Michael Stephens
- Ph.D., M.A., Sociology, Binghamton University
- M.A., Public and International Affairs, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- B.A., International Affairs, James Madison University
Michael Stephens joined Lenoir-Rhyne in the fall of 2023 as an assistant professor of sociology. His research specializations include political economy, global inequality and development, the historical development of gendered and racialized labor formations and cultural studies, with a primary focus on the Caribbean and the Atlantic World.
His current research examines the social consequences of development projects upon vulnerable populations in Latin America. Stephens is a former U.S. Fulbright Award grantee, which allowed him to pursue his research on the spatial, economic, and social dislocation of queer and trans workers in the tourism industry in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. More recently, he has expanded upon this project to examine the rise of militarized police forces that enforce the dislocation of marginal populations from spaces ‘slated for development’, comparing the cases of Brazil and Colombia. Additionally, Stephens has examined the role of race, gender and sexuality in organizing labor in the 19th Century Caribbean sugar economy, having published this research in the Journal of Historical Sociology and receiving recognition from the American Sociological Association as the 2023 winner of the Albert Szymanski – TR Young Award.
Stephens has taught classes on global inequality and development, structural inequalities, race, gender, and sexuality, research methods and social inequalities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Through the use of unconventional materials like graphic novels, he has notably designed and taught courses such as “Capitalism and Comics” and “Latin American Sexualities.”
In addition to his scholarly endeavors, Stephens has previously worked with nonprofit public health organizations in New York that engage and support individuals with substance use disorder through a harm reduction philosophy and practice. In light of the pressing opioid crisis, he remains committed as an active advocate in addressing the social inequalities and stigma facing its victims that serve as barriers to treatment and recovery.
More recently, Stephens has joined the LRU Student Pride Club as a Faculty Advisor, providing advocacy and support for the LGBTQ+ community on campus and the wider Hickory community.