Why study sociology? For me, sociology is a way to address questions that call for investigation and practical, ameliorative action. Why is the infant mortality rate in a neighborhood one mile from Rhodes College higher than it is in many developing countries? Why do single women live longer than married women, but married men live longer than single men? These types of questions inspire my practice of sociology.
My objective as a teacher is to cultivate the student’s ability to understand and respond to the implications of the knowledge studied. Depending on the course, this objective is pursued through a combination of lectures, classroom dialogue and experiential learning. I enjoy weaving my applied sociological research into course curriculum and welcome student assistance with my applied research projects.
My research interests have meandered over the course of my career at Rhodes, which began in 1988. I have worked in the area of social gerontology, interpretive sociology and hermeneutics, service-learning pedagogy, program development and evaluation, and, most recently, medical sociology and community health. My approach to research design emphasizes the complementary nature of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
B.A. Communications, Hunter College, CUNY
M.S. Social Research, Hunter College, CUNY
Ph.D. Sociology, University of New Hampshire
Introduction to Sociology (ANSO 105)
Research Methods (ANSO 261)
Explorations in Social Theory (ANSO 275)
Cultural Motifs: Urban and Community Health (ANSO 300)
Medical Sociology (ANSO 303)
Prejudice and the Human Condition (ANSO 331)
Thomas G. McGowan, 2007. The 2007 Memphis TGA Ryan White HIV/AIDS Needs Assessment. Technical report prepared for the Memphis/Shelby County Health Department and The United Way of the Mid-South in compliance with HRSA requirements for evidence-based administration and allocation of federal funding provided through the Ryan White HIV Treatment Modernization Act of 2006.
Thomas G. McGowan, 2001. “Toward a practitioner’s approach to service-learning course design,” in the AAHE’s Service-Learning in Religious Studies volume, edited by M. McLain and J. Favazza.
Thomas G. McGowan, 1998. “Cultural foregrounding and the problem of representation: Combating ageism through reflexive, intergenerational experience.” The Journal of Aging and Identity, vol. 2., number 4, 229-249.
Thomas G. McGowan, 1996. “Ageism.” Encyclopedia of Gerontology, Vol. 1, A2, 1-10, 1996. James Birren, ed. San Diego: Academic Press.