Shelley Eriksen

Education

  • Ph.D. (1998), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Sociology
  • M.A. (1993), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Sociology
  • B.S. (1986), Southern Oregon University, Department of Sociology

Research Interests

I am a medical sociologist and life-course scholar who employs intersectional feminist frameworks to explore the social and cultural factors that shape the health experience of adults, children and families. I have published broadly on topics related to public health, family violence, national and international medical markets, and violence studies and prevention. I am currently the project director of Not Alone @ the Beach, an initiative supported by ongoing grants from the 做厙TVGovernors Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) that aim to assist colleges and universities to develop system-wide approaches to sexual assault survivor support and gender violence prevention education to their campus communities. In this role, I have worked as an applied sociologist to evaluate the effectiveness of gender-transformative approaches to sexual assault prevention on university campuses, and to develop best practice programs for engaging campus and community constituents in holistic approaches to the primary prevention of violence. 

Among my recent publications is a paper that urges the traditional field of leadership studies to acknowledge and incorporate multiracial, multiethnic womens (and mens) groundbreaking leadership over the past half-century in efforts to end sexual, domestic and family violence. As a former department chair, director of womens studies, and longstanding activist educator, I remain especially committed to harnessing the power of student leadership opportunities with authentic community engagement projects that help us make progress toward a violence-free future. 

Courses Taught

  • HDEV 340: Families & Work Life Course Process
  • HDEV 357: Adulthood & Aging Diverse World
  • HDEV 470: Seminar & Practicum
  • HDEV 499: Independent Study

Representative Publications

  • Eriksen, Shelley J. and Jackson Katz, Credit where it is due:  Gender violence prevention education as a leadership issue, in S. Tan & L. DeFrank-Cole (Eds.,) A Research Agenda for Gender and Leadership, London: Edward Elgar Publishing (forthcoming, 2022)
  • Eriksen, Shelley J. 2021.  Gender violence prevention as leadership education:  Feminist-inspired bystander training for college student leaders, Journal of Leadership Education, 20(4), 86-106.
  • Eriksen, Shelley J., Sheetal Chib, Jackson Katz, Yanet Cortez-Barba, Pam Rayburn, and Leah Aldridge. 2021. The best of times, the worst of times:  Best practices in survivor support and gender violence prevention education on college campuses, in Women & Therapy, Special Issue:  Resistance & Recovery in the #metoo movement, 44 (4): 
  • Eriksen, Shelley.  2012. To cut or not to cut:  Cosmetic surgery usage and womens age-related experiences, International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 74(1), 1-24.
  • Eriksen, Shelley and Beth Manke.  2011. Because being fat means being sick:  Children at risk of Type 2 diabetes, Sociological Inquiry, 81(4), 549-589.
  • Eriksen, Shelley and Vickie Jensen.  2008.  A push or a punch: Distinguishing the severity of sibling   violence, Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 24(1), pp. 183-208.
  • Eriksen, Shelley J. and Vickie Jensen.  2006. All in the family?  Family environment factors in sibling  violence, Journal of Family Violence, 21, No. 8 (November), pp. 497-507.