Michelle Janning

Michelle Janning, Associate Professor of Sociology and Assistant Dean of Faculty
B.A., St. Olaf College 1994; M.A. University of Notre Dame 1996; Ph.D. University of Notre Dame 2000.

Michelle's main teaching interests at Whitman are in the areas of gender, family, culture and introductory sociology, though she sometimes teaches the field lab in applied sociology, race, research methods, and in General Studies. She has done research in the following fields: gender, work and occupations, family, sexualities, popular culture, art and design, teaching sociology, and deviance. Specifically, her most recent research has been in the area of popular culture representation of families (guest editing a special issue of The Journal of Family Issues on this topic), gender and home decorating television, and divorce and material culture.  She has published in and is an active member of reviewing and editorial boards of various sociology journals, is listed as one of the Sloan Foundation's Work-Family Leaders, served as a visiting researcher at the University of York's (UK) Centre for Women's Studies, and is currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors for the Society for the Study of Social Problems.  

A native Minnesotan, Michelle loves being a resident in the Pacific Northwest, and feels at home here at Whitman College. When time allows, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband Neal and son Aaron, traveling, singing, playing piano, wine-tasting, reading, walking her dog, and studying design and aesthetics. She has been known to carry a sledgehammer with her and knock down any walls that don't look quite right.  

E-mail Michelle Janning.
janninmy@whitman.edu