Dr. Sheri-Lynn Kurisu joined the Sociology Department as an Assistant Professor in 2018. Dr. Kurisu earned her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she conducted collaborative research with men currently incarcerated at the Illinois Danville Correctional Center. Dr. Kurisu’s nine years of teaching experience include classes taught online, in the traditional classroom, and the prison classroom.

Dr. Kurisu’s teaching, research, and activism use Critical Race Theory and Critical Criminology as lenses to engage with issues of mass incarceration—both inside and outside prison walls.

Ph.D.             Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018

B.A.                Psychology, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2008

                        Sociology, with honors, University of California, Santa Cruz, 2008

• Critical Race Theory
• Intersectionality and Inequality
• Critical Criminology
• Law and Society
• Participatory Action Research and Mixed Methods Research
• Penology/Corrections
• Social Movements and Rights Mobilization

• Soc 101: Introduction to Sociology
• Soc 105: Introduction to Justice Studies
• Soc 325: Criminology
• Soc 443: Sociology of Law
• Soc 444: Perspectives on Corrections and Penology
• Soc 449: Comparative Analysis of Crime and Justice
• Soc 456: Zombie Sociology
• Soc 618: Seminar in Critical Criminology

Please click the button below to view Sheri-Lynn Kurisu's Curriculum Vitae.

Curriculum Vitae