Primary
Faculty
Mark E. LaGory, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair
mlagory@uab.edu
Dr. LaGory is an urban sociologist whose primary interest is the consequences of residential environments and social capital for individual and community well-being. Dr. LaGory's early research focussed on racial and age segregation's impact on urban residents. It demonstrated the significance of spatial structures for service delivery, community identification, and the mental health of special populations. That early work led to a broader interest in the sociology of mental health for two subpopulations with unique environmental relations: the elderly and the homeless. The newer research explores the role of social capital and individual psychological resources in mediating stressful environmental circumstances and life events.
Currently he is investigating the role of social capital in mediating the stressors associated with significant poverty among two groups-- the homeless and residents of high poverty areas. He also continues to serve as an academic partner for the Birmingham Metropolitan area with the national Social Capital Survey project sponsored by Harvard University and the Saguaro Group.
Dr. LaGory teaches courses in social change, sociological theory, urban ecology, religion, and homelessness. At the graduate level, he teaches courses in sociological theory and human ecology. His graduate teaching stresses the construction of systematic theory to address specific research agenda.
He is an ordained Episcopal deacon, and a member of the clergy staff at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook, AL.
For questions concerning his research contact Dr. LaGory at mlagory@uab.edu.
Office
237-C Ullman Building
Department of Sociology
Birmingham, AL 35294-3350
Phone: (205) 934-8677
Fax: (205) 975-5614
