At the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, we met with all of the new faculty hires in the College of Arts and Sciences. This series of podcasts introduces them and their research interests. Janet Stamatel is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and specializes in criminology and political sociology. In particular, she is interested in the reasons why countries have different levels of crime and where the U.S. falls along the spectrum in relation to other countries in the world. Her current research project looks at crime in Eastern European countries and at how major social changes, such as the fall of Communism, affect crime rates.

At the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester, we met with all of the new faculty hires in the College of Arts and Sciences. This series of podcasts introduces them and their research interests. Carlos de la Torre is the director of International Studies and is also a professor in the Department of Sociology. Professor de la Torre's research focuses on populist leadership and understandings of democracy. He is currently working on a book comparing ideas of democracy under three populist leaders in South America: Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, and Rafael Correa in Ecuador.

Enku Ide is a graduate student in the Department of Sociology and a recipient of a National Science Foundation grant. Ide examines first-generation college and university students' experience, exploring issues of class identity and unionization in graduate student populations.