Joe Swingle

Joe Swingle is visiting assistant professor of sociology as well as laboratory instructor for Quantitative Reasoning. His areas of interest include social research methods, income and social inequality, education, family dynamics, and culture.

Professor Swingle graduated summa cum laude from Carleton College with a major in sociology and anthropology. Immediately after graduating from college, he spent two years teaching mathematics to secondary school students in Ghana as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps. After his stint in the Peace Corps, Professor Swingle began graduate studies in sociology at Harvard University where he earned both his M.A. and his Ph.D.

He is currently working on several articles that summarize the findings of his dissertation research that examined the causes and consequences of American children living apart from both parents. The title of his dissertation is "Children in Flux: An Empirical Study of American Children Living with Neither Parent in the 20th Century." In addition, he continues a line of research started when he was a graduate student that explores the consequences of welfare reform to the well-being of single mothers and their children. A recent article on this topic that he co-authored with Christopher Jencks appeared in The American Prospect.

Profile last updated: 8/01

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Last Modified: December 8, 2006