Printable CV

CURRICULUM VITAE

John M. Eason
Watson Family University Associate Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs
Brown University

john_eason@brown.edu

 

Academic Employment

2022-. Associate Professor. Watson Family University Associate Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs. Brown University

 2018-2022. Associate Professor. Department of Sociology. University of Wisconsin-Madison.

2017-2018. Associate Professor. Department of Sociology. Texas A&M University.

2013-2017.  Assistant Professor.  Department of Sociology.  Texas A&M University.

2010-2013.  Assistant Professor.  School of Criminology and Criminal Justice.  Arizona State University.

2008-2010.  Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow.  Department of Sociology.  Duke University.

Education
2008 Ph.D., University of Chicago, Department of Sociology. 

2004 M.A., University of Chicago, Department of Sociology. 
 
2002 M.P.P., University of Chicago, Irving B. Harris School of Public Policy. 
 
1995 B.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Urban and Regional Planning.

Areas of Interest
Crime, Ethnography, Health Disparities, Mixed-Methods, Punishment, Race, Rural, and Urban.

Book Manuscript
Eason, John M. 2017. Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto & Prison Proliferations. University of Chicago Press. SSSP 2017 C. Wright Mills Best Book Award Finalist.

Articles Published, Forthcoming, and Accepted ^= graduate student ^^=undergraduate student
Eason, John M. “Prisons and the Rural Ghetto” article accepted at Dissent.

Peguero, Anthony A., Miner P. “Trey” Marchbanks III, Kay S. Varela^, John M. Eason, and Jamilia Blake. 2018. “School Punishment and Education: Racial/Ethnic Disparities with Grade Retention and the Role of Urbanicity”, accepted at Urban Education.

Peguero, Anthony A., Miner P. “Trey” Marchbanks III, Kay S. Varela^, John M. Eason, and Jamilia Blake. “Too Strict or Too Lenient?: Examining the Role of School Strictness with Educational and Juvenile Justice Outcomes”, accepted at Sociological Spectrum.

Marchbanks III, Miner P. “Trey”, 2018. Anthony A. Pegeuro, Kay S. Varela^, Jamilia Blake, and John M. Eason. “School Strictness and Disproportionate Minority Contact: Investigating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the ‘School-to-Prison Pipeline.” Youth Violence & Juvenile Justice16(2): 241-259.

Kay S. Varela^, Peguero, Anthony A., John M. Eason, Miner P. “Trey” Marchbanks III, and Jamilia Blake. 2018. “School Strictness and Education: Investigating Racial and Ethnic Educational Inequalities Associated with Being Pushed Out.” Sociology of Race& Ethnicity4(2): 261-280.

Eason, John M. Danielle Zucker, and Christopher Wildeman. 2017 "Mass Imprisonment Across the Rural-Urban Interface." Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences.

Eason, John M. 2017. "Prisons as Panacea or Pariah?: The Countervailing Consequences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns." Social Sciences 6(1): 7.

Eason, John M. 2016. "Reclaiming the Prison Boom:  Considering Prison Proliferation in the Era of Mass Imprisonment". Sociololgy Compass 10(4): 261-271.

Eason, John M. 2016. "Privilege and Peral in Prison Town Studies:  Position and Power in Fieldwork Encounters." Sociological Focus 50(1): 81-98.

Marchbanks III, Miner P. "Trey", Anthony A. Peguero, Kay S. Varela^, Jamilia Blake, and John M. Eason. 2016. "School Strictness and Disproportionate Minority Contact: Investigating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the 'School-to-Prison Pipeline'", Youth Violence & Juvenile Justice.

Wallace, Danielle, John M. Eason, and Andrea M. Lindsey^. 2015. "The influence of incarceration and Re-entry on the availability of health care organizations in Arkansas." Health & Justice 3(1): 1-11.

Burton, Linda M., Daniel T. Lichter, Regina S. Baker^, and John M. Eason. 2013.  “Inequality, Family Process, and Health in the ‘New’ Rural America.”  American Behavioral Scientist 57(8): 1128-1151.

Eason, John M.  2012.  “Extending the Hyperghetto:  Towards a Theory of Punishment, Race, and Rural Disadvantage.“ Journal of Poverty 16(3): 274-295.

