Elizabeth A. Gill

Professor and Chair

Department of Sociology

Randolph-Macon College

P.O. Box 5005

Ashland, Virginia 23005

e-mail: bgill@rmc.edu

Education:

Ph.D.: University of Texas at Austin, 1994, Sociology.

M.A.: Yale University, 1987, Medical Sociology.

B.A.: Trinity University, San Antonio 1984.
Summa Cum Laude.

Teaching and Research Interests:

· Historical/Comparative Sociology
· Death and Dying
· Formal Organizations
· Social Change and the Future
· Medical Sociology/Biomedical Ethics
· Methods (Quantitative and Qualitative)

Professional Appointments:

Professor of Sociology: Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia. 2006 to present.

Associate Professor of Sociology: Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia. 1996 to present.

Assistant Professor: Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, Texas. 1994-1996.

Assistant Instructor: University of Texas, Austin, Texas. 1992-1994.

Instructor: Austin Community College, Austin, Texas. 1994.

Teaching Assistant: University of Texas, Austin, Texas. 1989-1992.

Teaching Assistant: Yale University, New Haven Connecticut. 1984-1987.

Nursing Assistant: Coronado Community Hospital, Pampa, Texas. Summer 1983.

Courses Taught:

Aging and the Life Course

Death and Dying

Formal Organizations

Future Worlds

Health, Healing and Gender in Ghana

Health, Illness and Healing

Population, Poverty and the Environment

Principles of Sociology

Social Epidemiology

Social Psychology

Social Research Methods

Sociological Theory

Sociology of the Family

Women and Society

First Year Colloquium: Six Billion Bodies and Souls

Special Teaching Experience:

Coordinator Sociology Field Studies Program: Randolph-Macon College, Ashland Virginia. 1997 to present.
Coordinator Sociology Internship Program: Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia. 1996-2000.
Director/Coordinator Criminal Justice Program: Our Lady of the Lake, University, San Antonio, Texas.1994-1996.

Teaching Awards:

Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Professor Award, May 2006.

SCHEV Outstanding Faculty Award Nominee, October 2001.

Case Professor of the Year Nominee, 1999, 2000, 2001.

Thomas-Branch Award for Teaching Excellence, March, 1998.

Our Lady of the Lake Award for Teaching Excellence, May, 1996.

Research Experience:

Co-Principal Investigator: Hanover County I Care Community Builders Collaborative, 2001 to present.
Research Assistant: University of Texas, Austin, Texas. Summer, 1991.
Research Assistant: Yale University/City of New Haven, New Haven, Connecticut; Program Coordinator and Monitor for Mayor's Task Force on Health. 1985-1987.
Research Assistant: Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut. Developed and conducted research on behavior and data on AIDS victimization. Dr. Charles Perrow, Coordinator. 1986.

Publications:

