Acknowledgments
We began working on this collaborative project in 2021 and continue to be in awe of our colleagues across the state. Through collaboration and formal and informal discussions with folks participating in the Open Oregon Educational Resources project, we learned more about ourselves as educators.
We center not just the needs of students at our campus, but also what we learned from our colleagues about how to design a text that resonates across the state and the region. We are indebted to our students past and present at Eastern Oregon University and elsewhere for their engagement in our discipline. Their willingness to participate in countless activities and offer feedback to us throughout the years improves our approaches to pedagogy. Our students give us the motivation to increase equity for students learning about sociology.
Additionally, this book would not have been possible without input from our contributing authors, peer reviewers for the outline and manuscript, and faculty willing to pilot our textbook.
Heidi Esbensen’s background in human sexuality was valuable in shaping our sexuality chapter.
Nora Karena’s work as an anti-racist educator was instrumental in framing our chapter on race and ethnicity.
Aimee Krouskop’s experiences and training as an anthropologist broadened our text, facilitating our ability to offer global perspectives on sociology.
Alex Olsen’s knowledge and enthusiasm made collaboration a breeze. Her ability to capture the complexities of the criminal justice system are apparent in our chapter on deviance and social control.
Open Oregon Educational Resources and Linn-Benton Community College have provided structural support, funding, and leadership in the fields of Open Educational Resources and Open Pedagogy. Amy Hofer is leading us toward more equitable education where more students have the chance to flourish. Phoebe Daurio, the program manager, and Veronica Vold, the Open Education Instructional Designer were instrumental in this project. Michaela Willi-Hooper is an asset to the success of this project and continually offers unwavering support, enthusiasm, and resources. Her research skills and ability to design ideas that come into our heads greatly benefited this project. Kim Puttnam has provided leadership and passion that have been invaluable to this project. We would also like to thank Stephanie Lennox for her work as editor and the timely feedback she offered, and Colleen Sanders whose organization and check-ins helped get us to the finish line with this project. The feedback we’ve received from our team at Open Oregon Educational Resources has improved our writing and undoubtedly made us better educators.
Nate Lowe, the Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences at Eastern Oregon University provided support that allowed us to collaborate on this project. There are also numerous colleagues at EOU whose friendship and passion for teaching continue to inspire us and helped make this project possible, including Linda Reed-Jerofke, Bill Grigsby, Rebecca Hartman, Cori Brewster, Sheri Rysdam, Peter Wordelman, Daniel Costie, Auburn Isaak, and Bennie Moses-Mesubed. We would also like to thank our colleagues in the Anthropology/Sociology Program at EOU. We would also like to acknowledge the influence and support of our colleagues, advisors, and friends from graduate school, including Tim Hallett, Amy Irby-Shasanmi, Dana Prewitt, and Donna Eder.
Thank you to our families and friends, whose support and encouragement stay with us always and provide the foundation we need to be our best selves; to Jane Puentes for always being there for us and helping with the kids; to Laura and Tom Gougherty for showing us how to stand up for what we believe in and always providing sound advice.; and to Andy, Megan, Angela, Nick, Steve, Luisa, Gretchen, Nicole, and Amanda for providing us with necessary distractions and keeping us up-to-date on a variety of topics.
To Autumn and Parker, for their (limited) patience and nap schedules, which allowed us to collaborate on this project. Their curiosity for the world around them helps us think of new ways to describe social life.
To my co-author, Matt Gougherty who continually supports and challenges me. He encourages me to see how much I can accomplish, which ultimately causes me to become a better educator and person. His ability to balance an active research agenda with developing engaging classroom practices is admirable.
To my co-author, Jennifer Puentes for balancing a successful academic career with a complex family life. Whose passion for teaching and sociology is infectious and made this project possible. She inspires me with her creative and thorough pedagogy to be a better teacher-scholar.
