Maxine P. Atkinson

Maxine P. Atkinson is Professor Emerita of Sociology at North Carolina State University, a research  extensive university in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Her area of specialty is the scholarship of teaching and learning and her published work has appeared in such journals as Teaching Sociology, The International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, and TRAILS: TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.  She is also one of the  authors of the recent American Sociological Association’s work defining best practices in the undergraduate sociology major,   “The Sociology Major in the Changing Landscape of Higher Education: Curriculum, Careers, and Online Learning” in addition to In the Trenches: Teaching and Learning Sociology, co-authored with Kathleen Lowney. She focuses on teaching introductory sociology courses and “Teaching Sociology,” a PhD course required for graduate students at NC State.

Maxine has won an impressive array of teaching awards including the American Sociological Society’s Distinguished Contribution to Teaching Award, ASA’s Section on Teaching and Learning Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology and the Carla B. Howery Award for Developing Teacher-Scholars, the Southern Sociological Society’s Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award. Maxine was the first woman from NC State University to win the University of North Carolina’s Governor’s award for Excellence in Teaching.

Maxine has served in several administrative positions including being Head of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at NC State, director of NC States’ first year seminar program, and the Founding Director of the Service Learning Program at NC State. She has also served as Chair of ASA’s Section on Teaching and Learning, and President of the Southern Sociological Society along with a plethora of task forces dedicated to undergraduate sociology. Maxine works as a consultant for other sociology departments as a member of the American Sociological Association’s Departmental Resources Group.