Charles M. Brown, Ph. D. Professional Address

Charles M. Brown, Ph.D.

Professional Address

Department of Sociology

Albright College

Reading, PA 19612

[phone]

E mail ([e-mail])

http://faculty.albright.edu/sociology/brownc/

EDUCATION:
Ph.D. (Sociology), Southern Illinois University. Carbondale Illinois (December 2001).

Dissertation: "The Culture of Culture Industries: Art, Commerce, and Christian Faith in the

Christian Retailing and Entertainment Industry."

Committee Members: Joel Best, Chair; Rhys Williams; Mark Schneider; Linda Andes &

William McKinney

M.A. (Sociology), University of South Florida. Tampa Florida (1993).

Thesis: “Apocalyptic Unbound: An Interpretation of Christian Speed/Thrash Metal Music.”

Committee Members: Marco Orru, Chair; Laurel Graham; & Stephen Turner
B.S. (Sociology), Oregon State University. Corvallis Oregon (1990). Graduated with high

honors.

TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS:
Research

Culture

Religion

Popular Culture

Organizations, Work & Occupations

Teaching

(In addition to those areas listed above)

Introduction to Sociology

Social Problems

Social Theory

Social Movements

Research Methods

Stratification

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Associate Professor of Sociology – Albright College (2001 – Present)

Soc 101: Introduction to Sociology (17 sections)

Soc 201: Social Problems (3 section)

Soc 230: Cultural Sociology (3 section)

Soc 231: Cults and New Religious Movements (10 sections)

Soc 240: Research Methods (7 Sections)

Soc 241: Social Theory (19 sections)

Soc 331: Mass Media & Popular Culture (3 sections)

Soc 333: Sociology of Religion (5 sections)

Soc 335: Collective Behavior and Social Movements (2 sections)

Soc 481: Advanced Social Theory (1 section)

Soc 490: Senior Seminar (2 sections)

Soc J-14: Sport & Leisure (1 sections)

Soc J-334 (Soc 334): Religion and Popular Culture (5 Sections)

CJ 900: Degree Completion Program Social Problems (2 sections)

CJ 930: Degree Completion Program Research Methods (19 sections)

CJ 975: Degree Completion Program Senior Seminar Capstone (18 sections)

Gateway: (Required course for all incoming freshman – 2 sections)

Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology – Ohio University (1999 – 2001)

Soc 101: Introduction to Sociology (6 sections)

Soc 351: Research Methods (2 sections)

Soc 403/503: Development of Sociological Thought (1 section)

Soc 413/513: Mass Communication (1 section)

Soc 428: Sociology of Religion (1 section)

Soc 298T: Honors Tutorial in Popular Culture & Mass Media (1 section)
Graduate Student Instructor – Southern Illinois University- Carbondale (1995 – 1999)

Soc 306I: Popular Culture in Society (6 sections)

Soc 262: Marriage & the Family (2 sections)
Adjunct Instructor of Sociology – John A. Logan Community College (1995, 1996)

Soc 133: Principles of Sociology (2 sections)

Graduate Student Instructor – University of South Florida- Tampa (1993)

SYA 3010: Contemporary Social Problems (1 section)

PUBLICATIONS:
“Selling Faith: Marketing Christian Popular Culture to Christian and Non-Christian Audiences.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 2012. 24(1): 113-129

“Apocalyptic Unbound: An Interpretation of Christian Speed/Thrash Music" Pp. 117-137 in Religious Innovation in a Global Age: Essays on the Construction of Spirituality, edited by George Lundskow, 2004. Asheville, NC: McFarland Publishing.

“Elective Affinities of Blues, Spirituals, Secular Thrash, and Christian Thrash Metal.”

International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society. 1995. 8(3): 439 452.

BOOK REVIEWS:
Forthcoming 2010. “There's Never Been a Show Like Veggie Tales: Sacred Messages in a Secular Market” H-AMSTDY.
“A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America.”

Contemporary Sociology. 2004. 33(3): 319-321.
"Baring our Souls: TV Talk Shows and the Religion of Recovery."  Symbolic Interaction.  2002. 25(2): 263-265.
“Apostles of Rock: The Splintered World of Contemporary Christian Music.” Sociological

Focus. 2000. 33(2): 239-240.


PAPERS IN PROGRESS AND/OR UNDER REVIEW:
“The Evangelical Environmental Movement: Contrasting the “Call” of Two Social

Movements” with student Jennifer Howells

“Instant Messaging: A Social Phenomenon.” With student Tyler A. Travitz
“Cutting Up With The Girls: A Sociological Study of a Women’s Scrapbooking Club.”

With student Ryan E. Kelly

"Blinded By The "Light"?: Claims and Counterclaims of Protestant Evangelical Popular

Culture As A Social Problem." In Progress.

"Decision Making And The Will of God: The Production of Christian Popular Culture."

In Progress.

"God In The Marketplace: Structure and Ideology in Christian Retailing." In Progress.
“The Moderating Influences of Community and School on the Religiosity/Delinquency Relationship” with Michael O. Maume and Ryan Long. In Progress.
“Which Way Should I Go?: How Industry Members Address The Tension Between Artistic Expression And Traditional Ministry In The Christian Retailing And Entertainment Industry.” In Progress.
“Faithful Evangelist or Cultural Conformer?: The Problem of Producing Christian Popular Culture.” In Progress.


PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS:

“Faith as a Resource: Minimizing Uncertainty in the Christian Retailing and Entertainment Industry.” (Association for the Sociology of Religion, Las Vegas, NV. August 2011)

“What Now?: The Tension Produced By General Market Ownership of Christian Companies.” (Pacific Sociological Association, San Diego, CA. April 2009).
“Wise Use Environmentalism: The Interfaith Stewardship Alliance and its Framing of the Current Environmental Crisis.” (Pacific Sociological Association, Portland, OR. April 2008).
“The Evangelical Environmental Network: Constructing “A Christian Call” for an Environmental Crusade.” (Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, IL. April 2007).
“The Evangelical Environmental Movement: Contrasting the “Call” of Two Social Movements.” with student Jennifer Howells (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Portland, OR. October 2006).
“Instant Messaging: A Social Phenomenon.” With Tyler A. Travitz (The Eastern Sociological Society, Boston, MA. February 2006).
“Managing Tension Between Religious and Professional Commitments In The Christian Popular Culture Industry.” (Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Rochester, NY November 2005).
“Cutting Up With The Girls: A Sociological Study of a Women’s Scrapbooking Club.”

With Ryan E. Kelly (The Eastern Sociological Society, Washington, DC. March 2005).

“Christian Faith as a Cultural Resource: Working in the Christian Popular Culture Industry.”

With James Park (The Eastern Sociological Society, New York, NY. February 2004).

“Enemy at the Gate: Gatekeeping and Censorship in the Christian Popular Culture Industry.” (The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Norfolk, VA. November 2003).
“Working For God: How Christian Faith Influences Work in the Christian Popular Culture Industry.” (The Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, Illinois. April 2003)
“Selling Faith: Marketing Christian Popular Culture to Christian and Non-Christian Audiences.” (The Eastern Sociological Society, Philadelphia, PA. February/March 2003)
“Faithful Evangelist or Cultural Conformer?: The Problem of Producing Christian Popular Culture.” (The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Salt Lake City, UT. November 2002).
“Which Way Should I Go?: How Industry Members Address The Tension Between Artistic Expression And Traditional Ministry In The Christian Retailing And Entertainment Industry.” (The Midwest Sociological Society, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. April 2002)
“The Moderating Influences of Community and School on the Religiosity/Delinquency

Relationship” with Michael O. Maume and Ryan Long. (The Midwest Sociological Society,

St. Louis, Missouri. April 2001).
“God in the Marketplace: Structure and Ideology in Christian Retailing.” (The Society for

the Scientific Study of Religion, Houston, Texas. October 2000).

“Decision-Making And the Will of God: The Production of Christian Popular Culture.” (The

Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, Illinois. April 2000).

“A Precarious Balance: The Creation and Production of Evangelical Popular Culture.”

(The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Boston, Massachusetts. November 1999).

“Blinded by the Light? Claims and Counterclaims of Evangelical Popular Culture as a Social

Problem.” (The Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Nashville, Tennessee. November 1996).

“The Genesis and Stabilization of a Musical Form: Actor Networks and Christian Speed/Thrash Metal Music.” (The Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, Illinois. April 1996).
“Apocalyptic Unbound: An Interpretation of Christian Speed/Thrash Metal Music.” (Society For the Scientific Study of Religion, St. Louis, Missouri. October 1995).
“Elective Affinities of Blues, Spirituals, Secular Thrash, and Christian Thrash Metal.” (The Midwest Sociological Society, Chicago, Illinois. April 1995).
“The Interpretation of Christian Speed Metal Through The Utilization of Elective Affinities And Functional Analysis.” (Oregon Academy of Sciences, Corvallis, Oregon. April 1994).
“The Compatibility of Weber's Concept of Elective Affinities and the Actor Network Model in the Explanation of Christian Speed/Thrash Metal Music.” (Society for the Social Studies Of Science, West Lafayette, Indiana. November 1993).


COMMITTEE & COLLEGE SERVICE:
Departmental Chair, Sociology (Albright College) 2005-2009

Professional Council Committee (Albright College) 2008-2010

Alpha Advising Committee (Albright College) 2002-2010

Information Development Committee (Albright College) 2003-Present (Chair 2011-2012)

College Honors Subcommittee (Albright College) 2003-2009

Gateway Committee (Albright College) 2002-2004

Education Policy Committee (Albright College) 2004-2008

Orientation Program Committee (Albright College) 2003-2005

SERVICE TO THE DISCIPLINE:

Book Review Co-Editor, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 1/2010-Present

Reviewer, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Reviewer, Review of Religious Research

Reviewer, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
INVOLVEMENT WITH STUDENT RESEARCH

“The Evangelical Environmental Movement: Constructing “The Christian Call” for an Environmental Crusade” with student Jenn Howells (Albright Full ACRE Grant awarded to us Summer 2006. Presented at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Meetings, Portland OR., October 2006)

