Dr. Meghan Ashlin Rich, Ph.D.

Dr. Meghan Ashlin Rich has been an assistant professor of Sociology at the University of Scranton’s Sociology/Criminal Justice Department since Fall 2007. She holds a B.A. in Sociology and a certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland – College Park (1997), an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee (1999), and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Delaware (2008). Before coming to the University of Scranton, she taught courses at University of Delaware, College of Notre Dame, Maryland, and Towson University.

Dr. Rich teaches many different classes in Sociology and Women’s Studies, including: Race and Ethnic Relations, Social Stratification, Sociological Theory, Introductory Sociology, Urban Sociology, and Social Problems. Beyond serving as an advisor to Sociology majors, she is also the faculty moderator for two student clubs: United Students for Fair Trade and the Sociology Club.

Dr. Rich’s research involves studying race, class, and social change in urban neighborhoods. She has done numerous presentations based on her ethnographic study of a racially integrated neighborhood in Baltimore, MD and has recently published an article in the journal Sociological Forum (to be published Dec. 2009). She is currently working on a new research project that investigates community views of gentrification in downtown Scranton, PA. She is also an active member of the American Sociological Association, where she was a program assistant from 2000-2002, and the Eastern Sociological Society. She was recently named co-chair of the Committee on the Status of Women for the Eastern Sociological Society, 2009-2011.

She is a native of the Washington, D.C. area and recently relocated to Dunmore, PA after living in Baltimore, MD for ten years. She lives with her husband, a drummer, and two dogs and cats. She enjoys traveling, dining out, and watching live bands.