In teaching her courses, Elizabeth
Long always tries to show her students why the material she teaches
is conceptually exciting and worth knowing and caring about.
Long has won six teaching awards. She has written The American
Dream and the Popular Novel and edited From Sociology
to Cultural Studies: New Perspectives. She received a National
Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to write Book Clubs:
Women and the Uses of Literature in Everyday Life, which will
be published this spring by the University of Chicago Press.
“I try to get students to think critically for themselves,” says
Long. “Which means they must know enough about the material to be able
to engage with it at a level above superficial knowledge.” That way, she
explains, they can evaluate what they are thinking about and consider how useful
it is for them as they expand their understanding of the world.
Long says she discusses issues that matter tothe students. “I see sociological
thinking as being in dialogue with the social world, so I try to make that come
alive for people in the way that I present the material,” she says. “I
always try to empower students and make them think that they can be part of a
broader conversation that has an implication in the world.”
Most of her students who have majored in sociology have used their knowledge
to expand on the social dimensions of their careers, Long says. “A lot
of students who go into law and medicine are interested in serving underrepresented
populations.” Many of her students are doing social work, public health,
educational policy, and education. More and more, she says, are entering the
information technology business sector.
Rice alumna Laura Nghiem ’92 received her master’s degree in 1995
in international political economy and development from Fordham University. She
lives in California, where she works in the business intelligence software industry. “I
found Elizabeth Long’s reading selections to be very good and relevant,” Nghiem
says. “She picked important articles and writings, she didn’t just
rely on some textbooks, and she put thought into balancing the load—the
readings were there for a reason and not just busy work. Long exposed you to
sociological articles and thinkers that were not only really discussed in the
class but whose theories have made a mark on the field of sociology.”
