I’m an associate professor of sociology with specializations in environmental justice, health and illness, and the sociology of risk. I was trained in quantitative survey research and secondary data analysis, but have developed skills in mixed-methods research approaches in recent years that include field observations and focus groups. A unifying theme throughout my career is the entwined configuration of health, risk, and society, with a focus on environmental and health issues through constructionist and social justice frameworks. Currently, my research focuses on managed retreat/relocation from climate change impacts and environmental burdens, green/environmental gentrification, and intensive zoning. I also write about issues related to medicalization and pedagogy in higher education.

In my seventeenth year as a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at UD, I regularly teach introductory sociology (Honors and non-Honors). Further, I have significant experience teaching quantitative sociological research methods, social statistics, and data analysis, and recently have focused on teaching courses that I created (Sociology of Diagnosis SOCI375 and Environment and Health SOCI335). I offer core courses in the department (e.g., Sociology of Risk and Environmental Sociology), while also continually doing invited lectures to STEM courses at UD, bringing the lens of social and environmental justice to the disciplines of soil chemistry and related others. My courses range in format from face-to-face to online, and I am always striving to improve on course delivery and content in innovative ways that connect the classroom to the community and my research.

I am a core faculty member at the Disaster Research Center (DRC), a faculty affiliate of the Delaware Environmental Institute (DENIN), and also serve as a Policy Fellow for the Center for Community Research and Service (CCRS). I take pride in professional and university service, committing a significant amount of time to numerous initiatives and offices around UD’s campus, as well as the American Sociological Association’s Taskforce on Contingent Faculty.

I welcome feedback on my scholarly work and professional activities.

My current CV is here.

Contact me at:

victorp at udel dot edu