Office: J149
Phone: 847-925-6814
Email: medwards@harpercollege.edu
Dr. Monica Edwards is a Professor of Sociology at Harper College. She received her M.S. in Sociology from Illinois State University and her PhD in Sociology from Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Edwards has been at Harper College since 2010, and has been teaching Sociology since 2000.
Dr. Monica’s areas of sociological interest include: critical and compassionate pedagogies, food systems, the sociology of the climate crisis, gender, sexuality, intersectionality theory, and social inequalities. Monica's dissertation focused on how popular culture is used as a tool/resource in negotiating relationships across sexual differences. Her current work focuses on social justice pedagogies.
In her free time, Dr. Monica enjoys camping, hiking, biking, travelling, reading and listening to and playing music.
At Harper College Dr. Edwards regularly teaches:
Office: J-155
Phone: 847.925.6279
Email: jgramlic@harpercollege.edu
Dr James Gramlich is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. He earned his BA from Oklahoma State University and his MA and PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Professor Gramlich began teaching in 1998 and has been a faculty member at Harper since 2008.
Dr Gramlich has broad, interdisciplinary interests, but his sociological areas of focus include social psychology and symbolic interaction, international and comparative sociology, race and ethnicity, and the role of place and space in social organization. His PhD thesis focused on adaptation and self-presentation among people experiencing homelessness in Chicago and London.
He is currently completing an Open Educational Resource — a zero-cost online textbook — for use in teaching sociological social psychology and symbolic interaction.
Office: J169
Email: tjones1@harpercollege.edu
Dr. Tiffany Marquise Jones obtained her PhD in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina. However, before that, she received her first Masters in Rhetoric and Composition from Georgia State University, where her thesis explored the in-group rejection of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). This research motivated her to pursue a second Master's in Linguistics at UofSC and, ultimately, a doctorate in Linguistic Anthropology.
While at UofSC, Dr. Jones received several grants and fellowships that sponsored her research, an ethnographic project based on 16 months of immersion in Washington D.C.’s Spoken Word poetry community. These awards include UofSC's Institute of African American Research fellowship (2017–2018), UofSC's Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship (2019–2020), and the American Anthropological Association's (AAA) Minority Dissertation Award (2019–2020). Her dissertation entitled Place-Making Through Performance: Spoken Word Poetry and the Reclamation of “Chocolate City" documents the interactive model of Spoken Word poetry while showcasing how D.C. poets’ performances embody and preserve “Chocolate City” as well as affirm a sense of belonging that has been threatened by gentrification.
Currently, Dr. Jones is working towards completing an ethnographic film short that will examine the oral histories and performances by artists that host and perform at well-known D.C. venue Busboys and Poets as well as the District's longest-running open mic series SpitDat D.C. This venture will also highlight the result of redevelopment projects around the U Street Corridor, formerly known as Black Broadway, including Native Washtonian's grief and loss suffered as a result. Dr. Jones' long-term pursuits in social justice teaching and advocacy research work to produce inclusive pedagogies and public scholarship as well as curate a virtual archive that showcases the richness of AAL verbal art traditions for diverse audiences. She also hopes to coordinate field schools focused on ethnography and community-based participatory research as well as travel abroad opportunities for students of all backgrounds.
Office: J-151
Phone: 847-925-6432
Email: snoonan@harpercollege.edu
Sean Noonan holds a B.A. in sociology from Culver-Stockton College (1994), an M.A. (1996) and Ph.D. (2002) in sociology from Kansas State University. He joined the Harper College Sociology faculty in August 2002.
Over the years Professor Noonan has taught all of the sociology classes that Harper College has in its catalogue. More recently, teaches Introduction to Sociology (Soc101), Social Problems (Soc205), and Race and Ethnic Relations (Soc235).
Professor Noonan has served as a faculty senator and was Vice-President of the Harper College Faculty Senate for six years. He currently serves as Legislative Chair of Cook County College Teachers Union (AFT 1600) where he works on policy issues such as dual credit, and other educational policy issues.
Professor Noonan’s own research focuses on placed-based political-economy. He examines the multiple intersections between capital accumulation, state policy and changing class relations. His current research examines the contradictions of capital accumulation unfolding in the City of Chicago.
In his free time Professor Noonan enjoys going bird watching with his wife, riding his bike, and hanging out on the porch with friends.
Professor Noonan has published the following peer reviewed scholarly works:
Professor Noonan has also published the following NON peer reviewed research briefs:
