Dr. Fletcher Winston

Education

• B.A., Social Sciences, State University of New York at Stony Brook
• M.A., Sociology, State University of New York at Stony Brook
• Ph.D., Sociology, State University of New York at Stony Brook

Biography

I am professor of Sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology at Mercer University. I am also Director of the Criminal Justice program and Director of the Environmental Studies program. I earned my Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where I also pursued my undergraduate education. My dissertation research examined strategic choice among environmental groups, and I have continued to study social movements and the environment as a professor at Mercer. Recently, I have been examining the outcomes of the student divestment movement on college campuses.

In addition to my focus upon social movements and environmental sociology scholarship, I also involve students with research that serves community needs. I was lead investigator for a HUD funded HOPE VI study to evaluate the experience of public housing residents with social services offered by the Macon Housing Authority and coinvestigator of a Knight Foundation study to evaluate local neighborhood revitalization efforts. More recently, I led survey projects to help Mercer University better understand its racial climate, the level of religiosity among students, and inform the direction of general education reform.

I teach Introductory Sociology, Social Problems, Social Class in the U.S., Environmental Sociology, and Social Movements. These courses often provide service-learning opportunities for students that include community based research or advocacy. I am the faculty sponsor for the sociology and criminal justice internships and help interested students arrange these in their junior and senior years. I also teach the Research Methods and Empirical Project courses, where I help students develop their own research projects. My students have presented their research at the American Sociological Association and Southern Sociological Society annual meetings in New York, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and other cities.

View my curriculum vitae here.

Contact Dr. Fletcher Winston

(478) 301-2955
winston_f@mercer.edu