Sociologist Explores New Ideas and Conflicts Surrounding Race, Gender and Class

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Kijana Crawford

Race, gender and class have been central methods for dividing and classifying individuals in society for centuries. The impact of this division on human interaction, community development and individual identity is the subject of a new volume of essays edited by Kijana Crawford, associate professor of sociology/anthropology at Rochester Institute of Technology.

A New Age: Readings and Studies on Race, Gender and Class Using the Sociological Imagination features leading scholars in sociology, anthropology, history and political science and provides a blueprint for improving social divisions and reducing their impact on societal development through education and greater cultural and multi-cultural interaction.

“Sociology aids us in understanding what is real about society and social life,” notes Crawford. “The essays presented in A New Age provide new methods of thinking about and fixing the problems associated with race, gender and class in society.”

The book, published by Kendall Hunt, includes selections on the use of political cartoons to illuminate social divisions in society and an analysis of the impact of race, class and gender on the 2008 presidential election.

Crawford has spent over three decades as a scholar and educator working in the areas of race relations, women’s studies and society and culture. Her previous book, The We and the Us: Mentoring African American Females in Higher Education, details her research regarding mentoring initiatives and their impact on performance and happiness in the workplace.