Sociology
(323) 343-2200

Kazem Alamdari
Lecturer of Sociology; Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Contact: (323) 343-2200
E-mail: kalamda@calstatela.edu
Dr. Alamdari's area of specialization includes Third World development and social change, democratization in the Third World, Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic societies and Iran. He has published several articles both in English and Persian, and has given talks on Muslim, Arab and Iranian communities throughout the United States. He was also interviewed by local television and radio stations on social issues relating to the Third World. He has taught at several institutions, including University of Tehran and UCLA.
Fluent in: Persian (Farsi).

Cristina Bodinger-deUriarte
Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., Harvard University
Contact: (323) 343-2212
E-mail: cboding@calstatela.edu
Dr. Bodinger-deUriarte is an expert on social psychology, especially in the areas of child and adolescent development, intimate relationships, identity formation, and the life span. She is also interested in the sociology of culture, particularly media, music,literature and the arts. Her current research focuses on methodology, program evaluation and applied sociology. She has authored a publication on hate crimes.

Elaine Draper
Associate Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Contact: (323) 343-2299
E-mail: edraper@calstatela.edu
Elaine Draper is a sociologist and legal scholar who received her J.D. from UCLA. Her professional experience includes government consulting and publication in the areas of health and health policy, bioethics, new biomedical technologies, health and environmental hazards, and government and corporate policy. Her book, Risky Business: Genetic Testing and Exclusionary Practices in the Hazardous Workplace (Cambridge University Press), was awarded the Robert K. Merton Book Award from the American Sociological Association; the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Book Award; and the C. Wright Mills Book Award Honorable Mention from the Society for the Study of Social Problems. She is also the author of The Company Doctor: Risk, Responsibility, and Corporate Professionalism (Russell Sage Foundation).

Terry R. Kandal
Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Contact: (323) 343-2216
E-mail: tkandal@calstatela.edu
Dr. Kandal's areas of specialization are classical sociological theory of the 19th century and early 20th century, Marxian theory, theories of social change and revolution, sex and gender role issues, and the sociology of knowledge and science. Professor Kandal has published The Woman Question in Classical Sociological Theory (Gainesville: UP, Florida). He was also the co-editor of Studies of Development and Change in the Modern World (Oxford UP, 1989). He was honored as 1996-97 Outstanding Professor at Cal State L.A. and, at the same time, was presented a certificate of recognition from the Speaker of the Assembly Antonio Villaraigosa.

Janet Lever
Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., Yale University
Contact: (323) 343-2214
E-mail: jlever@calstatela.edu
Dr. Lever specializes in gender studies, leisure studies, applied sociology, and the social consequences of human sexuality. She is also adjunct staff at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, where she researches and writes on sex and health policy issues. She and Dr. Pepper Schwartz coauthored Glamour magazine's monthly "Sex and Health" column throughout the 1990s, and Dr. Lever currently constructs surveys on related topics for Elle/MSNBC.com, including some of the largest studies to date on the consequences of "Sex in the Workplace," "Sex on the Internet," and "Body Imagery." In 1983, spurred by the World Cup Soccer event, Dr. Lever authored Soccer Madness (University of Chicago Press/reprinted by Waveland Press, 1995), which has been printed in Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.

Gretchen Peterson
Associate Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., University of Arizona
Contact: (323) 343-2211
E-mail: gpeters@calstatela.edu
Dr. Peterson's research and teaching interests include small group interaction, emotions, gender inequality, and adult recreational sports.

Jon Snodgrass
Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Contact: (323) 343-2215
E-mail: jsnodgr@calstatela.edu
An expert in human development over the lifespan with special emphasis on the spiritual dimension in development in adulthood, Dr. Snodgrass has taught human development and group dynamics courses for 30 years and is in private practice as a career counselor and psychotherapist. He has published a book, Follow Your Career Star: Career Quest Based on Inner Values, that provides the theory and methodology to help an individual find their life-purpose. (His approach to career counseling is explained on the Web site: www.careerstar.com) He has also authored a manuscript that uses the Star Wars film series to illustrate the basic principles of human development, Peace Knights of the Soul: Wisdom in 'Star Wars' (Los Angeles: Inner Circle Publishing, 2004). He has also recently authored The Healing of Psychotherapy, published by the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy, Fall 2008.

Ronald Tsukashima
Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., UCLA
Contact: (323) 343-2213
E-mail: rtsukas@calstatela.edu
Over the past 16 years, Dr. Tsukashima has taught courses at Cal State L.A. in social problems, race and social conflict and urban social change. He has considerable expertise in the adjustment of immigrant Japanese-Americans, ethnic entrepreneurship among Asian American immigrants and patterns of conflict in the study of Black/Jewish relations. In 1984-85, Dr. Tsukashima was awarded a Fulbright-Hays grant to lecture on the American society at Kyusha University and Seinan Gakuin University in Japan.

Gunnar Valgeirsson
Lecturer of Sociology; Ph.D., Bowling Green State University
Contact: (323) 343-2212
E-mail: gvalgei@calstatela.edu
Dr. Valgeirsson is an expert on sociology of drug use, sports and business.
Fluent in: Icelandic, German, Danish.

K. William Wasson
Lecturer of Sociology; Ph.D., Iowa State University
Contact: (323) 343-2218
E-mail: bwasson@calstatela.edu
Dr. Wasson specializes in applied sociology at the grassroots level, that is empowerment of communities or individuals. Professor Wasson assists communities in assessing their needs through community administered surveys.

Eui-Young Yu
Emeritus Professor of Sociology; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Contact: (323) 343-2217
E-mail: eyu@calstatela.edu
Dr. Yu is an often-quoted expert and has written many books on Korean demography. He frequently lectures on the Korean community in America, and his most recent studies detail the changes in L.A.'s Korean Community. Dr. Yu was formerly the director of the University's Center for Korean-American and Korean Studies and Institute for Asian-American and Pacific Asian Studies. He was a recipient of Cal State L.A.'s Outstanding Professor Award for 1984-85.

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