FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (8/06)
Contact: Lynn Stewart or Kelsey Johnson, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120 or 318-841-7265, or Dr. Michelle Wolkomir, Department of Sociology, 318-869-5054

Centenary's Wolkomir Earns Distinguished Book Award from American Sociological Association

SHREVEPORT, LA — Dr. Michelle Wolkomir, associate professor of sociology at Centenary College and author of Be Not Deceived: The Sacred and Sexual Struggles of Gay and Ex-gay Christian Men (Rutgers University Press, 2006), has been named one of two winners of the inaugural Distinguished Book Award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on the Sociology of Sexualities.

With this award, the sociological community recognizes Wolkomir’s research as being on the cutting edge of sociological inquiry in the field of sexualities.

In her 225-page book, Wolkomir explores the dilemma gay Christians face in their attempts to reconcile religious and sexual identities. She highlights the approaches of two ministries that offer very different solutions.

In addition to winning this award, which was announced at ASA’s 101st annual convention Aug. 11–14 in Montreal, Be Not Deceived has been nominated for the Charles Horton Cooley Book Award in Symbolic Interaction.

“I feel fortunate to have received this award, and I am grateful for all the support and inspiration offered at Centenary College,” says Wolkomir. “It is a remarkable experience to be part of a community that so values and fosters intellectual inquiry.”

Wolkomir received her Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1999. Currently an associate professor of sociology and codirector of the Gender Studies Program, she has taught at Centenary since 2000. She co-organized the Associated College of the South’s 2006 Gender Studies Conference and has received various research grants and won numerous awards, including Centenary’s Outstanding Teacher Award for 2005 and the Mattie Allen Broyles Inaugural Research Chair Award for 2000-01. Her academic interests range from issues of inequality, gender and religion to social psychology and symbolic interaction.

For more information about Wolkomir’s book, visit the publisher’s web site at: http://rutgerspress.rutgers.edu/acatalog/__Be_Not_Deceived_2550.html .

See also:
http://www.centenary.edu/news/2006/April/wolk-book.html
http://www.centenary.edu/news/2006/March/gs-conference.html

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