Biography
Tim Slack (Ph.D., Penn State) joined the LSU Department of Sociology in 2004. His scholarship focuses on the areas of social stratification, social demography, community and environment, and rural sociology. An overarching theme is thinking about space and place as axes of inequality. Prof. Slack has published widely and received funding to support his research program from sources including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Department of the Interior. Recent and ongoing research projects include studies of working poverty and other forms of underemployment; household livelihood strategies and participation in the informal economy (i.e., unrecorded work for cash and barter); and various aspects of regional inequality (e.g., place-based poverty dynamics, disaster vulnerability and resilience). Prof. Slack’s expertise has been sought for stories produced by major media outlets, such as The New York Times and The Advocate (Louisiana’s leading daily newspaper), as well as policy audiences, including the U.S. Congress and Louisiana State Legislature. He has served on the editorial boards of Rural Sociology, Demography, and Population Research and Policy Review. Prof. Slack’s work has been recognized with a number of honors, the LSU Rainmaker Award, LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award, and LSU Distinguished Faculty Award among them. He teaches a variety of courses at LSU, spanning introductory sociology to specialized graduate seminars.
His book, coauthored with Shannon M. Monnat, Rural and Small-Town America: Context, Composition, and Complexities (University of California Press, 2024), paints a social scientific portrait of rural America. The book examines social, economic, and demographic changes and how these changes present both problems and opportunities for rural communities. Throughout, empirical evidence is used to confront common myths and misunderstandings about rural people and places.
Education
PhD: Pennsylvania State University (2004)
Curriculum Vitae
Courses Recently Taught at LSU
(Syllabi are for illustrative purposes & subject to change)
- SOCL 2001: Introductory Sociology
- SOCL 2002: HONORS: Introductory Sociology
- SOCL 3505: Poverty in the United States
- SOCL 4351: Rural Social Organization
- SOCL 7351: Rural Social Organization
- SOCL 7391: Social Stratification
- SOCL 7591: Poverty in the United States
- SOCL 7903: Proseminar in Sociology