Dr. Cameron Lippard, professor in and chair of Appalachian’s Department of Sociology. Photo by Marie Freeman
BOONE, N.C. — The Department of Sociology in Appalachian State University’s College of Arts and Sciences has named Dr. Cameron Lippard ’98 as its new chair. He assumed the position March 1.
Lippard is an alumnus of Appalachian, graduating with a B.A. in psychology and a B.A. in sociology in 1998. He completed his Ph.D. at Georgia State University in 2006 and returned to Appalachian in 2007 to join the faculty in the Department of Sociology.
He has served as the department’s interim chair since fall 2018 and on Appalachian’s General Education Council since 2013. Additionally, he served as the department’s undergraduate program director from 2013–16 and is chair of the university’s Social Designation Committee.
His most recent interdisciplinary collaboration with Dr. Bruce Stewart, associate professor in Appalachian’s Department of History, is the edited book “Modern Moonshine: The Revival of White Whiskey in the Twenty-First Century,” which was released by West Virginia University Press in February. The volume includes 11 chapters examining how moonshine matters in not only shaping Appalachian history and culture, but how this illicit tradition has been reimagined to serve as an economic and cultural revival for today’s Appalachian communities.
Lippard’s interest in teaching lies with engaging students in lively debates to develop their critical thinking skills on issues of race and racism, immigration, war and research methods. His research has focused on examining and documenting the treatment and social integration of Latino immigrants in the American South.
He has published three books on the subject: “Building Inequality” (2008), “Being Brown in Dixie” (2011) and “WAR: Contemporary Perspectives on Armed Conflict around the World” (2018), a collaboration with colleague Dr. Pavel Osinsky, professor of sociology at Appalachian, and Dr. Lon Strauss, assistant professor of military history at Marine Corps University.
Lippard has two other books under contract — one that focuses on affirmative action in college admissions policies and another that documents the growing backlash by American whites against diversity and racial equality. He also serves as an editor of two sociology research journals: Sociological Inquiry and Sociation Today.
In 2008, he was inducted into the College of Arts and Sciences’ Academy of Outstanding Teachers, and in 2009, he received the college’s Teacher of the Year Award. In 2013, Lippard received a University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Teaching in Excellence at the college level.
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About the Department of Sociology
The Department of Sociology offers a Bachelor of Arts and seven Bachelor of Science concentrations (applied research methods; criminology; families and intimate relationships; health and aging; power and social change; social inequalities; and individually designed, which requires departmental approval). The department also offers minors in sociology and health and aging, plus two online graduate certificates: aging, health and society, and sociology. Learn more at https://soc.appstate.edu.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
