The Department of Sociology & Criminology, University College Cork is recognised internationally for the excellence of its research which has been independently evaluated through two university wide reviews which ranked the Department in the equivalent top 10-15% in Europe. The Dept. has specialist teaching and research strengths in a number of areas.

Staff in the Department have a wide range of research interests (please see ‘Current Staff and their Research Interests’ for specific information on staff interests). Approximately, staff research interests cluster into these groups:

Crime and Criminal Justice, Criminology, Deviance and Violence

Environment, Sustainability and Climate Change

Gender, Sexuality and Identity, Feminism

Health/Medical Sociology and Technology

Human Rights, Borders and Migration

Sociological Theory and Methods, Historical Sociology

Current staff and their research interests

Outlined below is a list of our current staff and their main areas of research interest. More detailed information on each staff member can be found here:

https://www.ucc.ie/en/sociology/staff/

Dr Myles Balfe: Medical Sociology and Sociology of Technology. 

Dr Tom Boland: Sociology of Unemployment and Welfare, Governmentality, Critique, Literature and Culture.

Dr James Cuffe: Technology, Criminology and Anthropology.

Dr Mastoureh Fathi: Sociology of Migration, Intersectionality, Belonging and Placemaking

Professor Kieran Keohane: Sociological Theory, Social Pathologies of Contemporary Civilization, Forensic Sociology.

Dr Gema Kloppe-Santamaría: Violence, Gender, Historical Sociology, Social Theory, Culture, Religion and Politics of Secularism

Dr Orla Lynch: Terrorism and Political Violence, Trauma and Victimology

Dr Julius-Cezar Macari (MacQuarie): Migration and Labour related dynamics, Nightwork & Nighttime economy, Decent work agenda, Engaged Anthropology, Multi-modal & Nocturnal Ethnography

Dr Ger Mullally: Sociology of Community, Sustainability and the Environment.

Dr Theresa O’Keefe: Sociology of Gender and Sexuality, Family, Feminism.

Professor Maggie O’Neill: Sociology of Gender and Sexuality, Sociological Methods, Sociological Theory, Cultural Criminology, Gender and Crime, Forced Migration and Creative and Arts-Based Methods

Dr Amin Sharifi Isaloo: Sociology, Anthropology, Politics and Law

Dr Tracey Skillington: Sociology of Human Rights, Law and Social Justice, Sociology of Climate Change.

Dr Kevin Sweeney: Corporate Crime, Terrorism, Cybercrime and Policing.

Dr Katharina Swirak: Criminology, Youth Justice/Sociology of Young People, Sociological Perspectives on Social Policy.

Emeritus Professor Arpad Szakolczai: Sociological Theory, Anthropology, Historical Sociology.

Dr James Windle: Criminology, Organized Crime, Gangs, Illicit Drugs Markets, Drug Policy.