Joseph P. Cleary (Assistant Professor, Ph.D. Louisiana State University)
Biography
Dr. Cleary (b. 1980) was born and raised in Ridgefield, Connecticut – a leafy suburb about 55 miles north-northeast of Midtown Manhattan known for its contemporary art, good schools, and lack of diversity. Since then, he has also lived in Pennsylvania Amish country, southern Louisiana bayou country, and New York City. His research focuses primarily on professional autonomy in public schools, finding that rich kids tend to go to schools where educators enjoy high amounts of professional freedom, while poor students typically attend schools in which the work of teachers and principals is tightly controlled. He has published in sociology of education journals including the British Journal of Sociology of Education and American Journal of Distance Education. He is currently working on several manuscripts as well as a book that details teachers and principals’ stories about working in inner-city American high schools. Dr. Cleary’s classes include Introduction to Sociology, Social Problems, Race and Ethnicity, and Education and Inequality. He lives in an early 20th-century walkup in the Buffalo neighborhood formerly known as “Shingletown”.
Teaching & Research Interests
Education; Organizations; Race; Teaching and Learning; First-Generation Students; Qualitative Methods; Mixed Methods
Classes Taught/Will Teach
Introduction to Sociology; Social Problems; Race and Ethnicity; Education and Inequality; Methods; Qualitative Methods; Theory; Urban Sociology
