Many of my most gratifying experiences as a faculty member have involved collaborating with students. Indeed, a major reason I wanted to teach at Wake Forest University is because of the “teacher-scholar” ideal — the notion that students play a special role at the nexus of faculty teaching and research excellence.

I have been privileged to travel to Ghana, West Africa as mentor to a student who received a fellowship to study there. When I edited a professional journal, I had many undergraduates serve as editorial interns. I have published with my students.

I welcome further opportunities to get students involved with my ongoing projects. Although I do not have grant money to pay students, I can arrange independent study credit for those who work with me.

My current research focuses on American gun cultures. This is a new line of work for me, so my interests are very broad, and I am open to collaborating with students on any aspect of the topic in which they have an interest. My particular foci right now are:

• The rising number of private citizens who are licensed by the government to carry concealed handguns in public — the “Concealed Carry Nation” (see my research proposal on this topic here).
• The relationship between religion and gun ownership
• Women in the gun culture (e.g., the portrayal of gender in gun advertising)
• Just getting some basic facts about guns, gun ownership, gun use, and gun violence down in a centralized location as this is information that alot of people are interested in having.

In addition to blog entries on this site, I also blog on a site devoted specifically to understanding the gun culture.

Please be in touch if you would like to take advantage of any of these opportunities, or if you would like to propose some other collaborative project.