Sociology

Marissa King

Professor of Management and Sociology

Marissa King is an Professor in the School of Management with a secondary appointment in Sociology. Professor King’s current research examines patterns of antidepressant, stimulant, and antipsychotic utilization. In general, her research analyzes the spatial and temporal dimensions of innovation and diffusion. To understand how large-scale phenomena arise from local behavior, she has studied cases ranging from the rise in autism prevalence during the past decade to the organizational foundations of the antislavery movement in the late 19th century.

Rourke O'Brien

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Rourke O’Brien is an Assistant Professor of Sociology. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of social and economic inequalities with substantive interests in household and public finance, economic mobility and population health.

August Rios

ISPS Director's Fellow 2024

August Rios is a sophomore in Timothy Dwight College majoring in sociology, with a broad fascination for cities. As a low-income student from a large family of eight, he is particularly interested in identifying policy solutions to the affordable housing crisis. August is currently serving as a data and legislative affairs intern at the City of New Haven Fair Rent Commission, a data collector at the United Way of Connecticut, and a YULAA project lead at Statewide Legal Services.

Philip Smith

Professor of Sociology; Associate Director Center for Cultural Sociology

Philip Smith is responsible for a dozen books and over sixty articles and chapters. Most recently he is co-author of Incivility: The Rude Stranger in Everyday Life (Cambridge 2010). He is also author of Why War? The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War and Suez (Chicago, 2005), Punishment and Culture (Chicago, 2008). His textbook Cultural Theory: An Introduction (Blackwell 2001) has been translated into several languages and is now available in a second edition.

Emma Zang

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Biostatistics

Emma Zang’s research interests lie at the intersection of health and aging, marriage and family, and inequality. Her work aims to improve the understanding of 1) how early-life conditions affect later-life health outcomes; 2) social stratification and health; 3) spillover effects within the household exploiting policy changes.

Institution for Social and Policy Studies

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Sociology