At the time Hurricane Katrina struck, Valerie J. Gunter was an associate professor in the department of sociology at the University of New Orleans. She spent most of the 2005-2006 academic year as a visiting associate professor at Michigan State University, from which she had received her PhD in sociology in 1994. She has spent over 20 years researching the controversial processed by which environmental issues become registered on community and national political agendas. Articles reporting the results form this research have been published in such journals as Social Problems, The Sociological Quarterly, The American Sociologist, Sociological Inquiry, and Rural Sociology. She is a co-editor of Illness and the Environment: A Reader in Contested Medicine.
Volatile Places was written to provide both students and faculty with a case study approach to the investigation of community and environmental controversies. Key Features:Case Studies in every chapter: creates a dramatic and telling story around certain features of the controversy. The case studies are written to capture studentsÆ attention. Making Connections with previous chapters: students and instructors are encouraged to read and discuss how the current discussion links to previous discussions creating a strong sense for the integrated approach to the study of community and environmental controversies. Adding to the Portfolio: a portfolio was created for each chapter that both summarizes material and provides questions that lead students into thoughtful encounters with key concepts. Concept and Theory Boxes: Ideas and theories introduced, but not elaborated on, in the text are given a more thorough and concise treatment in the boxes.