Eason, John M.  2010.  “Mapping Prison Proliferation:  Region, Rurality, Race, and Disadvantage in Prison Placement.” Social Science Research 39; 1015-1028. Crime, Law, and Deviance Section Student Paper Competition Award Recipient, American Sociological Association, 2009.

Book Chapters Published, Accepted, and Forthcoming ^= graduate student ^^=undergraduate student
Eason, John M. 2018. “The Puzzle of Prison Towns: Race, Rurality, and Reflexivity in Community Studies”, book chapter in The Handbook of Race, Ethnicity, Crime, and Justice, edited by Ramiro Martinez, Jacob Stowell, and Meghan Hollis.

Hernandez, David, John M. Eason, Richard Abel^, Andrew McNeely^, and Pat Rubio-Goldsmith. 2018. "With Mass Deportation Comes Mass Punishment: Punitive Capacity, Health, and Standards across U.S. Immigrant Detention Centers", chapter accepted for publication in The Routledge Handbook Immigration & Crime, edited by Holly Ventura Miller and Anthony Peguero. 

Eason, John M., Jason Greenberg, Richard Abel^, and Corey Sparks. 2017. "Crime, Punishment, and Spatial Inequality", invited peer reviewed book chapter in Rural Poverty in the U.S., edited by Jennifer Sherman, Ann Tickamyer, and Jennifer Warlick. New York: Columbmia University Press.

Martin, William G., John M. Eason, and Luis R. Gonzalez^^. 2016. "Prison Towns Come, and Prison Towns Go: Lessons from New York State's Prison Boom and Bust", chapter in Decarceration and Justice Disinvestment: Criminal Justice in the 21st Century, edited by William G. Martin and Joshua Price. Lexington Press.

Burton, Linda M., Raymond Garrett-Peters, and John M. Eason. 2011. "Identity, Morality, and Mental Health in Rural Ghettos", p. 91-110, book chapter in Communities, Neighborhoods, and Health: Extending the Boundaries of Place, edited by Linda M. Burton, Susan P. Kemp, Man Chui Leung, Stepthn Matthews, and David T. Takeuchi. New York: Springer Press.

Works under review ^= graduate student ^^=undergraduate student
Marquez, Beatriz A., Kay Varela^, John M. Eason, David Hernandez, and Amorette T. Young^. "Permanent Injury Beyond Medical Intervention: Disguising Death in U.S. Immigrant Detention", article under review.

Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi, Danielle Wallace, and John M. Eason. “Cannabis is a Gateway Drug to the Criminal Justice System: The Impact of Decriminalization on Racial Disparities in Cannabis Arrests in Chicago”, currently under review.

Smith, Danielle^, Jamilia Blake, Miner P. Marchbanks III, Steve Wood, and John M. Eason. "Behind the Eight Ball: The Effects of Race and Number of Infractions on the Severity of Exclusionary Discipline Sanctions Issued in Secondary School", article under review.

Books in Progress
Eason, John M. “In Our Backyards: How the Prison Boom Transformed Rural America”, in progress.

Eason, John M., Beatriz Marquez-Aldana, and David Hernandez. “The End of ICE: Death, Sexual Assault, and Solitary Confinement”, in progress.

Articles in Progress ^= graduate student ^^=undergraduate student
Eason, John M. and David Schaliol. “A Tale of Two Prison Towns”, article for submission.

Eason, John M.. “Crime, Violence, and Criminal Justice in Rural America” article for submission.

Eason, John M. and David Hernandez. "Predictors of Mortality in Immigrant Detention Centers", article for submission.

Marquez, Beatriz A., John M. Eason, and David Hernandez, “Silencing Sexual Assault in Immigrant Detention", article for submission.

Eason, John M. , Richard Abel^ and Kay Varela^. “Race and Incarceration as a Pathway to Maternal Separation During Childhood”, article for submission.

Hazal Hurman^ and John M. Eason. “Racing the Prison Boom: Racism and Punishment Beyond Mass Incarceration”, article for submission.

Eason, John M., Julia Thomas^, Gregory Wilson^, Major Eason^^. “From Plantation to Prison: Tracing the Roots of Penal Privatization”, article for submission.

Eason, John M., Mary Campbell, ^Benjamin Ghasemi, and ^Eileen Huey. “Punishment is Purple: The Political Economy of Prison Building”, article for submission.