Articles:
• Elizabeth Gill. 2006. "Complementary Alternative Medicine, Palliative Care, and the Hospice Alternative." International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management, 6(5): 109-116.
•Gideon Sjoberg, Elizabeth Gill and Norma Williams. 2005. “La sociologia de los derechos humanos” in Analyisis Y Perspectivas De La Globalizacion” (Sociology and Human Rights: Problems and Possibilities). Eds. Ana Maria Aragones, Aida Villaobos and Maria Teresa Correa. 1(2): 49-84. Somewhat of abridged translation of Social Problems article listed below.
• Elizabeth Gill. 2005. “Between Organizations, Family, and Death: Hospice Workers within the Hospice Organization.” Making Sense of Death and Dying. Forthcoming.
• Elizabeth Gill. 2005. “Human Agency and Social Organizations: Caring Creatively within Health Care Organizations.” 5th Annual International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations Proceedings, Rhodes, Greece.
• Elizabeth A. Gill. 2005. FAST Program Evaluation: Families and Schools Together (Hanover School District). Hanover Community Services Grant report.
• Elizabeth A. Gill. 2005. FAST Program Evaluation: Families and Schools Together (Charles City School District). Hanover Community Services Grant report.
• Elizabeth A. Gill. 2005. FAST Program Evaluation: Families and Schools Together (Goochland School District). Hanover Community Services Grant report.
· Gideon Sjoberg, Elizabeth Gill, and Leonard D. Cain. 2003. "Countersystem Analysis and the Construction of Alternative Futures." Sociological Theory, 21(3): 210-233.
· Sjoberg, Gideon, Elizabeth Gill, and Joo Ean Tan. 2003. "Social Organization." Pp. 411-432 in Handbook for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism. Ed. Larry Reynolds and Nancy J. Herman-Kinney. New York: Altamira Press.
· Elizabeth Gill. 2002. "Expanding the Possibilities of Pragmatism and Symbolic Interaction: A Tribute to Gideon Sjoberg." Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 25: 51-54.
· Elizabeth Gill. 2002. "Unlocking the Iron Cage: Human Agency and Social Organizations." Studies in Symbolic Interaction, 25: 109-128.
· Gideon Sjoberg, Elizabeth Gill and Norma Williams. February 2001. "Sociology and Human Rights: Problems and Possibilities." Social Problems, 48: 11-47.
· Elizabeth Gill. 1999. "'Hope' and the Construction of the Future." Virginia Humanities Conference Proceedings.
· Elizabeth Gill. 1998. "Volunteer as Listener." Hospice of Central Virginia Newsletter, October.
· Gideon Sjoberg, Elizabeth Gill, and Norma Williams. 1997. "The Reemergence of John Dewey and American Pragmatism." Studies in Symbolic Interaction: A Research Annual, 21.
· Gideon Sjoberg, Norma Williams, Elizabeth Gill, and Kelly F. Himmel. 1995. "Family Life and Racial and Ethnic Diversity: An Assessment of Communitarianism, Liberalism and Conservatism." Journal of Family Issues, 16: 246-274.
· Gideon Sjoberg, Elizabeth Gill, Norma Williams and Katherine Kuhn. 1995. "Ethics, Human Rights and Sociological Inquiry: Genocide, Politicide and Other Issues of Organizational Power." American Sociologist, 26: 8-19.
· Elizabeth Gill. 1994. "Death as a Social Problem: Organizations, Family and the Dying Process. Society for the Study of Social Problems Conference Proceedings.

Book and Article Reviews:
· Books Reviews, The Great Plains Sociologist: The Metaphorical Society: An Invitation to Social Theory by Daniel Rigney (Fall, 2003); Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich (Fall, 2002); Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping Our Lives, by Anthony Giddens (Fall, 2001); Transgressing Borders: Critical Perspectives on Gender, Household and Culture, edited by Suzan Ilcan and Lynne Phillips (Fall, 1999); The American Way of Death Revisited, by Jessica Mitford (Spring, 1999); Modern Social Theory: Key Debates and New Directions, by Derek Layder (Fall, 1998); Social Organization of Medical Work by Strauss, Fagerhaugh, Suczek and Wiener (Spring, 1998); Crime Control As Industry by Nils Christie. The Great Plains Sociologist (Spring, 1996).
· Reviewer: Sociological Spectrum (1997-1998).

Articles Out For Review:
· Elizabeth Gill. "Expanding Upon Dewey-Mead's Conception of the Social Mind: The Case of Hospice Volunteers"

Manuscripts in Progress:
· Elizabeth Gill. "Reflections on the Social Practice and Future of Hospice (Palliative) Care."
· Elizabeth Gill. "Family, Organizations and Death: A Study of Changing Family Patterns."
· Elizabeth Gill. "A Sociological Model of Hope."

Professional Awards :

• Winner of the 2005 Stanley L. Saxton Applied Research Award for her manuscript entitled “Expanding Upon Dewey-Mead’s Conception of the Social Mind: The Case of Hospice Volunteers” presented at the Midwest Sociological Association Meetings, Omaha, Nebraska. March 2005.

Presentations:

