Christine McKenna Lok
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Ph.D., Syracuse University; M.S.W., St. Louis University; B.A., Bates College
Office hours: By appointment
Office: Administration Building, Room 325B
Phone: (617) 264-7786
E-mail: mckench@emmanuel.edu
Dr. McKenna Lok spent several years in the social services field before earning her Ph.D. in Social Science from Syracuse University. She joined the Emmanuel faculty in 2007. Her work experience includes coordinating a parish social services office, helping battered women to obtain restraining orders, advocating for enhanced social services funding in the New York state budget, and promoting the importance of after-school programs. Dr. McKenna Lok’s dissertation traced the political battles over child care funding in the United States. She continues to be interested in the intersections of gender and social policy and most recently has turned her attention to bullying legislation.
Academic Interests
Professor McKenna Lok's teaching approach is to engage students in project-based learning as often as possible. Whether creating a mock legislative hearing with student speeches, or requiring a content analysis of gender messages in recent magazines, or sending students to conduct racial audits of venues in the city of Boston, Professor McKenna Lok's aim is to expand her students' sociological imagination. She hopes her students integrate a keen analytical approach to the social world into their daily lives.
Current Research
Professor McKenna Lok loves a good detective story, so it's no wonder that she finds investigating the origins of social policies so fascinating. Her doctoral research included visits to Congressional archives and conversations with 1970s child care activists. More recently, she has been studying the debates over and subsequent passage of bullying legislation in Massachusetts.
Courses Taught
- SOC1101 - Introduction to Sociology
- SOC1111 - Introduction to Social Work
- SOC2105 - Race, Ethnicity, and Group Relations
- SOC2115 - Family and Gender Roles
- SOC2201 - The Practice of Social Policy
- SOC4194 - Internship Seminar
- SOC4999 - Seminar in Sociology (Topic: Implications of Social Media)
Awards/Honors Received
- Sloan Foundation Work and Family Early Career Scholar, 2008-2009
Significant Publications & Panels
Publications
- "Why Are Some Bullying Victims More Newsworthy Than Others?" with co-author Lauren Chartier ‘11. Forthcoming in Race/Gender/Media: Considering Diversity across Audience, Content, and Producers to be published by AB Longman in January 2012
- "Child Care Subsidies in the United States: Funding to Families" in the online Work and Family Encyclopedia at http://wfnetwork.bc.edu/encyclopedia_entry.php?id=17275&area=All
- "A Three-Generation Family History" in Teaching Work and Family: Strategies, Activities, and Syllabi. (2007). Eds. S. Sweet, M. Pitt-Catsouphes, J. Mumm, J. Casey, & C. Matz. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
Presentations
- The Social Construction of Bullying and Bullicide at Eastern Sociological Society Conference, Philadelphia, PA. February 2011.
- Racism, Homophobia, and Massachusetts' Anti-Bullying Legislation, as part of Emmanuel's Faculty Research Seminar and "Strategies for Inclusive Teaching and Community Building" initiatives. October 2010.
- Trajectories, Turning Points, and Tax Policy: A Case Study, at American Sociological Association Conference, Boston, MA. August 2009.
- Ideology, Institutions, and the Development of Federal Child Care Subsidies, 1954-1971, Policy History Conference, Saint Louis, MO. May 2008.
