Withers, Erik

Erik Withers

Assistant Professor

Start Year: 2019

Sociology, Criminology and Anthropology
Office: 326 Kleinpell Fine Arts
Phone: 715-425-4729

Email: erik.withers@uwrf.edu

Education:

Ph.D. Sociology, University of South Florida, Tampa FL
M.A. Sociology, DePaul University, Chicago IL
B.S. Criminal Justice, University of Central Florida, Orlando FL
A.A. Liberal Arts, Valencia Community College, Orlando FL

Courses Taught:

SOCI 100 Introduction to Sociology
WGSS 200 Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexualities Studies
SOCI 200 Sociology of Diversity
UWXSC 222 Race and Ethnicity

SOCI 300 Research Methods
CRIM 321 Race and Crime
SOCI 322 Race and Ethnicity
SOCI 328 Perspectives on Race Relations
SOCI 411 Seminar on Culture and Community
SOCI 421 Seminar on Diversity and Inequality

Research Interests:

Racial and Ethnic Inequalities, Consumer Culture, Gender and Sexualities, Urban Sociology, Identity, Sociology of the Family, Cultural Sociology, Qualitative Research Methods.

Professional Activities:

• April 2022, Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. “The Man Had a Dream”: Using Narratives to Uncover How Students Learn About Systemic Racism.  
• October 2021, Wisconsin Sociological Association Annual Conference, virtual. “Whiteness as “Purity”: A Critical Analysis of Korean Soju Advertisements on Instagram.
• March 2021, UWRF Women’s, Gender, & Sexualities Studies Women’s History Month Flash Presentations, virtual. “The Gendered experiences of Cultural Intermediaries in the Craft Beer, Wine, and Spirits Industry.”
• November 2020, Wisconsin Sociological Association Annual Conference, virtual. “You Just Need to Be One of the Boys and Accept It” The Gendered Experiences of Cultural Intermediaries in the Craft Beer, Wine, and Spirits Industry.  
• April 2019, Southern Sociological Society Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA. “Why Would You Have a Coconut Rum with a Palm Tree on it Made in Canada? Cultural Intermediaries, Ethnicity, and Value Construction in the Craft Beverage Industry.”

Publications:

Special Issues

• Withers, Erik T. and Rich Wallace. 2021. New Approaches to Using Visual Media in the Social Science Classroom. Sociological Imagination.
• Withers, Erik T. and Manuel Ramirez. 2020. Culture and Inequalities. Humanity and Society.  

Journal Articles

• Withers, Erik T. and Rich A. Wallace. 2021. “Using Media to Turn on and Tune in the Sociological Imagination: The Z to A Approach.” Sociological Imagination. 57(1): 4-8.  
• Brunsma, David L., Nathaniel G. Chapman, Joong Won Kim, J. Slade Lellock, Jennifer Padilla Wyse, Erik T. Withers, and Megan Underhill. 2020. “The Culture of White Space: On the Racialized Production of Meaning.” American Behavioral Scientist. 64(14): 2001-2015.
• Withers, Erik T. and Manuel Ramirez. 2020. “Keep Culture, Lose the Reductionism: Exploring Contemporary Cultural Spaces as Sites of Power Maintenance and Resistance” Humanity and Society. 44(4): 367-374.
• Withers, Erik T. 2017. “Whiteness and Culture.” Sociology Compass. 11(4): 1-11.  

Book Chapters  

• Withers, Erik T. 2017. “Brewing Boundaries of White/Middle-Class/Maleness: Reflections From Within the Craft Beer Industry.” Pp 236-260 in: Untapped: Exploring the Cultural Dimensions of the Craft Beer Revolution. Edited by: Nathaniel G. Chapman, J. Slade Lellock, and Cameron Lippard. Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Press.  
• Withers, Erik T. 2017. “The Impact and Implications of Craft Beer Research: An Interdisciplinary Literature Review.” Pp 11-24 in: Craft Beverages and Tourism, Volume One: The Rise of Breweries and Distilleries in the United States. Edited by: Carol Kline, Susan L. Slocum and Christina T. Cavaliere. London, UK: Palgrave MacMillan.

Book Reviews

• Withers, Erik T. 2021. Review of Vegas Brews: Craft Beer and The Birth of a Local Scene by Michael Ian Borer. Journal of Consumer Culture.  
• Withers, Erik T. 2020. Review of I Got Something to Say: Gender, Race, and Social Consciousness in Rap Music by Matthew Oware. Sociological Inquiry.  
• Withers, Erik T. 2019. “Old Jobs, New Vibes: How Distilling Bartending, and Butchering Became Cool.” Review of Masters of Craft: Old Jobs in the New Urban Economy by Richard E. Ocejo. Symbolic Interaction.  

Scholarly Essays  

• Withers, Erik T. March 2019. Scholars’ Conversations: Joshua Sbicca, Food Justice Now! ASA Section for Consumers and Consumption Website. https://asaconsumers.wordpress.com/2019/03/10/scholars-conversations-joshua-sbicca-food-justice-now/
• Withers, Erik T. November 2018. Cultural Intermediaries, Emotion, and the Craft Beverage Industry. Consume This! ASA Section on Consumers and Consumption Blog. https://asaconsumers.wordpress.com/2018/11/03/consume-this-cultural-intermediaries-emotion-and-the-craft-beverage-industry/