• “Complementary Alternative Medicine, Palliative Care, and the Hospice Alternative” presented at the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Montreal Canada. August 2006.
• “Complementary Alternative Medicine, Palliative Care, and the Hospice Alternative: Medicine’s Reclamation of Death”? presented as a virtual presentation at the International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations, Prato, Italy. July 2006.
• “Teaching through the Passage: A Collaborative and Innovative Approach to the First-Year Experience presented at the Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching, University of Delaware, Newark Delaware. April 2006.
• “Palliative Medicine and the Subversion of the Hospice Ideal” presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Boston, MA. March 2005
• “Complementary Alternative Medicine, Palliative Care, and the Hospice Alternative: Medicine’s Reclamation of Death”? presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Philadelphia, P.A. August 2005.
• "Human Agency and Social Organizations: Caring Creatively within Health Care Organizations," virtual presentation at the 5th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organizations, Rhodes Greece. July 2005.
• “Applying Dewey-Mead’s Conception of the Social Mind: Caring and the Case of Hospice Volunteers,” presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings Washington D.C., March 2005.
• “Expanding Upon Dewey-Mead’s Conception of the Social Mind: The Case of Hospice Volunteers,” presented at the Joint Symbolic Interaction and Ethnographic Research and North Central Sociological Association Conferences Northwestern Sociological Association, Pittsburg, PA. April, 2005.
• “Between Organizations, Family, and Death: Caring Creatively within the Hospice Organization” presented at the Hospice Education Institute, London England. May 2004.
· "Caring Creatively within Structured Medical Settings," to be presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, San Francisco, CA. August 2004.
· "Between Organizations, Family, and Death: Caring Creatively within the Hospice Organization," presented at the Making Sense of Death and Dying conference, Paris France. November 2003.
· "Caring and Dying within Organizational Settings: An Examination of the Creativity of Hospice Volunteers," presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, San Antonio, TX. April 2003.
· Author Meets Critic Session: "The Metaphorical Society: An Invitation to Social Theory by Daniel Rigney," Southwest Social Science Association Meetings, San Antonio, TX. March 2003.
· "Human Agency and Social Organizations: Caring Creatively within the Hospice Organization," presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Philadelphia PA. March 2003.
· "Human Agency and Social Organizations: An Examination of Caring and Creativity of Human Agents," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Chicago IL. August 2002.
· "The Perspective of the College-Wide Curriculum Review Committee on the Place of Speech Communication in the Liberal Arts College General Education Curriculum," presented at the National Communications Association Meeting, Atlanta GA., November 2001.
· "The Family and Death And Dying: An Exploratory Analysis of the Hospice Volunteer as Surrogate Family Member," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Anaheim, CA. August, 2001.
· American Sociological Association Meetings, Panelist for Professional Workshop: "Preparing Future Faculty for the Range of Academic Jobs," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Anaheim, CA. August, 2001.
· "A Sociological Model of Hope," presented at the Southwestern Social Science Association, Fort Worth, Texas. March, 2001.
· "Sociology and Human Rights: Problems and Possibilities," presented with Dr. Gideon Sjoberg and Dr. Norma Williams at the American Sociological Association national meetings, Washington, D.C.; August 2000.
· "Family, Organizations and Death: A Study of Changing Family Patterns in the Public and Private Spheres," presented at the Southwest Social Science Association Meetings, Galveston, Texas; April, 2000.
· "The Sociology of 'Hope' and the Social Construction of the Future," presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Baltimore, Maryland; March 2000.
· "The Liberal Arts Curriculum: Strive For Excellence or Back to the Basics," presented with Dr. Brenda Davis at the AGLS Conference, "Great Debates about Liberal Education: Function, Structure, Outcomes," Richmond, Virginia; October 1999.
· "Social Problems Theory and the Construction of Alternative Futures," presented with Dr. Gideon Sjoberg at the Society for the Study of Social Problems national meetings, Chicago, Illinois; Aug 1999.
· "Hoping in the Iron Cage," presented at the Southwest Social Science Association Meetings, San Antonio, Texas; April 1999
· "Family, Organizations and Death," presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Boston, Mass.; March 1999.
· "'Hope' and the Construction of the Future," presented at The Virginia Humanities Conference, Staunton, Virginia; March 1999.
· "The Hospice Volunteer and the Negotiation of Death: An Evaluation of Interaction within Organizational Settings," presented at the Society for Applied Sociology National Meetings, Denver, Colorado; October, 1998.
· "Unlocking the Iron Cage: Organizations and Symbolic Interactionism," presented at the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism National Meetings, San Francisco, California; August, 1998.
· "Family, Organizations, and Death and Dying," presented at the Southwest Social Science Association meetings, Corpus Christi, Texas; March, 1998.
· "Toward the Preservation of the Lifeworld: Social Justice and the Negotiation of Death." presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; March, 1998.
· "The Negotiation of Death and the Lifeworld: A Study in Communicative Rationality," presented at the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism National Meetings, Toronto, Canada; August, 1997.
· "The I, the We and the Them: Ethics versus Human Rights," presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Baltimore, Maryland; April, 1997.
· "'Hope' and the Construction of the Future," presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, New Orleans, Louisiana; March, 1997
· "The I, the We and the Them," presented at the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism, New York City, New York; August, 1996.
· "The Role of the Hospice Volunteer and the Negotiation of Death," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, New York City, New York; August, 1996.
· "Ex-Con's, Family Life and the System" presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, Houston, Texas; March, 1996.
· "The Role of the Hospice Volunteer in the Negotiation of Death," presented at the Mid-South Sociological Association Meetings, Mobile, Alabama; October, 1995
· "Discourse, the Family and Communicative Rationality: A Critique of Habermas' Theory of Communicative Rationality," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Washington, D.C.; August, 1995.
· "The Lifeworld and Death And Dying: A Symbolic Interactionist Perspective," presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas; March, 1995.
· "Death as a Social Problem: Organizations, Family and the Dying Process," presented at the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Los Angeles, California; August, 1994.
· "A Critical Analysis of Communicative Rationality: Procedural Rules and the Private Sphere," presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, San Antonio, Texas; March, 1994.
· "The Changing Nature of the Family: The Organizational Context of Death," presented at the Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, San Antonio, Texas; March, 1994.
· "Countersystem Analysis and the Sociology of the Future," presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings (roundtable), Miami Beach, Florida; August, 1993 (with Gideon Sjoberg).
· "Alternative Futures: A Countersystem Analysis," presented at Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings New Orleans, Louisiana; March, 1993 (with Gideon Sjoberg).
· "A Countersystem Analysis of Existing Death," presented at Southwestern Sociological Association Meetings, Austin, Texas; March, 1991.

