Deborah J. Cohan, PhD


Deborah J. Cohan, PhD   

Professor of Sociology

Library Room 202
One University Boulevard
Bluffton, SC 29909
Office: 843-208-8341
Deborah J. Cohan, PhD

I am a Professor of Sociology and the author of the sociological memoir, Welcome to Wherever We Are: A Memoir of Family, Caregiving, and Redemption (Rutgers 2020). In 2022, I won the Public Sociology Award given by the Eastern Sociological Society. Alongside my numerous academic journal articles and book chapters for a wide array of anthologies, I am a writer for Psychology Today and a frequent contributor to Inside Higher Ed, Ms. Magazine, and The Good Men Project. My work has appeared in the Modern Love column of The New York Times, Teen Vogue, and Utne Reader.

Regularly featured as an expert for national media on a range of issues, I have been cited in: CNN, MSN, Newsweek, Real Simple, Parents, Good Housekeeping, USA Today, US News & World Report, Cosmopolitan, Martha Stewart Weddings, Brides, Elite Daily, The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, TODAY, Vox, Slate, Salon, Vice News, Huffington Post, Bustle, Romper, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Christian Science Monitor.

I offer talks and workshops on topics including: public sociology; crafting a more creative life as an academic; self-care and social justice; caregiving, grief, and loss; compassion fatigue and work/life balance; writing and publishing more at a teaching intensive institution; using memoir to teach; gender-based violence and trauma; body image; creative writing; and issues related to the landscape of higher education. 

I have done domestic violence work in four states and worked as a counselor and clinical supervisor at the first abuser intervention program in the United States. I serve as an expert consultant in cases of domestic and sexual violence and sexual harassment.

Prior to arriving at USCB, I taught at Harvard University, University of Connecticut-Storrs, Connecticut College, and Regis College.  After earning my B.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I went on to earn a M.A. in sociology at the University of Texas-Austin, a joint M.A in women's studies and sociology at Brandeis University, and a Ph.D. in sociology at Brandeis.  

  • Education
  • Teaching
  • Research

PhD in Sociology. Brandeis University

MA in Women's Studies and Sociology. Brandeis University

MA in Sociology. The University of Texas-Austin

BA in Sociology and Women's Studies. The University of Wisconsin-Madison

  • SOCY B101 - Introductory Sociology
  • SOCY B323 - Sociology of Deviant Behavior
  • SOCY B355 - Minority Group Relations
  • SOCY B356 - Sociology of the Body
  • SOCY B398 - Topics in Sociology
  • SOCY B496 - Sociological Theory
  • Gender-based Violence
  • Issues of the Body and Sexuality
  • Race
  • Creative Nonfiction
  • Feminist Pedagogy