Department of Sociology

Joyce Hill-Powers, M.A., and Senior Lecturer joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology at Appalachian State University in May 2000, right after completing her degree at Appalachian State University in the MASS Program: Master of Arts in Social Science Education. Joyce earned her master's degree in Sociology and History Education to teach at the post-secondary level. She also worked in College Awareness Programs, Conferences and Institutes, and Ashe County Middle and High schools while remaining a teacher in the department, which enabled Joyce to connect college students with the community and support first-generation college students through federal education grants. Joyce is excited to be a part of the Pathways to Resilience App State’s current Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). This five-year university effort seeks to grow students’ climate literacy and agency and build confidence in our capacity to respond to climate disruption in ways that reduce harm and improve local and global communities' well-being. She is also a Quality Matters Certified SOC 2020 web-based course instructor.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 1110: Social Deviance
• SOC 2020: Social Deviance
• SOC 3340: Criminology
• SOC 3360: Juvenile Delinquency
• SOC 3549: Climate Responses

 Research Interests

• Deviance and Social Control
• The Stigmatization Process
• Social Integration
• Socialization
• Rural Communities
• Culture and Identity

Dr. Bradley Nash Jr. joined the faculty at Appalachian State University in 2002. Currently a full Professor in the Department of Sociology, he served as Undergraduate Sociology Director from 2005 to 2010 and Graduate Sociology Director from 2017 to 2020. Teaching interests include sociological theory, environmental sociology, and social problems. One of his long-standing areas of research has been the historical-comparative analysis of labor law policy and its impact on trade unions and related labor organizations. More recently, he has also begun research in the area of the sociology of science, specifically looking at the social construction of and public attitudes toward scientific knowledge. He currently serves on the editorial board of Sociation and the American Sociological Association’s Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.

 Courses Taught

• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 3150: Environmental Sociology 
• SOC 3710: Sociology of Appalachian Communities 
• SOC 3950: Classical Sociological Theory

Research Interests

• Comparative Labor Law Policies 
• Sociology of Science 
• Sociology and Anthropocene

Recent Publications

Nash, Bradley Jr.  “Labor Law Reform and Organized Labor: A Comparative-Historical Sociology of Unanticipated Outcomes”.  Humanity and Society.  Volume 43, Number 2.  2019. 

 Kleitsch, David, Ed Rosenberg and Bradley Nash, Jr.  “Community in a Virtual Environment: Can YouTube Build Community for LGBT Youth?”  Sociation Today.  Volume 13, Number 2.  2015.