Donna Bird

I was already in my late 30s when I discovered sociology, after spending many years working in health planning and administration in upstate New York. I did my doctoral studies at the University of Connecticut while working full time as the Planning Director at the United Way in Hartford.

I moved to Portland with my then husband Cat Eldridge in 1992. I wrote my dissertation on Determinants of State-Level Health Care Reform while I was working full time at USM, doing health services research at the Muskie School and teaching in the Sociology Department. My own experiences balancing employment and academic work make me very understanding of people in my classes facing similar demands.

I am interested in making sure that people in my classes find ways to use sociological concepts, theories and methods throughout their academic careers and in their daily lives. You can expect to find the following features in all the courses I teach:

• A relatively long and detailed syllabus that I encourage you to read and refer to regularly during the semester (I do!)
• At least one required empirical research project for which you choose the topic and method(s)
• An emphasis on in-class work in teams with other students
• An opportunity to revise one or more papers
• An expectation that you will write clearly and organize your writing to follow contemporary social science conventions
• Course assignments that challenge you to apply what you are learning to your everyday life experiences