Department of Sociology

Dr. Elizabeth Trudeau joined the department in 2023. She particularly focuses on research and teaching in the areas of criminology, gender & sexuality, organizations, culture and methods.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology from Taylor University and a Master of Arts in Perspectives of Social Science at the University of Chicago. She completed her Doctoral work at the University of Notre Dame where here PhD focused on understanding how diverse social-justice oriented organizational fields operate. She studied the movement to end human trafficking in the United States with a particular emphasis on how a wide range of social actors from law enforcement to nonprofits attempt to work together across different professional commitments and goals.

Dr. Trudeau especially enjoys teaching courses that interrogate when and why society cares about inequality and social problems and how we frame cultural and social arguments such as criminology and sexualities. She also enjoys teaching methods and believes that one of the most important things a sociological education can do is arm students with an understanding of how to frame social questions, collect, and analyze data!

Her ongoing research continues to examine the ways beliefs about gender and sexuality affect how we talk about and seek to help those who are survivors of crime – especially how male and LGBTQI+ individuals are part of or left out of efforts to combat sexual exploitation and violence. Her work has been published in Sexualities and the Journal of Human Trafficking. At App State she looks forward to collaborating with students on an upcoming research project examining how perpetrators and survivors/victims are framed in true crime media.