Social Work Faculty

Daniel C. Johnson
Department Chair
Associate Professor
Sociology/Social Work

e: dan.johnsongordon.edu

B.S. Liberty University
M.A., Ph.D. University of Virginia

Daniel joined the Gordon faculty in 1998.  His primary research and teaching interests are in critical social theory and cultural sociology, although he also enjoys teaching statistics to the math-phobic.  His current research projects focus on the construction of the idea of "calling" among ministry-oriented adolescents, on the nature of hope, and on narratives of civilizational decline.  He received the Distinguished Junior Faculty Award in 2003.

Margaret A. Deweese-Boyd
Program Director
Associate Professor
Social Work

e: margie.deweese-boydgordon.edu

B.A. Carson-Newman College
M.A. Covenant Theological Seminary
M.S.W. Washington University - St. Louis.
Ph.D. University of Missouri - St. Louis

DeWeese-Boyd arrived at Gordon in the spring of 1999 after receiving her doctorate in political science and her M.S.W. in social and economic development. Her primary research interests are in community development, sustainable development, and matters of social justice. Most recently she has authored, "The Healthy City Versus the Luxurious City: Consumption and Sustainability in Plato's Republic," with Ian T.E. DeWeese-Boyd (forthcoming in Contemporary Justice Review); and "Community versus development? Land use and development policy in Vermont as a tool toward community viability," which appeared in Community Development Journal.

Sybil W. Coleman
Professor
Social Work

e: sybil.colemangordon.edu

B.A. Gordon College
M.Ed. Salem State College
M.S.W. University of Minnesota

Sybil joined the Gordon faculty in 1989, bringing with her 24 years of direct practice social work experience. Her primary teaching interests focus on the foundations of Social Work and Social Welfare as well as Social Work theories and practice with individuals, families and groups. She received the Distinguished Junior Faculty Award in 1995.

Judith Oleson
Associate Professor
Social Work

e: judith.olesongordon.edu

B.S., M.S.W. University of Minnesota
M.P.A. Harvard University
D.Min. Episcopal Divinity School

James Trent
Professor
Social Work

e: james.trentgordon.edu

B.A. Wake Forest University
M.Div. Duke University
M.S.W. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Ph.D. Brandeis University

Professor Trent joined the Gordon College faculty in 2003, having served seventeen years at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and three years at Barrington College in Rhode Island. His scholarly research activity lies in the history and theory of social policy formations that affect marginalized and disenfranchised groups. He is author of Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States that won the 1995 Hervey B. Wilbur Award of the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. He also received the 2001 Paul Simon Outstanding Scholar Award from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He is currently working on a biography of the 19th century agitator and humanitarian, Samuel Gridley Howe. 

James Trent Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

Ivy George
Professor
Sociology and Social Work

e: ivy.georgegordon.edu

B.A., M.A. Stella Maris College
Ph.D. Brandeis University
M.T.S. Harvard University

Professor George is committed to the multi-disciplinary opportunities that sociology offers in her classroom.  Her research and teaching since 1983 have focused on gender, religion, race, ethnicity, globalization and social change.  She leads Gordon students in their study abroad program in South Africa, and is currently working on a book on International Adoption.