Pedagogy & Mentoring
Students
When I was an undergraduate, a handful of great professors at Hartnell Community College and at CSU Chico inspired me to begin to imagine myself as a college professor, and to think more deeply about teaching as a contribution both to individual students and to social change. It has been my good fortune for many years to receive a salary to lecture, read and discuss with groups of bright undergraduates.
It was a pleasure and an honor to work with many Ph.D. students, who helped me to keep up with new ideas and approaches. My past students continue to inspire me with their commitments to teaching and their own field-shaping research. The roster below — my former Ph.D. students, their affiliations, and their published books — makes me very proud.
Articles on Teaching
Self-reflexive essays on classroom teaching, privilege, and pedagogy.
- Tal H. Peretz & Michael A. Messner (2013). “Stand up/sit down structure and agency activity.” Trails: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.View
- Michael A. Messner (2011). “The privilege of teaching about privilege.” Sociological Perspectives 54: 3–13.PDF
- Michael A. Messner (2000). “White Guy Habitus in the Classroom: Confronting the Reproduction of Privilege.” Men and Masculinities 2: 457–469.PDF
- Michael A. Messner (1993). “Confronting Diversity Issues in Courses on Men and Masculinity.” Masculinities 1: 13–16.
- Mike Messner (1976). “Bubblegum and Surplus Value.” The Insurgent Sociologist 6(4): 51–56.PDF
Text-Readers
Books co-edited for undergraduate and graduate courses in gender studies.
Former Graduate Students
A list that makes me very proud — my former Ph.D. students, with the year of their degree, their academic affiliations, and selected books.
- Jane Bock 1994
Instructor of Sociology, Southeast Community College, Lincoln
- Tom Matta 1996
Northcentral University, Department of Marriage and Family Sciences
- The Voices of Men: The Shaping of Masculinities in Three Subcultural Contexts (2001)
- Paul Sargent 1998
Associate Professor of Sociology, San Diego State University (d. 2012)
- Real Men or Real Teachers? Contradictions in the Lives of Men Elementary School Teachers (2001)
- Karen Sternheimer 1998
Professor (Teaching) of Sociology, University of Southern California
- The Social Scientist’s Soapbox (2018)
- Pop Culture Panics (2015)
- Celebrity Culture and the American Dream (2011)
- Kids These Days (2006)
- It’s Not the Media (2003)
- Faye Linda Wachs 1999
Professor of Sociology, California Polytechnic University, Pomona
- Body Panic: Gender, Health and the Selling of Fitness (2008)
- Metamorphosis: Who We Become After Facial Paralysis (2023)
- Sohaila Shakib 1999
Professor of Sociology, California State University, Dominguez Hills
- Connie Anderson 2000
Associate Professor, Department of Interprofessional Health Studies, Towson University
- Shari Dworkin 2000
Professor and Dean, University of Washington Bothell School of Nursing and Health Studies
- Men at Risk: Masculinity, Heterosexuality and HIV Risk (2015)
- Body Panic (2008)
- Built to Win: The Female Athlete as Cultural Icon (2003)
- Wendy DeBoer 2005
Director of Academic Programs, University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States
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Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
- Discipline and Indulgence: College Football, the Media, and the American Way of Life during the Cold War (2013)
- Doping in Elite Sports (2018)
- Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies (2025)
- Cheryl Cooky 2006
Professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Purdue University
- Fair and Foul: Beyond the Myths and Paradoxes of Sport (2025)
- Serving Equality: Feminism, Media, and Women’s Sports (2022)
- No Slam Dunk (with Michael A. Messner, 2017)
- Melanie Heath 2006
Associate Professor of Sociology, McMaster University
- One Marriage Under God (2012)
- How to Do Qualitative Research (2016)
- Forbidden Intimacies: Polygamies at the Limits of Western Tolerance (2023)
- Zoe Corwin 2007
Research Professor, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California
- Robert Hollenbaugh 2009
Instructor of Sociology, Irvine Valley College
- James Thing 2009
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Santa Monica College
- Cenk Özbay 2010
Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Sociology, Sabancı University, Istanbul
- Queering Sexualities in Turkey: Gay Men, Male Prostitutes and the City (2017)
- Nicole Willms 2010
Associate Professor of Sociology, North Idaho College
- When Women Ruled the Court: Gender, Race, and Japanese American Basketball (2017)
- Kristen Barber 2011
Martha Jane Phillips Starr Distinguished Professor in Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Missouri–Kansas City
- Gendered Worlds (2019)
- Styling Masculinity: Gender, Class and Inequality in the Men’s Grooming Industry (2016)
- Evren Savcı 2011
Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Yale University
- Queer in Translation: Sexual Politics Under Neoliberalism Islam (2021)
- James McKeever 2011
Professor of Sociology, Pierce College
- Tal Peretz 2014
Associate Professor of Sociology, Auburn University
- Some Men (with Michael A. Messner & Max A. Greenberg, 2015)
- Max Greenberg 2015
Senior Lecturer of Sociology, Boston University
- Some Men (with Michael A. Messner & Tal Peretz, 2015)
- Twelve Weeks to Change a Life (2019)
- Jeffrey Sacha 2016
Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences, American River College
- Enn Burke 2018
Assistant Dean, Equity and Student Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Michela Musto 2018
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brown University
- Kit Myers 2018
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Southern California
- Chelsea Johnson 2019
User Experience Researcher, LinkedIn
- IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All (with LaToya Council & Carolyn Choi)
- Natural: Black Beauty and the Politics of Hair (2025)
- LaToya Council 2022
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Lehigh University
- IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All (with Chelsea Johnson & Carolyn Choi)