Member Profiles

Hello, and welcome to another edition of DWC Member Profiles!

With ASC and our annual awards ceremony just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to profile the 2005 DWC New and Distinguished Scholar Award winners, Venessa Garcia and Natalie Sokoloff. Recognizing their many achievements, both personal and professional, is a great way to gear up for the announcement of our 2006 award winners in just a few weeks!

Don’t forget, if you have suggestions for DWC members whom you would like to see profiled in an upcoming column, please e-mail me at burges26@msu.edu. Thanks, and see you in LA!

Regards,
Amanda

VENESSA GARCIA

How/why did you get into this field, and why do you stay in it? In other words, what drives you?
I always wanted to be a lawyer but I did not agree with much of the law, or so I thought. As I grew older I realized that I did not agree with the enforcement of the law and was determined to make a change. However, I already knew that being a lawyer would not make me happy. When I took my first sociology course I knew I had found my calling. I learned to view the world, not just the law, through the sociological imagination and this really drove my need to reexamine everything. I wanted to examine it and teach what I learned. I started out teaching sociology courses but in the last seven years I have taught in criminal justice departments. I find that I am truly happy when I teach courses through the sociological imagination, such as courses focusing on victims, women, and prejudice.

How do you define yourself as a scholar/activist/educator?
As a scholar, I am a sociologist. As an activist I am a feminist. As an educator I am both.

What are your current projects or interests?
Currently, I am working on a book, with Janice Clifford, for Prentice Hall’s Women and Crime Series. The working title of this anthology is Female Victims of Crime: Reality Reconsidered. We have had contributions by some of the most respected scholars in the field. The project has been very exciting.

Do you have any kids, pets and/or significant partner?
I have a very supportive husband, two kids, and a very cute cat. My husband has been my inspiration in my life. He is the individual who rooted me on with my studies and who always forced me to look at things from different points of view. He encouraged and pushed me to finish my dissertation when I wanted to give up. And he continues to encourage me in my career. He has had the most confidence in my abilities of any one I know, including me.

How do you wind down after a stressful day?
After a stressful day, I go home to my family. Usually, I will talk to my husband. We take turns sharing our stresses. We also turn to our children to release our stress. A big hug, a session of corny jokes shared amongst the four of us, or reading a good book to each other always helps. Our last book was How to Eat Fried Worms – I refused to see the movie.

What is your favorite word? Least favorite word?
My favorite word is “tweaking.” There is always room for improvement and in the end the final tweaking is what makes me smile. I have least favorite words but they are too disgusting to write here.

What is your most embarrassing moment (if willing to share)?
I don’t get embarrassed often. When my husband and I were dating, he used to do things that would embarrass me, such as diving onto beanbags or beds in department stores or walking on his knees in a crowd while holding my hand. I guess I became immune to embarrassment. I did trip the other day in front of a student and I laughed. As I turned around, I noticed that the student had turned red – he seemed to be embarrassed for me – and that only made me laugh more.

What is one of your lifelong goals?
I am pretty happy within my career. I want to achieve the usual things, such promotion to full professor and authoring my own book. But I also want to write a novel. I just haven’t thought of an idea, yet. I also want to travel the world.

NATALIE J. SOKOLOFF

How/why did you get into this field, and why do you stay in it? In other words, what drives you?
Passion for Social Justice is the simple answer.

The longer and more accurate history goes something like this. I did most of my research in women and work—especially using an intersectional analysis—and published in that arena until 1992. The first edition of The Criminal Justice System and Women came out in 1982. By that time I had been at John Jay College for 10 years. It was only when I saw my own approach and perspective (using an intersectional analysis early on; learning about a social justice approach to the criminal justice system) that I felt I could truly teach at a college of criminal justice. I needed to find my feet, so to speak, since I was trained as a sociologist, came to JJC as a sociologist, and due to the fiscal crisis in NYC in 1976 had to learn how to adapt to a CJ college. Once I found my own voice and how I could use it in service of women and people of color—poor, oppressed, marginalized by the larger society and caught in the criminal justice system—that is when I got into and have stayed in the field. What drives me then and now: the horrendous inequality and oppression in our society (and around the world) that I can never forget about.

How do you define yourself as a scholar/activist/educator?
I see myself as all of these: scholar, activist, and educator. In addition, I am able to mentor younger faculty at my school and I take that as one of my most important jobs.

What are your current projects or interests?
Currently I am doing research on domestic violence in immigrant communities in Baltimore, MD. I’ve been reading as much as I can on this topic and am writing an article on what we know and what new ways immigrants organize to stop violence against women in their communities. I am sure I’ll be working on this topic for quite a while now. Ultimately, I want to be able to compare how African Americans and immigrants deal with DV in their communities—especially since they often see one another as “the enemy”. My goal will be to see how they share concerns and new approaches to dealing with DV in their particular communities.

I am also working with Alternative Directions Inc., a women’s re-entry prison program that has been around since 1979 in Baltimore. I came onto their board a year ago and I am helping them with doing research on the program. This is a remarkable group and I am honored to have been asked to be a member of its board.

Do you have any kids, pets and/or significant partner?
I have all 3! My son, Josh, is 24; finished college 2 years ago and is working for AFLAC! (Supplemental health insurance). My partner and husband for the past 35 years is a sociologist too, Fred Pincus, who teaches at University of Maryland, Baltimore County—which is why I am now commuting from Baltimore to NYC. (He commuted for 20 years; I am finishing my 10th year. We will both be in NYC for spring semester since he is on sabbatical then—hooray!). We have a great dog, Jessie, who will come with us to NYC if we can’t find someone to take care of her for 7 months! (There are many challenges in life).

How do you wind down after a stressful day?
I’m not very good at this! But several years ago, on our trip to Amsterdam (and Paris), we started reading novels. We have tried to keep that up so that in the late evening when we get in bed, we don’t watch TV anymore. Instead we read novels. It is really nice. While on my last sabbatical I joined a women’s reading group for the first time—I love it. The other way I relax is spacing out in front of the TV. I wish I were more creative (artistically, musically, etc.), but I’m not—at least not yet. Fred and I are taking a ballroom dancing class this semester. It’s actually fun!

What is your favorite word? Least favorite word?
Not sure I have them, but…
I don’t like the saying “picking your brains.” If you want to ask my opinion about something, just ask, but don’t try to “pick my brains”—Ugh.
My dissertation adviser said I used the word “wonderful” too often, so I guess it’s a favorite.

What is your most embarrassing moment (if willing to share)?
There are so many! I finally learned how to deal with my aging and difficulty remembering things sometimes. In the middle of a class, when I am saying something and forget what it was, I just tell my students that a few brain cells just died, and we will just have to move on. They all laugh. Just 2 nights ago I gave a big talk in Baltimore to one of the universities; I lost my concentration for what seemed like minutes, not seconds. I should have said: “Been There, Done That, Don’t Remember.” (My brother, a big time lawyer in Boston who is 2 years older than me, told me that when he forgets what he was saying he turns it back on his clients or audience and says—“now let’s see if you got what I was saying”—and so he turns it back on them! Sneaky these lawyers.)

What is one of your lifelong goals?
To finally know what I want to be when I grow up (and where I’m going to live)! As you know already, we split our lives between Baltimore and NYC. I prefer NYC, Fred prefers Baltimore (because it’s smaller)—but it is almost impossible to think about living in NYC with the prices as they are these days.