Patricia Wasielewski

During her 38-year career at the university, Patricia Wasielewski taught numerous and varied courses in sociology, women's, and gender studies, and Latin American studies. She was a founding member of the Women's and Gender Studies Program and the Latin American Studies Department. Wasielewski particularly enjoyed teaching and doing research in the development of the social self, emotions, and gender. She also followed her original graduate school focus on marginalization, criminalization, and social control. Midcareer, Wasielewski was chosen for a Fulbright Travel Award that focused on Mexico and Latin America. This changed how she oriented to her work and led to her development of study away semesters offered through the Johnston Center for Integrative Studies from 2004 to 2017.

Wasielewski's published work spans the areas of sociology, gender, and Latin American studies and includes articles appearing in Symbolic Interaction, Criminology, and Deviant Behavior. She served as chair of Sociology and Anthropology (1989–1991), director of Latin American Studies (2004–2007), and director of the Oaxaca Programs (2014–2017). She was chosen to receive the Faculty Research Award (1987), the Faculty Teaching Award (1995), the Hunsaker Innovative Teaching Award (2002), and the Faculty Service Award (2014).

Since her retirement in 2020, Wasielewski continues to travel regularly in the Americas — most recently to Costa Rica where she was lucky enough to see a quetzal in the wild. She became a Master Gardener and seasonally grows food in her greenhouse and orchard. She has turned her creative and intellectual energy to writing fiction where she continues to explore themes of social identity and conflict.

• B.S., sociology, Northern Arizona University, 1978
• M.A., sociology, Washington State University, 1980
• Ph.D., sociology, Washington State University, 1982