Regular Faculty
Dolores Trevizo, Chair
Madeline N. McKinnie Professor, Sociology
B.A., Occidental College; M.A., Ph.D., UCLA
Dolores Trevizo is a political sociologist and teaches courses in political sociology, social movements and revolutions, theory, immigration to the United States, and quantitative research methods.
Eric Bjorklund
Assistant Professor, Sociology
B.A., Ph.D. University of Arizona
Eric Bjorklund is a sociologist who specializes in health, inequality, and political sociology. His research examines how the distribution of power within society shapes material conditions and formal political processes in ways that generate and reinforce health disparities. Most recently, his focus has been on the socio-political determinants of county-level disparities in alcohol, suicide, and substance/opioid mortality rates.
He also utilizes a mixed methods approach to analyze white reactionary conservative politics in the United States. This includes quantitative work on the politics of health (such as the mechanisms linking political conservatism and risky COVID-19 pandemic behavior), as well as ongoing qualitative research on the internal logics and contours of reactionary politics amongst white working-class men.
Eric currently teaches a range of courses at Occidental College, including Health & Illness, Inequalities in Health & Health Care, Culture, Power, & Music, and Quantitative Research Methods. Eric has also successfully taught numerous other courses (research methods, social inequality, political sociology, technology & society) at diverse range of institutions.
John T. Lang
Associate Professor, Sociology
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., Rutgers University
John Lang is deeply interested in food as a site for sociological exploration.
Jan Lin
Professor, Sociology
B.A., Williams College; M.S., London School of Economics and Political Science; Ph.D., New School for Social Research
Jan Lin's teaching areas are in urban sociology; race and ethnicity in American society; globalization; mass media and consumer society; qualitative research methods; senior seminar; introduction to sociology and a first year seminar on Los Angeles.
Richard Mora
Professor, Sociology
B.A., Harvard College (Sociology); M.A., University of Michigan (Education); M.A., Harvard University (Sociology); Ph.D., Harvard University (Sociology & Social Policy)
Dr. Mora teaches courses on masculinities, youth cultures, education, immigration, violence, and social inequality.
Mai Thai
Assistant Professor, Sociology
B.A. Pomona College; Ph.D. Indiana University
Mai Thai (pronounced "my tie") is a sociologist specializing in areas of criminal justice, education, youth, race/ethnicity, and qualitative methods.
Benjamin Weiss
Assistant Professor, Sociology
B.A. Occidental College, Ph.D. University of Southern California
Benjamin Weiss is an assistant professor of sociology at Occidental College, where he specialize in gender, sex, and sexualities; crime, law, and deviance; and organizations. His research asks how people come together to define and address social problems.
Affiliated Faculty
Cristina Awadalla
Assistant Professor, Latino/a and Latin American Studies
B.A., M.A., Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
Cristina Awadalla is an interdisciplinary sociologist whose teaching focuses on Central American politics, Latin American feminisms, women’s labor, and research methods.
Michael W. Murphy
Associate Professor, Black Studies
B.A., University of San Diego; M.A., Ph.D, Brown University
Professor Murphy’s research and teaching emphasizes anticolonial and environmental approaches to sociological thought.