Eason, John M., ^Jienian Zheng, and Jessica Simes. “Imprisonment, Reentry, and HIV/AIDS Across the Rural-Urban Continuum in Arkansas”, article for submission.

Book Reviews & Encyclopedia Entries ^= graduate student ^^=undergraduate student
Eason, John.  2016.  The Prison Industrial Complex. The Sage Encyclopedia of Economics and Society.

Eason, John M. and Kina Harding^. 2012.  Punishing Race:  A Continuing American Dilemma by Michael Tonry in Theoretical Criminology, 16: 259-161.

Grants
Texas A&M University, Division of Research, PESCA Award Recipient, 2016-2017. $18,000 for the Immigrant Detention Center Project. The objective of this project is to expose violence and health dispraties in immigrant detention facilities.

Texas A&M University, College of Liberal Arts Seed Grant Program, Award Recipient, 2013-2014. $15,000 for the Prison Profiteers Project. The objective of this project is to understand how politics influence prison building across states and how prisons benefit local elites economically within rural communities.

Arizona State University Institute for Social Science Research Award Recipient, 2011-2012. $34,000 for the Prison Proliferation and Rural Disadvantage Project. Despite nearly 70 percent of the 1700 plus U.S. prison facilities being constructed in nonmetropolitan communities there is a dearth of knowledge explicating prison placement and impact in rural communities. This project analyzes the prison boom that began in 1970 at the U.S. census place level to measure the economic impact of prisons on rural communities and the socioeconomic and political predictors of building. The objectives of this project are three-fold. First, this research project makes a substantive contribution to science by demonstrating the numerous ways that prison placement impacts rural communities. Second, this project makes a theoretical contribution by extending theories of urban community into rural spaces. Third, the project contributes to knowledge productions methodologically by using quasi-experimental methods to measure prison impact at U.S. census place level.

American Sociological Association Funds for the Advancement of the Discipline Award Recipient, 2009. $7,000 for the Rural Disadvantage and Prison Proliferation Project.

Teaching Experience
Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.“Neighborhoods, Crime, & Punishment”.

Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. "Qualitative Methods: The Case Study".

Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University. "Neighborhoods, Crime, & Punishment".

Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University. “Race, Crime, & Punishment”.

Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University.  “Criminology”.

Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University.  “Race and the Sociology of Punishment”.

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona Statue University.  “Race, Ethnicity, and Justice”.

School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Arizona Statue University.  “Criminological Theory”.

Instructor, Department of Sociology at Duke University. “Prison, Punishment, and Inequality”.

Preceptor, Public Policy Program at the University of Chicago.

Robert E. Park Lecturer, Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. Competitive lectureship to teach college level course in academic area of instructor’s choice “Punishment and Inequality”.

Scholarly Presentations
“From Plantation to Prison: Tracing the Roots of Penal Privatization.” American Sociological Association, August 2019.

"Bringing Down the Big House: Can the Green New Deal Fuel Decarceration.” Racial Democracy Crime and Justice Network Workshop, Rutgers University, July 2019.

"In Our Backyards: How the Prison Boom Transformed America.” Crimes of Prediction Workshop, University of Chicago, April 2019.

"Privilege and Peril in Prison Town Studies: Power and Position in Fieldwork Encounters.” Department of Sociology, University of Chicago, April 2019.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” Department of Sociology, University of Tennessee, April 2019.

"Permanent Injury Beyond Medical Intervention: Disguising Death in U.S. Immigrant Detention.” Alpha Kappa Delta, University of Tennessee, April 2019.

"Punishment is Purple: The Political Economy of Prison Building.” Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, March 2019.

"“In Our Backyards: How the Prison Boom Transformed America.” Listening to Rural America Workshop, Russell Sage Foundation, March 2019.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” Author Meets Critics, American Sociological Association, August 2018.

"The School to Prison Pipeline & School Violence: Reconsidering Hypercriminalization in Intervention & Prevention.” Youth Violence Prevention Conference, University of Missouri-St. Louis, April 2018.

"Permanent Injury Beyond Medical Intervention: Disguising Death in U.S. Immigrant Detention.” Death by Policing: Race, State Violence, and the Possibility of Justice”, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, April 2018.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” American Universities, Monuments, and the Legacies of Slavery, Duke University, March 2018.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” University of Wisconsin, Department of Sociology, November 2017.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” Boston University, Department of Sociology, October 2017.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation.” University of Chicago, Department of Sociology, October 2017.

“Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation”, University of Arkansas, Department of Sociology, April 2017.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation", American Sociological Association, Seattle, Washington, August 2016.

"The Prison Boom as an Impediment to the Roll Back of Mass Imprisonment", Society for the Study of Social Problems, Seattle, Washington, August 2016.

"The Prison Boom as an Impediment to the Roll Back of Mass Imprisonment, Law & Society Association", New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2016.

"Prisons as Panacea or Pariah?: The Countervailing Consenquences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns", University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, April 2016.

"Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation", University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 2016.

"Prisons as Panacea or Pariah?:  The Countervailing Consequences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns", The Ohio State University, July 2015.

"Prisons a Panacea or Pariah?:  The Countervailing Consequences of the Prison Boom on the Political Economy of Rural Towns", UTSA, San Antonio, February 2015.

“Finding Beauty in the Hideous:  Prison Placement as Reputation Management”.  Department of Sociology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, September 2014.

“Finding Beauty in the Hideous:  Prison Placement as Reputation Management”.  American Sociological Association, Invited Panel, San Francisco, California, August 2014.

“Finding Beauty in the Hideous:  Prison Placement as Reputation Management”.  Law and Society Annual Conference, Invited Panel, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 2014.

“Finding Beauty in the Hideous:  Prison Placement as Reputation Management”.  Yale Urban Ethnography Conference, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, April 2014.

“Finding Beauty in the Hideous:  Prison Placement as Reputation Management”.  SUNY-Binghamton, Carceral State Working Group, Binghamton, New York, February 2014.

“’It’s Like the City, Only Quieter’:  Making the Rural Ghetto”.  Stanford University.  Palo Alto, California, April 2012.

“’It’s Like the City, Only Quieter’:  Making the Rural Ghetto”.  Rural Sociological Society.  Boise, Idaho, June 2011.

“Development by Arrest:  Measuring Prison Impact in Rural America”.  American Society of Criminology.  Atlanta, Georgia, August 2010.

“Development by Arrest:  Measuring Prison Impact in Rural America”.  American Sociological Association.  Atlanta, Georgia, August 2010.

“Maternal Incarceration and Childhood Disadvantage”, Leverentz, Andrea and John Eason.  American Sociological Association.  Atlanta, Georgia, August 2010.

"Mapping Prison Proliferation:  Region, Rurality, Race, and Disadvantage in Prison Placement". American Sociological Association.  San Francisco, California, August 2009

“Decomposing Residential Segregation Patterns:  The Ecological Impact of Prisons on Rural Communities”.  Eason, John, Lichter, Daniel T., and Parisis, Domenico.  Rural Sociological Society.  Madison, Wisconsin, July 2009.

“’It’s Like the City, Only Quieter’:  Making the Rural Ghetto”.  Association of Black Sociologists.  New Orleans, Louisiana, June 2009.

“Negotiating Place in Rural America: Identity, Morality, and Punishment Systems.” Burton, L.M., Garrett-Peters, R. & Eason, J. National Cancer Institute Place, Health, and Equity Conference at the University of Seattle. Seattle, Washington, May 2009.

“The Politics of Prison Proliferation”. Southern Sociological Society, New Orleans, Louisiana, April 2009.

““Extending the Hyperghetto: Considering Race, Place, and Space in Prison Siting”. Duke University Department of Sociology. Durham, North Carolina, November 2007.

“Neva No in Betweens: Considering Urban Blacks as Subjects in Academia”. American Sociological Association, Blacks and African-Americans Panel in Montreal, Canada, August 2006.

“Development by Arrest: Examining the Growth of Prisons in Rural America”. Penal State Conference, University of California, Berkeley, May 2006.

“Development by Arrest: Examining the Growth of Prisons in Rural America”. Binghamton Justice Projects, SUNY Binghamton, February 2006.

Other Work Experience
Consultant, Center for Community Safety, Winston-Salem State University, 2009-2011.  Forsyth County Gang Assessment and Program Evaluation Project Coordinator.  Final Report:  “North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention- 2010 Forsyth County Comprehensive Gang Assessment”.

