Howard Kurtz person
Dr. Howard Kurtz has been teaching a sociology class based upon utopian
thought for over twenty years. During that time he has developed insights and a utopian
perspective that is uniquely practical and useful. In 2012 he was invited to conduct a
workshop at the American Sociological Association national meetings on teaching sociology
through Utopian thought.
He has taught sociology and criminal justice for more than thirty years for five universities.
He received his doctorate from The University of North Texas and completed two
Post-Doctoral studies at Rice University. He achieved the rank of full professor early in
his career and was a department chair for twenty years. He currently serves as associate
professor of sociology and criminal justice at Southwestern Oklahoma State University.
He regularly presents academic papers at meetings of the Academy of criminal
justice Sciences, The Southwest Criminal Justice Association, The Southwest
Sociological Association and the National Social Science Association. He is a consultant
to the media on crime and social issues and has been interviewed hundreds of times by
local and national media outlets.
Dr. Kurtz is one of the founders of the Oklahoma State Criminal Justice Research
Consortium, a statewide research consortium that funded evaluation and research on
criminal justice programs. The John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University chose this
program as a national finalist for an award for Innovations in Government. Dr. Kurtz was
then invited to be a guest speaker at the National Institute of Justice in Washington D.C.
to present the findings of this program.
Dr. Kurtz was once the youngest chair of a criminal justice department in the United
States. The Justice Department, Office of Justice Programs, the Office of Homeland
Security and the National Institute of Justice call upon him to consult on evaluation
projects and to serve as an expert evaluator for federal grants.
A leader in online education, he has developed graduate and undergraduate course
materials for national and international learning companies that are used by countless
colleges here and abroad. He serves as a research consultant and subject matter expert
for intellectual content learning companies, national and state agencies and the media.
Dr. Kurtz has been actively involved in research and scholarly activity throughout
his career. He has received funding from the State of Oklahoma to study Electronic
Monitoring, Criminal Justice Flow-Charting, Prison Escapes and Victims services. Dr.
Kurtz was selected as one of the “Outstanding People of the 20th Century,” by IBC,
Cambridge, England.
He is an innovator in the field of sociology and often called a renaissance man known
for his ability to think out side of the box. He developed one of the country’s first courses
on the Sociology of Rock Music and one of the country’s’ first courses on Victimology.
He is also an award winning recording artist and plays guitar and writes and publishes
music in a diverse set of musical styles. His current band has won numerous music
awards and occasionally opens for national acts. His solo project “Yankee Dime” was
launched in 2015 and a portion of the proceeds will help the American Cancer Society
and the Hugs Project.
For more information about his work see; http://www.askdoctorkurtz.com.
Laurence Basirico person
Laurence "Larry" Basirico earned his BA in sociology from Hofstra
University (1972) and his MA (1974) and PhD (1983) at Stony Brook University. He is
professor of sociology at Elon University where he has been since 1983. He was chair of
the Department of Sociology and Anthropology from 1994 to 2004 and resumed his role
as department chair in 2009. Dr. Basirico’s research primarily has been in the areas of
social interaction, identity, socialization, the family and culture—as applied specifically
to rock groups, arts and crafts communities, family reunions, and marital relationships.
His major teaching areas are introduction to sociology, self and society, and the family.
Dr. Basirico was also dean of international programs at Elon for five years (2004 to
2009), spearheading one of the most successful study abroad programs in the United
States and overseeing efforts to internationalize the campus. While he was dean, Elon
won the prestigious Paul Simon Internationalization of the Campus Award, the highest
award given by NAFSA: Association of International Educators.
In 1988, he joined forces with J. Ross Eshleman and Barbara G. Cashion to write
Sociology: An Introduction (Scott Foresman, Little Brown, and then with HarperCollins
Publisher), the precursor for this textbook. That book was one of the first sociology
textbooks that focused on how students could apply sociology in their lives. He assumed
primary responsibility for Introduction to Sociology with BVT Publishing beginning
with the 4th edition.
Dr. Basirico is married with three children and lives in Burlington, North Carolina.
He is a lifelong music lover and learner dedicated primarily to guitar these days, but with
a background in piano. He regularly walks around golf courses chasing a little white ball
into never-before-seen natural habitats.
J. Ross Eshleman person
J. Ross Eshleman, PhD, received his doctorate from Ohio State University and is now professor emeritus at Wayne State University. His past teaching experience includes serving as department chair of sociology at Wayne State University and Appalachian State University, two Fulbright grants to the Philippines at the University of Santo Tomas and De La Salle College, a year with the National Science Foundation, and two university teaching awards.
Dr. Eshleman has directed five institutes for teachers of high school sociology with grants through the National Science Foundation. His publications include numerous editions (ten of his own and two co-authored) of a sociology of the family text.
Barbara Cashion person
Barbara G. Cashion received her PhD from the University of Maryland and taught at a variety of universities, including Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. She has special interest in the sociology of medicine and has worked in group health insurance settings at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and in the pharmaceutical field.
Dr. Cashion has published on related topics in a variety of journals. She is currently retired from teaching and is living in Hagerstown, Maryland. There she continues to develop her interests in music and fine arts, especially in the sociology of American art. Dr. Cashion has two daughters and four grandchildren.
