At the University of Oregon, I have been honored for distinguished service and teaching. As a member of the University Senate, I chaired the Senate workgroup on Academic Freedom, which generated one of the strongest academic freedom policies in the country and then received the first UO Senate Award for Shared Governance, Transparency and Trust. In 2008, the University of Oregon recognized my service contributions to the community and university by honoring me with the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award. My advocacy for higher labor standards in institutional procurement policies, community advocacy for foster children, the hosting of a conference on Nonviolence, and support for diversity and equity on the campus were all cited as reasons for this award.

In general, I design my courses to critically explore, engage, and test various explanations of the human condition and, quite specifically, dynamics of power and inequality in human society. I seek to present a sociology that unravels the surface appearance of social reality and establish a framework for sociological investigation that unsettles personal opinion and mere speculation. I do this by employing critical pedagogy in my course designs, shaping an environment that draws as much from student motivations to learn, experience and articulate knowledge as my own expectations.