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Hava Gordon

Hava Rachel Gordon

Professor

hava.gordon@du.edu

303-871-3603 (Office)

Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208

Specialization(s)

Gender and Women's Studies, Social Inequality, Social Change

Professional Biography

I specialize in the social construction of inequalities such as gender, race, class and age; social movements; schooling and education reform politics in the context of neoliberalism; and qualitative research methods. My previous research explored how multiple social inequalities shape youth political movements, and is the subject of my book, We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism (Rutgers University Press), as well as journal articles. Another strand of research focuses on community struggles over urban school reform, and is the subject of my second book This is Our School! Race and Community Resistance to School Reform (NYU Press). This is Our School won the 2023 Outstanding Book Award from the American Educational Research Association. A smaller project investigates the work lives of associate professors and social change in the academy. I teach courses on gender, globalization, youth, and qualitative methods, as well as a service learning course on social movements. I directed the Gender and Women's Studies Program at DU between 2012-2017 before taking on the role of department chair for Sociology and Criminology from 2017-2020.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of Oregon, 2005
  • MS, Sociology, University of Oregon, 2000
  • BA, Anthropology, University of Colorado, Boulder, 1996

Professional Affiliations

  • American Sociological Association
  • Sociologists for Women in Society
  • Society for the Study of Social Problems
  • Pacific Sociological Association

Areas of Research

Gender and Women's Studies
Social Inequality
Social Change
Social Movements
Educational Reform
Youth and Adolescence
Neoliberalism
Intersectionality.

Featured Publications

Gordon, H. R. (2021). This Is Our School! Race and Community Resistance to School Reform. New York: New York University Press.
Gordon, H. R. (2010). We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Gordon, H. R. (2017). Breaking Through and Burning Out: The Contradictory Effects of Young Peoples' Participation in Institutionalized Movements. Emerald Studies in Media and Communication, 15, 149-176.
Gordon, H. R. (2008). Gendered Paths to Teenage Political Participation: Parental Power, Civic Mobility, and Youth Activism. Gender & Society, 22(1), 31-55.
Gordon, H. R. (2007). Allies Within and Without: How Adolescent Activists Conceptualize Ageism and Navigate Adult Power in Youth Social Movements. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography , 36(6), 631-668.

Awards

  • Provost’s “Champion of Change” Faculty Award, Center for Multicultural Excellence
  • Service Learning Faculty of the Year Award, Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning, University of Denver
  • Faculty Advisor of the Year Award, Division of Student Life, University of Denver
  • Robin Morgan Outstanding Faculty Award (given for women’s advocacy at the University of Denver), Women's Coalition, University of Denver
  • Outstanding Book Award, American Educational Research Association