Biography
My name is Dr. William Mirola, and I am Professor of Sociology and the past founding Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. I have worked in higher education for almost 40 years and have been a professor here since 1995. Most of my teaching and research focuses on religion, education, social class inequality, and social movement activism.
My doctoral work at Indiana University focused on the role of religion in the fight by workers for an eight-hour workday in 19th century Chicago. My ongoing research still engages how religion can play an important role in many struggles for social change as well as social class differences in religion.
Among the many things I have loved about Marian are the relationships I have built with students and with my faculty colleagues. In addition to my six years as Dean, supporting students and faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, I also supervised students and faculty participating in our study abroad experience each May at Harlaxton College in England. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to experience people, places, and cultures outside of the U.S.
Courses:
- SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
- SOC 145: Introduction to Social Justice
- SOC 245: Sociology of Religion
- SOC 270: Education and Social Inequality
- SOC 301: Social Science Research
- SOC 325: Social Class, Power, and Inequality
- SOC 375: Social Movements
- SOC 450: Sociological Theory
- SOC 490: Senior Seminar in Sociology
Books:
- Mirola, William A., Michael O. Emerson, and Susanne C. Monahan. 2023. Religion Matters: What Sociology Teaches Us about Religion in our World, Second Edition,. Allyn and Bacon Publishers.
- Mirola, William A., Michael O. Emerson, and Susanne C. Monahan (eds). 2019. Sociology of Religion: A Reader, Third Edition, Routledge/Taylor-Francis Publishers.
- Mirola, William A. 2015. Redeeming Time: Protestantism and Chicago’s Eight-Hour Movement, 1866-1912. University of Illinois Press.
- Mirola, William A. and Sean McCloud (eds). 2009. Religion and Social Class in America: Culture, History and Politics, Brill Publishers, Inc.
Selected Referred Articles:
- Mirola, William A. 2003. Religious Resources and Economic Protest: Possibilities and Constraints on Religious Coalition-Building in the Detroit Newspaper Strike.” Sociology of Religion 64(2):443-462.
- Mirola, William A. 2003. “Asking for Bread and Receiving a Stone: The Rise and Fall of Religious Ideology in the Chicago’s Eight-Hour Movement.” Social Problems 50(2):273-293.
- Mirola, William A. 1999. “Shorter Hours and the Protestant Sabbath: Religious Framing and Movement Alliances in Late Nineteenth Century Chicago.” Social Science History 23(3):395-433.
