The Department of Sociology is also happy to welcome Dr. Jonah Birch, who will be serving as a 2-year visiting faculty member at Appalachian State. He has a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from New York University, and a B.A. in history from Columbia University. His research deals with issues of inequality and economic policy, and looks at the development of employment policies and labor market institutions, with a particular focus on Europe. In his dissertation, titled Work Less So More Can Work, he examined the political conflicts surrounding France's statutory 35-hour workweek. Jonah is a contributing editor at Jacobin Magazine, for whom he has written extensively on European politics. He is originally from Boston, Massachusetts.
