Michael Lawrence Walker
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Curriculum Vitae
Education
Ph.D., University of California-Riverside, Sociology
Advisor: Ellen Reese, 2014
M.A., University of California-Riverside, Sociology, 2011
B.A., University of California-Riverside, Economics, 2006
Positions
Beverly and Richard Fink Professor of Liberal Arts
University of Minnesota-Twin-Cities, 2022 - present
Associate Professor
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2022 - present
Assistant Professor
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2017 - present
Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska-Omaha, 2014 -2017
Publications
Books
Walker, Michael L. 2022. Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Charles H. Cooley Best Recent Book Award, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, 2022
Articles
Walker, Michael L. forthcoming. "A Sociological Decoder." in Between Us: Understanding Ourselves
and Changing the World through Sociology, edited by M. Lincoln. Chicago, IL: University of
Chicago Press.
Friedman, Brittany and Michael L. Walker. forthcoming. "Creating Intuitively: The Art and Flow of
Intuitive Social Science." in Disciplinary Futures: Sociology in Conversation with American,
Ethnic, and Indigenous Studies, edited by P. Dhingra and N. Kim. New York, NY: New York
University Press.
Walker, Michael L. "The Right Music for the Right Audience." Crime, Law, and Deviance News,
American Sociological Association, Spring/Summer. (https://www.asanet.org/wp-
content/uploads/cld_newsletter_2022_spring_and_summer.pdf)
Walker, Michael L. "What I learned from Being Sent to County Jail." Zocal Public Square.
(https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2022/03/28/hed-what-i-learned-from-being-sent-to-
county-jail/ideas/essay/).
Walker, Michael L. 2021. "Ethnographic Reflections on Event-Time in Jail."
Pp. 553 - 71 in Oxford University Handbook of Ethnographies of Crime and Criminal Justice, edited by S. Bucerius, K. Haggerty, and L. Beradrdi. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Walker, Michael L. 2021. "Still Taking His Class: A Meditation on the
Significance of Jonathan H. Turner's Influence." Pp. 340 - 48 in Theoretical Sociology: The Future of a Disciplinary Foundation, edited by S. Abrutyn and K. McCaffree. New York: Routledge.
Lopez-Aguado, Patrick and Michael L. Walker. 2019. "'I Don't Bang: I'm Just a
Blood': Situating Gang Identities in Their Proper Place." Theoretical Criminology 25(1):107-26.
Walker, Michael L. 2016. "Race Making in a Penal Institution." American
Journal of Sociology 121(4):1051-78.
Outstanding Article Award, American Society of Criminology, 2018
Book Reviews
Walker, Michael L. 2023. "Book Review: Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass
Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller." Punishment & Society 1-8.
Walker, Michael L. 2022. Privilege and Punishment: How Race and
Class Matter in Court, by Matthew Clair. Punishment & Society.
Walker, Michael L. 2016. The Social Order of the Underworld: How Prison
Gangs Govern the American Penal System, by David Skarbek. Theoretical Criminology 20(1): 116-18.
Reese, Ellen and Michael L. Walker. 2013. Three Worlds of Relief: Race,
Immigration, and the American Welfare State from the Progressive Era to the New Deal, by Cybelle Fox. American Journal of Sociology 118(6): 393.
Under Review
Walker, Michael L. "Carceral Autonomy: A Study of Social Exchange in a
Carceral Setting." (revise & resubmit)
Patterson, Evelyn J., Michael L. Walker, Darwin A. Baluran, and Rachel
Zajdel. "Cloistered Population Research Designs: A Set of Heuristics for the Study of Social Arrangements."
In Preparation
Walker, Michael L. and Patrick Lopez-Aguado. "Towards a General Theory
of Criminal Objectification."
Walker, Michael L. "Anticipatory Activity: Negotiating Racist Ifs and When's."
