Melanie Lorek is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Human Relations at CUNY School of Professional Studies. Before joining full-time, she taught as an adjunct instructor at CUNY SPS. She teaches a broad range of courses and particularly enjoys teaching research focused courses in an effort to demystify the process for students and to share the joys of developing an evidence-based argument.
Her own scholarship lies at the intersection of cultural sociology and applied research, with a special interest in the relevance and commemoration of socialist and post-socialist societies and questions of social equity. Recently, she has started engaging in a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project on whether teaching sociology increases empathy in students.