"We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes - something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view." -Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac (p. 130)

Welcome to my personal website!

Here you will find information about my current research, the courses I teach, and some of the causes that I support. I have also made available some of the resources that I often use in my research and teaching along with some other resources for one of my new favorite hobbies, digital video and filmmaking. On the multimedia page you can sample some of the videos that I have made. If you have questions about any of the materials on this website, feel free to contact me!

Roll your mouse over the picture above for more information. Some pictures have links to outside information as well.

• 4/14/10 - Growing tired of "science bashing" in sociology? In some contexts, being a scientist in sociology is like being an atheist in U.S. culture (for evidence concerning the latter stigma, see Edgell et al. in the April 2006 issue of ASR). If you're devoted to "truth" in inquiry and intellectual honesty, then you'll definitely want to read Willower and Uline's (2001) "inquest" concerning "The Alleged Demise of Science" (emphasis added). You might also want to check out Jonathan Turner's "In Defense of Positivism," though I object to the use of the straw man term, "positivism." Many people use the terms "positivism" and "science" interchangeably. This is quite unfortunate because there is very little about the term positivism that captures what real scientists actually do. Click on the papers above to learn more.
• I'll be on sabbatical leave during the spring of 2011. Part of what I will be doing during that time is developing a new undergraduate course in Environmental Sociology. This will largely be a field course where students will participate in environmental research and conservation projects in the Kent area. I am hoping to offer the course for the first time during the fall of 2011 or the spring of 2012.
• On March 30, 2009, President Obama signed the Omnibus Public Land Management (OPLM) Act of 2009 into law. This is the largest wilderness preservation act in well over a decade. During the historic signing ceremony, President Obama remarked, "This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That's something all Americans can support." Read the full story.
  

Dr. Will Kalkhoff
Kent State University
Department of Sociology
PO Box 5190
Kent, OH 44242-0001

Phone: (330) 672-3712
Fax: (330) 672-4724
E-mail: wkalkhof@kent.edu