Heather Moir Fitz Gibbon

Department/Affiliation: Sociology & Anthropology; Urban Studies; Dean for Faculty Development
Phone: 330-263-2576
Office Address: 113 Galpin
Email: hfitzgibbon@wooster.edu

Degrees

• A.B., Kenyon College 1981
• M.A., Northwestern University 1983
• Ph.D. Northwestern University 1988

Courses Taught

• SOCI 204: Self and Society
• SOCI 206: Urban Sociology
• SOCI 207: Sociology of Gender
• SOCI 350: Classical Social Theory

Publications

"Learning to Mother: The Definition of Motherhood by Participants in a Welfare Reform Parenting Class." The International Journal of Sociology of the Family. Vol. 36, no. 1, Spring, 2010.

"Child Care Across Sectors: A Comparison of the Work of Child Care in Three Settings" in Child Care and Inequality: Re-Thinking Carework for Children and Youth, edited by Francesca Cancian, Demie Kurz, Andrew london, Rebecca Reviere, and Mary Tuominen. Routledge Press. 2002.

Awards and Professional Memberships

• University Fellowship from Northwestern University
• Named "Friend of Young Children" by the Wayne County Association for the Education of Young Children
• Named to Who's Who in American Teachers
• Sociologists for Women in Society
• Midwest Sociological Society
• American Sociological Association

Research Interests

• Gender Roles and the Family
• Urban Sociology
• Childcare
• Children and Family
• Women and Work

Notes

As a faculty member since 1990, Fitz Gibbon's current research focuses on definitions of motherhood within the welfare system.  Much of her research has been published, including "Reassessing Commitments to Work and Family in a Changing Economy" in Qualitative Sociology and several book chapters. She has also been an active community based researcher, conducting program evaluation for several programs including the Even Start programs for Wayne County and Franklin County, Ohio.