Patricia K. Jennings, PhD Faculty Profile

Photo of Patricia Jennings

Patricia  K.  Jennings, PhD

Associate Dean, College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences

  • BA Sociology; CSU San Francisco
  • MA Sociology; CSU Hayward
  • PhD Sociology; University of Kentucky
Spring Semester 2024
Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
SOC 49901Sociology Capstone ProjectTTH10:00AM11:40AMWEB-SYNCHOnline Campus
SOC 49902Sociology Capstone ProjectTTH1:15PM2:55PMWEB-SYNCHOnline Campus

Refereed Journal Articles:

2011 Beeson, Diane, Patricia Jennings & Wendy Cramer. Offspring Searching for their Sperm Donors: How Family Type Shapes the Process.  Human Reproduction.

2010 Jennings, Patricia. “God Had Something Else in Mind: Family, Religion & Infertility.” Journal of contemporary Ethnography. Vol. 39, No.2.

2006 Jennings, Patricia. “The Trouble with the MEPA: An Empirical Look at Transracial Adoption.”  Sociological Perspectives. Vol. 49, No.4.

2006 Jennings, Patricia, Beth Rienzi, and Laramee Lyda. “Assessing Student Learning: A Case Study.” Teaching Sociology. Vol. 34, No. 3.

2004 Jennings, Patricia. "What Mothers Want: Welfare Reform and Maternal Desire." Journal of Sociology and Social Work. Vol. 31, No.3.

2003 Jennings, Patricia and Clarence Talley.  “A Good Death? White Privilege and Public Opinion Research on Euthanasia.” Race, Gender & Class. Volume 10, No. 3.

2001 Jennings, Patricia and Joan Callahan.  “Multiple Gestation: Some Public Policy Issues.” Health Care Analysis: An International Journal of Health Care Philosophy and Policy, Special Issue Feminism and Bioethics, Guest Editor: Mary Mahowald. Volume 9, No. 2. Book Chapters & Encyclopedia Entries:

2008 Jennings, Patricia. “The Culture of Poverty.”  In Vince Parrillo, editor. Encyclopedia of Social Problems. Sage Publications: Thousand Oaks, CA.

2000      Billings, Dwight and Patricia Jennings. "Critical Theory." In Borgatta, E. and R. Montgomery, editors. Encyclopedia of Sociology. New York: Macmillan Reference.

1997 Beeson, Diane and Patricia Jennings. "Social and Ethical Issues in the Prenatal Diagnosis of Fetal Disorders." In Monagle, J. and D. Thomasma, editors. Health Care Ethics: Critical Issues for the 21st Century. Gaithersburg Md.: Aspen Publishers.

Book Reviews:

2011 Jennings, Patricia, Reviewer Blue-Ribbon Babies and Labors of Love: Race, Class and Gender in U.S. Adoption Practice by Christine Ward Gailey. Austin: University of Texas Press. 2010. Reviewed in Contemporary Sociology. Vol. 40, No. 2.

2001 Jennings Patricia, Reviewer Reflections on Anger: Women and Men in a Changing Society by Christa Reiser. Westport: Prager, 1999. Reviewed in Contemporary Sociology Vol. 30, No. 4.

Other Non-Refereed Publications:

2011 Stevenson, Tina, Diane Beeson & Patricia Jennings. Finding the Active Voice. Gene Watch.  June-July. Vol 24, No.3.

1998 Jennings, Patricia and Meredith Redlin, interviewers. "Constituting White Identities: An Interview with David Roediger." disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory.  Winter No.7.

2010 Feminine Lust for Purple Suede Shoes. National Women’s Studies Association (November).

2010 When Things go Wrong: Health Risks in Egg Donation. Pacific Sociological  Association (April).

2009 Race and the Market in Eggs. National Women’s Studies Association (November). “In and Out and In Again: Shifting Lesbian Identity & the Academic Closet.” National Women’s Studies Association (June).

2007 Harris, E. & Jennings, P.  “Writing Across the Curriculum,” California Sociological Association (November).

2006 “Infertility and Spirituality.”  National Women’s Studies Association (June).

2006 “Gender, Religion, and Infertility: Religious Experience and Women’s Responses to Infertility. Pacific Sociological Association, CA (April).

2006 “Teaching Social Inequality Through Film.” Pacific Sociological Association  (April).

2004 “Assessing Students Knowledge of Sociological Theory.” California Sociological Association. Riverside, CA (October).

2004 Research Workshop. Using Major National Data Sets: Sociological Societies’ Programs Database: How to Access this Information for Research and Planning. American Sociological Association. San Francisco, CA (August).  (Co-Presented with Kenneth Nyberg, Laura Hecht, and William Wagner.)

2004 "Gender, Sexuality and Social Class: Lesbians from Working Class Backgrounds."  Pacific Sociological Association.  San Francisco, CA (April).

2003 "Sociology at the Perimeter: The ASA and Regional Sociological Association Programs, Including the Pacific Sociological Association." Pacific Sociological Association, Pasadena, CA (April). (Co-Presented with Kenneth Nyberg, Laura Hecht and Alem Kebede.)

2003 "Sociology at the Perimeter: The Southern Program Meetings." Southern Sociological Society, New Orleans, LA (March). (Co-Presented with Kenneth Nyberg, Laura Hecht, Daniel McMillin, and Alem Kebede.)

2003 "Working Class Lesbians: Academic Perspectives and Lived Experience." North Central Sociological Association, Cincinnati, OH (March).

2002 "Teaching Gender Identity through Film: Gender in Ma Vie en Rose."  California Sociological Association, Riverside, CA (October).

2002 "The Market in Children: Race, Class, and Adoption." American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL (August).

2002 "Crossing the Genetic Divide: Social Differences and Resolutions to Infertility." Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences, Honolulu, HI (June).

2001 “What Mothers Want: Maternal Desire and Welfare Reform.” The California  Sociological Association, Sacramento, CA. (October).

1999 "Breeder Bodies and Genetic Pollution: Negotiating the Use of “Other” Women's Reproductive Bodies". The American Sociological Association, Chicago, IL. (August).

California State University, East Bay: CLASS Faculty Fellows Award (4 units of assigned time), 2007

California State University, Bakersfield:  Instructionally Related Activities Grant ($1,700), 2004; Teaching and Learning Center Grant ($250.00), 2004

University of Kentucky: O'Donnell Award (outstanding graduate student); Honors pass, qualifying exam

Departmental & University Service:

Committee on Budget and Resource Allocation (fall 2011- )

California Faculty Association, Diversity Representative (fall 2011- )

California Faculty Association, Secretary (2009-2011)

Committee on Academic Programs & Research (CAPR) (2008-2010)

 Departmental Hiring Committees (2006-2007 & 2008)

Research Committee, Interim Committee Member (2008)

Campus Representative (Social Science Research & Instruction Council, 2007- 2010)

Graduate Coordinator (2006 – 2010)

Member of the University Research Council (CSU Bakersfield, 2004-2005)

Chair, Women and Gender Studies Program (CSU Bakersfield, 2004-2005)

Co-Chair, Women's Studies Committee (CSU Bakersfield, 2003-2004)

CSU Faculty Representative (California Sociological Association, 2002-2005)

Member of the Five-Year Program Review Committee (CSU Bakersfield, 2003)

Member of the Hiring Committee (CSU Bakersfield, 2002& 2003)

Member of the Applied Ethics Committee (CSU Bakersfield, 2002)