Dr. Copp is a Professor of Sociology at ETSU. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses that explore social inequalities, social psychology, environmental sociology, field research, and the sociology of work. She regularly teaches Social Problems and enjoys encouraging students (and herself) to practice sociological mindfulness. She serves as the Graduate School Coordinator for the Sociology MA program and the Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Degree Program in Sociology. Her research methods expertise focuses on qualitative methods--particularly field research, in-depth interviewing, and online communications. In each of those approaches to data collection, a common analytical focus is the rhetorics people use to justify their actions, their beliefs about themselves and others, and their understanding of the social world. Dr. Copp's substantive areas of interest and expertise have evolved over her career and include the sociology of work, the sociology of emotions, and the reproduction of social inequalities.

Dr. Copp is also known to refer to the process of coming to understand difficult social issues or methodological problems as "fun," which makes students laugh. The opportunity to discuss sociology and work collaboratively with students and colleagues is an ongoing source of joy.

 

Course level	Course Name
Undergrad	Social Problems
Undergrad	Race, Class, & Gender in Film
Undergrad/Grad	Environment & Society
Undergrad/Grad	Symbolic Interaction & Social Identities
Undergrad/Grad	Making Sense of Work/Work & Occupations
Grad	Qualitative Field Research
Grad	Urban Sociology
Grad	Teaching Sociology

 

• SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS:

• Kleinman, Sherryl, Martha Copp, and Kalah B. Wilson. 2021. "We've come a long way, guys! Rhetorics of resistance to the feminist critique of sexist language." Gender & Society 35(1):61-84.  

• Fields, Jessica and Martha Copp. 2015. "Striving for Empathy: Affinities, Alliances, and Peer Sexuality Educators." Sex Education 15(2):188-203.      

• Kleinman, Sherryl and Martha Copp. 2009. "Denying Social Harm: Students' Resistance to Lessons about Inequality." Teaching Sociology 37(3):283-293.

• Copp, Martha and Sherryl Kleinman. 2008. "Practicing What We Teach: Feminist Strategies for Teaching about Sexism." Feminist Teacher 18(2):101-124.

• Fields, Jessica, Martha Copp, and Sherryl Kleinman. 2006. "Symbolic Interactionism, Inequality, and Emotions." Pp. 155-178 in Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions, edited by Jan E. Stets and Jonathan H. Turner. New York: Springer.

• Kleinman, Sherryl, Martha Copp, and Kent L. Sandstrom. 2006. "Making Sexism Visible: Birdcages, Martians, and Pregnant Men." Teaching Sociology 34(2):126-142.

• Copp, Martha. 2004. "Negotiated Order." Pp. 525-529 in The Encyclopedia of Social Theory, edited by George Ritzer. Sage.

• Copp, Martha. 1998. "Adult 'Adolescents': Social Control of Sexuality and Adulthood in People with Developmental Disabilities." Sociological Analysis 1(3):113-135.

• Copp, Martha. 1998. "When Emotion Work is Doomed to Fail: Ideological and Structural Constraints on Emotion Management." Symbolic Interaction 21(3):299-328.

• Kleinman, Sherryl, Martha Copp, and Karla Henderson. 1997. "Qualitatively Different: Teaching Fieldwork to Graduate Students." Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 25(4):469-99. 

 

SERVICE

• Sociology MA Program: Graduate School Coordinator
• Has chaired more than 35 sociology graduate advisory committees.