Resident Head, University of Chicago, Department of Undergraduate Student Housing, 2002-2008. Provided guidance and mentorship to students in the college.

Consultant, Chicago Metropolis 2020, 2004-2006. Criminal Law Edit Alignment and Reform (CLEAR) commission lead by former Illinois Governor James R. Thompson was developed to impact Illinois criminal justice policy on statewide codification and sentencing laws. Designed, coded, and produced results of a survey of defense/prosecuting attorneys use of Illinois criminal code. Provided commission with relevant codification and sentencing examples from other states. Researched, aided in graphic design, and wrote portions of the Chicago Metropolis 2020 Criminal Justice Index. The Index provides an overview of statistics on crime, incarceration, victimization, and other facets of the criminal justice system in the State of Illinois and Chicago region.

Director, Westside Federation Restoring the Legacy Project, 2003-2004. $100,000 project funded by Chicago Community Trust to develop a report on the “State of the Westside”. Designed and implemented survey. Conducted interactive survey with community residents. Oversaw data collection for target area. Managed GIS mapping team and directed design of asset-based survey of community through workshop course members at University of Illinois Chicago.

Campaign Coordinator, Barack Obama for Congress 2000, 1999-2000. Promoted to position after volunteering on prior Illinois State Senate campaigns and serving as Field Operation Coordinator in another successful bid in 1998. Worked extensively with candidate to deliver clergy to candidates campaign inauguration. Devised and implemented campaign strategy to heighten candidate’s name recognition and increase voter turn-out. Trained staff on strategy implementation. Trained volunteers in all facets of campaign field operations ranging from contribution drives to door-to-door outreach campaigns. Raised contributions and recruited volunteers.

Lead Organizer, Alliance of Congregations Transforming the Southside (ACTS), 1997-2000. Terminated over a dozen illegal drug operations, bus lines saved, and affordable housing campaign initiated as a result. Instituted annual fundraiser 300 in attendance. Produced annual budget of $130,000 through dues collection, fundraiser, and successful proposal writing (i.e. MacArthur Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, and Campaign for Human Development).

Organizer, Metropolitan Alliance of Congregations (MAC), 1995-1997. 5,000 person Convention; U.S. Drug Czar increased High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area funds by $3 million. U.S., state, and local legislators on hand to be held accountable for platform. Issues Assemblies- 3,500 persons; Mayors, States Attorney, State Legislators, in attendance to address concerns of jobs, education, public safety, transportation, tax-base sharing, transportation, and community development. Public safety and fair/equitable education funding campaigns initiated. Received promotion to lead organizer/executive director of ACTS a MAC affiliate.

Honors and Awards
Society for the Study of Social Problems, C. Wright Mills Best Book Award Finalist 2017 for Big House on the Prairie: Rise of the Rural Ghetto and Prison Proliferation

Crime and Justice Summer Research Institute Fellow: Broadening Perspectives and Participation, The Ohio State University, Crime and Justice Research Center. 2015. 

Recipient, Minorities in Public Policy Studies (MiPPS) Alumni Award, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago. 2015.

Fellow, Yale Urban Ethnography Project. 2014.

Rural Sociological Society Early Career Research Award. 2012.

Finalist, Soros Justice Advocacy Fellowship, George Soros Open Society Foundation. 2010.

Crime and Justice Summer Research Institute:  Broadening Perspectives and Participation, The Ohio State University, Criminal Justice Research Center, 2010.

Crime, Law, and Deviance Section Student Paper Competition Award Recipient, American Sociological Association, 2009.

Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, Duke University, 2008-2010.

National Poverty Center Post-Doctoral Award Recipient, University of Michigan, 2008. Declined.

Dissertation Fellow, Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at the University of Chicago, 2007-2008.

Lecturer, Robert E. Park Lectureship, University of Chicago, 2007.

Fellow, Diversifying Faculty in Illinois, 2002-2005.

Fellow, Illinois Consortium of Educational Opportunity Program, 2002-2005.

Fellow, University of Chicago Trustees, 2002-2007.

Professional Affiliations
American Sociological Association

American Society of Criminology

Association of Black Sociologists

Law and Society Association

Rural Sociological Society

Society for the Study of Social Problems

Southern Sociological Society