“Instant Messaging: A Social Phenomenon” with student Tyler A. Travitz (Albright Full ACRE Grant awarded to us Summer 2005. Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, Boston, MA, February 2006)
“Cutting Up With The Girls” With student Ryan Kelly (Albright 1/2 ACRE Grant awarded to us Interim 2005. Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, Washington D.C., March 2005)
“Cutting Up With The Girls” With student Ryan Kelly (Albright Full ACRE Grant awarded to us Summer 2004. Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, Washington D.C., March 2005)
“MTV as a Pop Culture Generator and Promoter” with students Tyler A. Travitz and Kate Hodge. (Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society, Washington D.C., March 2005).
“Sex and the City and the Gender Ratio” with students Lauren M. Whiteman and Gretchen Fossett. (Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society, Washington D.C., March 2005).
“Christian Faith as a Cultural Resource: Working in the Christian Popular Culture Industry.” With student James Park (Albright 1/2 ACRE Grant awarded to us Interim 2004. Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, New York, NY, March 2004)
“Christian Faith as a Cultural Resource: Working in the Christian Popular Culture Industry.” With student James Park (Albright Full ACRE Grant awarded to us Summer 2003. Presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings, New York, NY, March 2004)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Contributor To The "Intersections" Electronic Database

Pearson Custom Publishing (A division of Simon & Schuster). 160 Gould St., Needham

Heights, MA.

May 1999 – January 2000

Duties: I was responsible for putting together the "religion" section of the Pearson database of readings (entitled "Intersections") for introductory sociology courses. Specifically, I was responsible for writing up the introductory information for this part of the database, choosing relevant articles, annotating the articles, and writing headnotes and the questions for each of the selections.

Editorial Assistant

Social Problems. Southern Illinois University, Department of Sociology, Carbondale, IL.

May 1996   August 1996

Duties: I was responsible for keeping track of submissions and correspondence with those who submitted papers and reviews. I was also responsible for the database that contained records of all submissions and reviews.

Managing Editor

Visual Sociology. University of South Florida, Department of Sociology, Tampa, FL.

August 1991   December 1992

Duties: Proof reading and editing, correspondence with those who submitted papers and reviews, helped with text layout and format.
Research Assistant

Richard Mitchell, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR.

October 1989   June 1990

Duties: Collected, measured, and recorded data for research from various sources including newspapers, magazines, and microfiche. Analyzed data using statistical analysis including the creation of system files, defining and assigning variable labels, computing and recoding variables, and running correlation, scatter gram, and frequency distributions.

Section Chair Assistant For The Oregon Academy Of Sciences

Richard Mitchell, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

July 1993   April 1994

Duties: Attended meetings, acted as a liaison between the sociology section advisor and the steering committee, helped organize the sociology section for the annual meeting, kept track of incoming members for the sociology section and recorded necessary data.

RELATED EXPERIENCE:

Supervision and Management

Open Door Inc., Corvallis, OR.

1993   1994

Duties: Worked under the direction of the Rehabilitation Manager to provide selective placement services to clients whose physical, mental, or emotional impairments limited their access to competitive employment and who required situational work evaluation as part of their vocational rehabilitation planning. Developed job placement opportunities for selected clients. Disseminated information about work activities to Open Door staff and rehabilitation program information to employers. Created and maintained individual service plans and client files. Completed and maintained various client reports for County Mental Health, Vocational Rehabilitation Division, and relevant others.
Supervision and Management

Oregon Community Support, Corvallis, OR.

Housing for the Handicapped, Corvallis, OR.

1989   1991

Duties: Supervised clients in an intensive training home for mentally, emotionally, and physically challenged adults. Responsibilities included administering drugs, filing progress reports, utilizing motivational techniques for training, and light counseling.

MEMBERSHIPS:
American Sociological Association

American Sociological Association Culture Section

American Sociological Association Religion Section

Association for the Sociology of Religion

Midwest Sociological Society

Eastern Sociological Society

Pennsylvania Sociological Society

Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

Alpha Kappa Delta

REFERENCES:
Scott Paynton, Ph.D., Department. of Communications, Humboldt State University, Arcata,

CA 95521 [phone], ([e-mail]). Chair of Communications.

William Miller, Ph.D., Department. of Sociology, Carthage College, Kenosha, WI 53140-

1994. [phone], ([e-mail]). Chair of Sociology.

Joel Best, Ph.D., Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, University of Delaware,

Newark, DE 19716. [phone], ([e-mail]). Chair of Sociology and

Criminology Department and my dissertation committee.
Rhys Williams, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,

OH 45221. [phone], ([e-mail]). Dissertation committee member.

Mark Schneider, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale,

IL 62901. [phone], ([e-mail]). Dissertation committee member.

Leon Anderson, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701.

[phone], ([e-mail]). Current Chair of the department of Sociology.

Marty Schwartz, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Ohio University, Athens, OH, 45701.

[phone], ([e-mail]). Former Chair of the department of Sociology.

Richard Mitchell, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR

97330. [phone], ([e-mail]). Research advisor and coordinator

Laurel Graham, Ph.D., Department of Sociology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

33620. [phone], ([e-mail]). Thesis committee member.