344
Specialization: Race/ethnicity, Border Studies, Immigration, Education
Curriculum Vitae
Associate Professor
Bienvenido Ruiz, PhD
Associate Professor

Phone: 956-665-7843
Edinburg, ELABN 333
Specialization: Race/ethnicity, U.S. Latino populations, international migration, social stratification, community supervision policy/programs
Curriculum Vitae
Professor
Igor Ryabov, PhD
Professor

Phone: 956-665-7874
Edinburg, ELABN 335
Specialization: Sociology of education, Sociology of health, immigration, race/class/gender
Associate Professor
Katarzyna Sepielak, PhD
Associate Professor

Phone: 956-665-3321
Brownsville, Main 1.432
Specialization: Cross-cultural communication, Language accessibility, Emergency communication, Risk and conflict communication, Environmental justice, Audiovisual translation, Language in field research, Mass media.
Curriculum Vitae
Assistant Professor
Canan Tanir, PhD
Assistant Professor

(956) 665-3321
ELABN 362
Specialization: Gender and Ecology, Sociology of Motherhood/Family, Politics of Care, Feminist Theory, Qualitative Methods
Curriculum Vitae
Lecturer III
Alma D. Trevino-Garza, PhD
Lecturer III

956-665-3579
Edinburg, ELABN 324
Specialization: Social psychology, Race and Ethnic Relations, Social Stratification, Research Methods
Lecturer I
Jose M. Villarreal, PhD
Lecturer I

956-665-2581
Edinburg, ELABN 338
Specialization: Chicano/Latino Studies, social movements, indigenous religion, world migration, Southern globalization
Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Development
Dawid Wladyka, PhD
Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Phone: 956-882-7384
Brownsville, Main 1.434
Specialization: Sustainability, Environmental Justice, Disasters and Emergency Management, Urban Studies, Migration, Diversity, Integration, Field Research Methodology, GIS
Curriculum Vitae
Lecturer II
Leticia Nevarez Zavala, MS
Lecturer II

Phone: (956) 665-3579
Edinburg, ELABN 324
Specialization: Gender, Forced Sterilization, Eugenics, Race
Curriculum Vitae

Staff

Administrative Assistant II
Jesus "Jesse" Medina
Administrative Assistant II

956-665-8723
Edinburg, ELABN 344

Contact information for temporary and part-time faculty is available by calling (956) 665-3321 or emailing jesus.medina@utrgv.edu.