1981

Feminist pioneers in Sociology have described their experiences in graduate school as a time of intense isolation, as the lone woman scholar who faced intellectual uncertainty and professional exclusion. By the time I entered graduate school in early 1980s, the numbers of women graduate students had increased dramatically ­ one-half of my entering cohort of 20 students were women. Although there were only two women on the faculty when I entered the program, by the time I left in 1991, there were six women among the 24 faculty members, including a number of prominent feminist scholars.

I have been a writer and editor since earning my Ph.D. at Berkeley.  I’ve written three books: The War Within: America’s Battle over Vietnam, Wild Man: The Life and Times of Daniel Ellsberg, and (with Richard Leo) The Wrong Guys: Murder, False Confessions, and the Norfolk Four.  I’m currently finishing a book on the innocence revolution in the justice system with Richard Leo.  I’ve edited books on a diversity of topics, though it’s a poor way to make a living….

My professional goal and desire has been to use the knowledge and skills I have acquired to have an impact upon the issues I care most deeply about - racism, inequality and social justice, in the US and throughout the world. For the past fourteen years I have served as a Professor in Schools of Education; for eleven years at Berkeley and now for three years at Harvard University. In addition to teaching and doing research at the university my quest to have an impact has led me to take on a number of roles in public life.

Originally from Uganda, I became a graduate student in the Sociology Department at UC Berkeley in 1981. I received my M.A. in 1983 and a doctorate in 1991. I joined the University of Nevada as Assistant Professor in 1990 and was tenured to Associate Professor in 1995. I have been chair of the Sociology Department since 2001.

Eloise Dunlap, Ph.D. is a sociologist and graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. She has extensive qualitative experience in research and analysis with African-American families, drug users, drug dealers, distressed households, sex workers, and with drug-abusing families. Her work is rooted in an attempt to understand violence, drug use and markets, male-female and family relations and whether and how these relationships contribute to African-American family instability. Dr.