Associate Professor
Office Location
McElhaney Hall, 112-F
724-357-3938
Education
- Texas A&M University, PhD, Sociology
- University of Texas-Pan America, MS, Sociology
- University of Texas-Pan America, BS, Criminal Justice
Areas of Research and Teaching Interest
Theory, Environmental Justice, Stratification and Inequalities, Race, Ethnic, and Gender Studies, Globalization, Immigration, Demography and Population Studies, Research Methods and Statistics, Social Movements, and Social Problems
Courses
- SOC 151 Principles of Sociology
- SOC 231 Contemporary Social Problems
- SOC 378 Social and Cultural Change
- SOC 357 Sociology of Aging
- SOC 376 Social Stratification
- SOC 481 Critical Race Theory and Environmental Justice
- SOC 754 Social Inequality: The Unequal Distribution of Healthy Food
- SOC 786/872 Aging and Society
Profile
For Professor Molina, teaching, research, and service are the core of being a teacher-scholar (bringing research to the classroom). His students engage in critical discourse about inequality and the global community. As a mixed methodologist, theorist, and social demographer with a focus on socioeconomic causes of population change, Molina studies issues of concern to people of color: low socioeconomic mobility, identity formation, and environmental factors. He embraces social justice in practice that “empowers students to become innovative leaders while enhancing communities throughout the world” (IUP Undergraduate Catalog, p.5).
Molina investigates stagnant social-economic mobility for people of color, Latinx's identity formation, involuntary migration, and environmental issues affecting subordinate populations, along with other disparities in health, education, and social mobility to inform students, policy-makers, academics, and leaders in the community. Of Molina's recent scholarly works, one is a publication in a top-tier journal, two are book chapters, two are co-authored special reports on social inequality, and another is a conference paper he converted to a book chapter. He also won a competitive national grant and acquired a university research grant.