Selected Publications
Invited Talks
"Organizational Patterns of Sleep Hygiene in Jail,"
University of California-Los Angeles, 1-18-23
"Emerging Equity Scholars Speaker Series: Professors Reuben J. Miller and Michael Walker,"
RTI International "The Master's Tool: Problems of Sleep Hygiene in Jail"
Crime, Law, and Society Workshop, Northwester University, Zoom [invited], 4-26-21
"Heuristics for Feeling Your Way in the Dark,"
Indiana University-Bloomington, 9-30-22
(https://purl.dlib.indiana.edu/iudl/media/d17c780n5c)
"Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail,"
Wilson Center for Science and Justice, Novel Justice Series, Duke University, 10-17-22
(https://law.duke.edu/video/novel-justice-indefinite-doing-time-jail-dr-michael-walker)
"Uncertainty Is What Underpins the Entire Jail Experience: A Conversation with Professor Michael
Walker,"
Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research, RTI International, Spotlight, 8-31-22
"American Jail and Prison,"
The Open Mind, CUNY TV, 5-27-22
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHLA0Hjv7ck)
"The Master's Tools: Sleep Hygiene in a County Jail,"
University of Massachusetts-Amherst, 3-25-22
"On the Emotional and Physical Experiences of Doing Time in Jail,"
Literary Hub, 2-3-22
(https://www.facebook.com/lithub/videos/michael-l-walker-on-the-emotional-and-physical-
experience-of-doing-time-in-jail-/2010460485789433/)
"On Halfway Home by Reuben J. Miller,"
Punishment & Society's Digital Speaker Series Book Panel, 11-21-21
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14YV6e12C_Y&t=2s)
"The Master's Tools: Problems of Sleep Hygiene in Jail,"
Northwestern University, Crime, Law, and Society Workshop, 4-6-21
"Power and Control: A Social Exchange Perspective on Penal Management,"
University of Southern California, 2-12-20
"'Who's Your Rep'?: Power-Dependence in the Management of Prisoners,"
Duke University, 9-25-2020
"'Who's Your Rep?': A Social Exchange Perspective on Control"
Centre for Criminological Research Inaugural Conference, University of Alberta, 11-18-20
"Jailing through Penal Time"
University of Southern California, 12-3-20
"The Social Science is in the Details,"
Johns Hopkins University, American Voices Project, 6-29-19
"Weathering Adaptation and Punishment,"
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 5-4-16
"Race Making in a Penal Institution,"
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 4-20-16
Weathering Adaptation and Punishment,"
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, 5-10-16
Conferences
Author Meets Critics: Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail,
American Society of Criminology, 11-18-22
"The Master's Tools: Sleep Hygiene in a County Jail,"
European Society of Criminology, 9-23-22
"Power and Control: A Social Exchange Perspective on Penal Management,"
Law and Society Association, 7-14-22
"'Who's Your Rep?': Marshaling Classification for Control"
American Society of Criminology, San Francisco, CA, 11-14-19
"Ethnographic Insights on the Concept of Degradation"
American Society of Criminology, Atlanta, GA, 11-14-18
"Spatializing Gang Identity in the Context of Youth Criminalization,"
Society for the Study of Social Problems (presented with Patrick Lopez-Aguado), 8-19-16
Service
Professional
Committee Chair,
Charles H. Cooley Best Recent Book Award, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, 2023
Conference Co-Chair,
Racial Democracy Crime and Justice Network, 2022-2023
Committee Chair,
Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award Committee, 2023
Committee Member,
Joan Petersilia Outstanding Article Award Committee, 2022
Editorial Board Member
Punishment & Society, 2022 - present
Editorial Advisory Board Member
Incarceration, 2021 - present
Editorial Advisory Board Member
Criminology, 2020 - 2023
Consulting
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Content Panel Member,
NORC, 2022 - present
Advisory Board Member
Advancing Pretrial Policy & Research, RTI International, 2020 - present
University
Black Grads Race Talk, Organizer
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2020 - present
Community
Manly Deeds Scholarship Committee Member
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, ΗΠΛ Chapter, 2012 - present