Susan L. Wortmann Nebraska Wesleyan University

Susan L. Wortmann (PhD, University of Nebraska–Lincoln) is a professor of sociology  at Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU). Her scholarly interests include classical sociological theory, environment, and health. She instructs classes in these subjects and introduction to sociology. She is the author of Society: A User’s Guide, a collection of introductory sociology readings. She has published articles on meaning and religious participation, sociological theory, and project evaluation, and has contributed to Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Sociology and the Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. Dr. Wortmann also practices applied sociology in her community, using sociological methods, theories, and concepts in collaboration with community partners to address social issues. These have included developing a survivor-centered response to campus sexual assault; increasing diabetes and mental health access for Karen, Yezidi, Sudanese, and Vietnamese refugees and immigrants; and creating and evaluating programming for at-risk youth. She is a recipient of community, colleague, and student-nominated awards and honors. Like Dr. Eglitis, when she is not teaching, Dr. Wortmann is an avid fiction reader and traveler. Her favorite travels have involved mutual discovery with students: how face-to-face contact fostered mutual understanding in a rural village in Izmir Province, Turkey; the reality of resilience beyond struggle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota; the importance of instructor–student trust while exploring abandoned underground tunnels in Havana, Cuba, and navigating traffic in Cairo, Egypt.