Grants and Fellowships:

· Hospice Education Institute, Cross-Cultural Institute on Palliative Care in the United Kingdom. Spring 2004.
· Rashkind Grant for Sabbatical Research, Randolph-Macon College. 2004.
· Walter Williams Craigie Grant, Randolph-Macon College. 1997, 2000, 2003.
· Hanover County I Care Community Builders Collaborative, 2001 to present.
· Hanover County Black Cultural Society, 2001 to 2002.
· International Studies Grant for African Studies, Randolph-Macon College. 2000.
· National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Institute entitled "A History of Death in America." Summer, 1998.
· William Randolph Hearst Grant, Our Lady of the Lake University (Three grants). 1995.
· Minority Opportunities Through School Transformation. 1994-1996.

Professional Affiliations:

Phi Kappa Phi, 1992 – present.
Alpha Kappa Delta, 1984 – present.
American Sociological Association, 1993 – present.
Southwestern Social Science Association, 1989 – present.
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism, 1993 – present.
Society for the Study of Social Problems, 1993 – present.
Eastern Sociological Association, 1996 – present.
American Association for University Professors, 1999 – present.

Professional Organizational Involvement:

• American Sociological Association Nominations Committee, August 2005 to 2006.
·Society for the Study of Social Problem's Lee Founders Award Committee for 2002-2003.
· Discussant, Medical Sociology Roundtable, August 2002.
· Book Review Editor: Great Plains Sociologist, 2001-2003.
· Member elect of the Southwest Social Science Association Interdisciplinary Program Committee, Summer 2001 – present.
· Member elect of the Southwest Social Science Association Membership Committee, Summer 2001 to present.
· Member elect of the Southwest Social Science Association Site Policy Committee, Summer 2001 to present.
· Organizer and Discussant: Undergraduate Research I for the Southwest Social Science Association meetings, March 2001.
· Organizer and Discussant: Undergraduate Research II for the Southwest Social Science Association meetings, March 2001.
· Organizer and Discussant: Social Change and the Future for the Southwest Social Science Association meetings, March 2001.
· Organizer and Discussant: Realistic Utopias and Alternative Futures for the American Sociological Association meetings, August, 2000.
· Member elect of the Society for the Study of Social Problems Membership Committee August 2000 to present.
· Organizer and Discussant: The Family for the Southwestern Social Science Association meetings, April, 2000.
· Organizer and Discussant: Social Change of the Future for the Southwestern Social Science Association meetings, April, 1999.
· Discussant: Student Session at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, March 1999.
· Member elect of the Executive Committee of the Southwestern Social Science Association, March 1998 to present.
· Organizer and Discussant: Social Change of the Future for the Southwestern Social Science Association meetings, April, 1998.
· Organizer for session honoring Dr. Gideon Sjoberg, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism, August, 1998.
· Organizer and Discussant: Social Justice and Democracy, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interactionism meetings, August, 1997.
· Organizer and Discussant: Sociology of the Future section, Southwestern Social Science Association meetings, March, 1997.
· Organizer and Discussant: Deviance section, Southwestern Social Science Association meetings, March, 1996.
· Member of the Blumer Committee, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. 1995-1996.
· Mentor for American Sociological Association MOST (Minority Opportunities through School Transformation) Program. 1994-present.
· American Sociological Association MOST (Minority Opportunities through School Transformation) Faculty Mentor Summer Institute. Texas A&M University. College Station, Texas. June, 1994.
· American Sociological Association MOST (Minority Opportunities through School Transformation) Program Site Directors’ Conference. Washington, D.C. February 1995.
· American Sociological Association MOST (Minority Opportunities through School Transformation) Faculty Mentor Summer Institute. University of Massachusetts. Amherst, Massachusetts. August, 1995.

