Sue Falter Mennino

Assistant Professor
Office Monroe Hall, Room 537-R, Box 030
E-mail: sfmennin@loyno.edu
Phone: 504-865-3651
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Curriculum Vitae

Personal Sketch

Sue Falter Mennino joined the Sociology Department in 2003 as a part-time instructor and became an extraordinary faculty member in 2005. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology, Tulane University, 2003.

Teaching/Learning

Currently Dr. Mennino teaches the following courses: Sociology of Gender, Sociology of the Family, Social Problems, and the Internship/Practicum capstone course for seniors. Dr. Mennino is the faculty advisor for the Social Justice Scholarship program, including facilitating several social justice reflection meetings with scholarship recipients each semester.

Mennino's philosophy of teaching is based on providing students with the tools to explore their everyday worlds as well as the larger societal institutions through a sociological lens. Mennino encourages students to question their taken-for-granted beliefs about their social worlds by using a diversity of techniques. Examples of course projects include:

•  an analysis of hidden gender messages in product packaging

•  evaluation of newspaper accounts of current social issues

•  applying the concept of McDonaldization to the U.S. political process

•  in-class debates about family issues such as gay marriage

•  an investigation of contemporary weddings as consumer events

Every course includes a library research component with a strong emphasis on effective writing. Students also learn effective oral communication skills as they discuss the often-volatile sociological subject matter and present results from their own research.

Research interests

Her primary area of interest is gender and job-family balance. Specifically, she investigates fathers and the strategies they use, both at home and in the workplace, in their efforts to simultaneously be effective workplace participants and responsible parents. 

Publications

The Sociological Quarterly, Work and Occupations