Professor Nielsen is currently engaged in a study of the effects of experiential learning/teaching in sociology of environment classes at the university level. Specifically, the project compares involvement in environmentally-related activities outside the classroom with paradigm-changing classics such as 'Ishmael' in terms of what Bell calls 'phenomenological ruptures.' Phenomenological ruptures in this context are defined as abrupt changes in and/or discontinuance of taken-for-granted assumptions about the relation between humans and their environments. Professor Nielsen is also working on a new theoretical synthesis of her gender norm violation papers that have been published over the years.
keywords
gender norm violations, feminist research methods, experiential education in sociology of environment courses