College Committees:

Acting Associate Dean of the College, 2005.
SACS Leadership Team. 2006 to 2007.
Member, Presidential Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2005 to present.
Associate Director First Year Experience, Randolph-Macon College. 2004 to present.
Member, CASE Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2004 to present.
Member, Higgins Fellows, Randolph-Macon College. 2002 to present.
Member, Committee on the Faculty, Randolph-Macon College. 2003 to present.
Member, Women Studies Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2006.
Chair, Sociology Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2002-2003.
Member, Speech Communication Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2002.
Chair, Sociology Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2001 to 2002.
Member, Fine Arts Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2001 to present.
Chair, Assessment Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2001 to 2004.
Member of Ad Hoc Internship Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2001 - 2002.
Chair, Anthropology Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 2000 - 2001.
Curriculum Review Committee, Randolph-Macon College, 1999 - 2003.
Assessment Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1997 to 2003.
Chair and Member of the Curriculum Committee, Randolph-Macon College, 1998 to 2000.
Executive Committee, Randolph-Macon College, 1999 to 2000.
Scholarship Committee, Randolph-Macon College, 1998 to 2000.
Political Science Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College, 1998 to 1999.
Enrollment Management Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1997 to present.
Chair, Sociology Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1999 to 2000.
Womens Studies Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1999.
Chair, Sociology Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1997 to 1998.
Political Science Search Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1997 to 1998.
Institutional Advancement Council Member, Our Lady of the Lake University. 1995.
University Retention Committee, Our Lady of the Lake University. 1995.
Colleges & Universities Advisory Group to the Bexar County Sheriff's Department. 1994-1996.

Departmental and Program Committees:

Chair, Department of Sociology, Randolph-Macon College. 1996 to present.
Director, Women’s Studies Program, Randolph-Macon College. 2004 to 2005; 2006-2007.
Faculty Co-Advisor for Students of Sociology, Randolph-Macon College. 1999 to present.
Faculty Advisor for Kappa Alpha Theta (Sorority). 2001 to present.
Women Studies Council, 1999 to present.
Environmental Studies Council, 1998 to present.
Teacher's Preparation Committee, Randolph-Macon College. 1997 to 1999.
Faculty Advisor for Undergraduate Majors, Randolph-Macon College. 1996 to present.
Faculty Advisor for Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD), Randolph-Macon College. 1996 to present.
Faculty Advisor for Students of Sociology, Randolph-Macon College. 1996 to present.
Faculty Advisor for Undergraduate Majors, Our Lady of the Lake University. 1994-1996.
Faculty Advisor for Students of Sociology, Our Lady of the Lake University. 1994-1996.
Curriculum Development Committee, Member. Our Lady of the Lake University. 1994-1996.

Community Involvement:

Hospice/Bereavement Volunteer, Bon Secours Hospice. 2005-present.
Palliative Care Volunteer. Medical College of Virginia. 2004 - 2006.
Member Hanover County Head Start Policy Board, Ashland Virginia. 2003 - present.
Member Richmond Scottish Country Dancers, Richmond Virginia. 1998 - 2001.
Hospice Bereavement Volunteer. Hospice of Central Virginia, Richmond Virginia. 1998 -1999.
Hospice Volunteer. Hospice of Central Virginia, Richmond Virginia. 1997 - 2002.
Habitat for Humanity. New Braunfels, Texas. 1995 -1996.
Hospice Volunteer. Hospice Austin, Austin, Texas. 1991 -1994.