Jonathan L. Clark

Associate Professor of Sociology

With a background in biology, sociology, and law, Dr. Clark has always taken an interdisciplinary approach to the topics that have interested him, namely, animals, nature, technology, and the environment. Before earning his PhD he practiced environmental law. To date his research has been situated at the intersection of two interdisciplinary fields: animal studies and the environmental humanities. In recent years he has developed an interest in a number of other topics, including affordances, the built environment, attention, and everyday life. He has become especially interested in the writings of the great twentieth century sociologist Erving Goffman. Dr. Clark has taught a wide range of courses in sociology and environmental studies. In 2018 he received the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award.

Department

Anthropology & Sociology

Degrees

BS in biology, Penn State Behrend
JD, Washington & Lee
PhD in rural sociology, Penn State

Teaching

Thinking Sociologically

Using Social Theory

People Watching with Erving Goffman

Animals & Society

Environmental Justice

Research Interests

Animal Studies
Environmental Humanities

Recent Work

Clark, Jonathan L. “Attentional Deviance.” Environmental Humanities 12, no. 2 (November 2020): 492-495. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-8623241

Clark, Jonathan L. “Consider the Vulture: An Ethical Approach to Roadkill.” Discard Studies (blog). December 4, 2017. https://discardstudies.com/2017/12/04/consider-the-vulture-an-ethical-approach-to-roadkill/

Clark, Jonathan L. “Which Animals Do We Study?” Animals in Society Working Group (blog). June 27, 2016. https://animalsinsocietygroup.wordpress.com/2016/06/27/series-why-animal-studies-with-jonathan-l-clark/

Clark, Jonathan L. “Uncharismatic Invasives.” Environmental Humanities 6, no.1 (May 2015): 29-52. https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3615889

For additional work see Dr. Clark’s Humanities Commons Website.

Years of Service to Ursinus

2008-

Related News

Leading Environmental Justice Scholar Visits Ursinus

On Thursday, April 20th, at 7 PM, Dr. David N. Pellow delivered a lecture on environmental justice to a packed Musser Auditorium. The title of his talk was “The Promise and Challenge of Environmental Justice Studies in the 21st Century.”

Dr. Pellow is Dehlsen Chair and Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he directs the Global Environmental Justice Project. A leading figure in the field of Environmental Justice Studies, Dr. Pellow is author or co-author of a number of books, including, most recently, Keywords for Environmental Studies; Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement; and The Slums of Aspen: Immigrants vs. the Environment in America’s Eden.

On the morning after the talk, students met with Dr. Pellow in one of Dr. Jonathan L. Clark’s courses to discuss an article Dr. Pellow had recently published: “Toward a Critical Environmental Justice Studies: Black Lives Matter as an Environmental Justice Challenge.”

Dr. Pellow’s visit was part of the College’s year-long arts and lecture series on the theme of social inequality. His visit was supported by a number of organizations on campus, including the Anthropology & Sociology Department, the Arts and Lectures Committee, The Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good, the Environmental Studies Department, the History Department, the Peace and Social Justice Studies program, the African American and Africana Studies program, The Latin American Studies program, the American Studies program, and the Applied Ethics program. Several student groups also provided their support, including UC Environmental Action, USAS, and SUN.