Paul Luken, Ph.D.

I retired from the University of West Georgia in 2016 after over 30 years in academia, including 12½ years in Sociology at UWG, where I taught a wide array of undergraduate and graduate classes. I continue to be involved with two scholarly groups that I helped found: the Institutional Ethnography Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems and the Institutional Ethnography Working Group of the International Sociological Association. Recently I co-edited The Palgrave Handbook of Institutional Ethnography (2021) with Dr. Suzanne Vaughan.

With retirement I began to miss all the opportunities for learning that UWG provided to me. I make up for that by learning through participation in different activities. I have become more active in the League of Women Voters of Carrollton and Carroll County and I am a poll worker in Carroll County as well. Through these connections I have begun to take a sociological interest in voting, and I am eager to discover where my curiosity about electing our political representatives might lead me. Additionally, I do more birdwatching and reading nonfiction, especially autobiographical and historical books. On some days you can find me walking the Carrollton Greenbelt or bicycling on the Silver Comet Trail.

  • B.A., Sociology, Quincy College, 1972
  • M.A., Sociology, The Ohio State University, 1973
  • Ph.D., Sociology, The Ohio State University, 1982

Spring 2016 Sections

  • SOCI-3001 (Communicating Sociology) Section: E01
  • SOCI-3804 (Death, Grief and Caring) Section: 01

Fall 2015 Sections

  • SOCI-3001 (Communicating Sociology) Section: E1W
  • SOCI-3001 (Communicating Sociology) Section: 01W
  • SOCI-4983 (Capstone: Senior Thesis) Section: 02

Summer 2015 Sections

  • SOCI-3001 (Communicating Sociology) Section: E1W

Spring 2015 Sections

  • SOCI-3001 (Communicating Sociology) Section: 01W

The Palgrave Handbook of Institutional Ethnography [View Publication External Resource]