Department of Sociology

Dr. Ruth Carmi joined the sociology department at Appalachian State University in 2023. She received her M.A. in Sociology and Ph.D. in Sociology & Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, her LL.M in International Legal Studies with a specialization in Human Rights and Gender from American University Washington College of Law and her LL.B in Law & Psychology from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her research and teaching focus on intersectionality, gender and sexuality, law and society, and peacebuilding. Dr. Carmi especially enjoys teaching courses that focus on inequalities and social concerns and investigate the connection between different systems of inequality, such as gender, race and ethnicity, class, heteronormativity, and militarism. Her courses incorporate an international lens, and she enjoys discussions that connect theory to real-life events. Her previous professional work as a human-rights lawyer in Israel informs her study of the connection between Israeli society's racial formation, gender inequalities, the prolonged Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the decline of the Israeli welfare state.

Courses Taught

• SOC 2850: Constructions of Gender
• SOC 3320: Conflict Resolution, Reconciliation, and Peace
• SOC 4150: Sociology of Law
• SOC 4250: Constructing Bodies and Sexualities
• SOC 4450: Senior Capstone

Research Interests

• Gender
• Peacebuilding
• Law and Society
• Intersectionality