Sociology/ Anthropology Department

Dr. Stella M. Čapek

 Capek 2011

Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Sociology

Office: Mills Center 223
Phone: (501) 450-1308
E-mail: capek@hendrix.edu
  • B.A., Boston University
  • M.A., University of Texas at Austin
  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Stella M. Čapek, Professor of Sociology, holds a B.A. from Boston University ('75) and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin ('81; '85). She teaches courses on environmental sociology, social change/social movements, medical sociology, urban/community sociology, images of the city, gender and family in a cross-cultural perspective, sociological theory, food/culture/nature and exploring nature writing. She has also team-taught student-faculty travel seminars in Costa Rica and in the U.S. Southwest.

She is interested in interdisciplinary environmental studies, sustainable community design, social justice issues, and creative writing. She has published articles on environmental justice, tenants` rights and housing issues, urban/community dynamics, grassroots movements, and women's health issues. She has co-authored two books, Community Versus Commodity: Tenants and the American City (1992) and Come Lovely and Soothing Death: The Right To Die Movement in the United States (1999). She also authored a history and social change guide for the Endometriosis Association (Building Partnerships That Work: Grassroots, Science, and Social Change. The Endometriosis Association Story, 2006).

Academic Background

  • Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude, Boston University, 1975.
    Soviet and East European Studies.
  • Master of Arts in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, 1981
  • Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, 1985.
    Dissertation: “Urban Progressive Movements: The Case of Santa Monica.”
    Comprehensive Examination Subjects: Political Economy and Sociological Theory.

Selected Bibliography

  • John I. Gilderbloom, Gregory D. Squires, William Riggs, and Stella Čapek. 2017. “Think globally, act locally: neighbourhood pollution and the future of the earth.” Local Environment 24,7: 894-899. 
  • Stella M. Čapek . 2017. “Negotiating Identity, Valuing Place: Enacting ‘Earthcare’ and Social Justice At Finca La Bella, Costa Rica.” Pp. 61-80 in Microsociological Perspectives for Environmental Sociology, Bradley H. Brewster and Antony J. Puddephatt (eds.). Routledge. 
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2016. Review of The Makings of a Modern Epidemic: Endometriosis, Gender and Politics by Kate Seear. Contemporary Sociology 45, 2: 236-238.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2015. Review of Total Liberation: The Power and Promise of Animal Rights and the Radical Earth Movement by David Naguib Pellow. American Journal of Sociology  121,3: 980-983.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2015. Review of Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility, by Dorceta E. Taylor. City & Community  14,1: 93-35.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2013. “Fine Line.” Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 20,2: 412-423.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2012. “Paving Paradise: Exploring an Urban ‘Partnership-with-Nature’ Frame.” The Sociological Quarterly 53,4 (Autumn): 566–584
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2010. “Foregrounding Nature: An Invitation to Think About Shifting Nature/City Boundaries.”  City & Community 9, 2: 208-224.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2009. “The Social Construction of Nature: Of Computers, Butterflies, Dogs, and Trucks.” Pp. 11-24 in Twenty Lessons in Environmental Sociology (Kenneth A. Gould and Tammy L. Lewis, Eds.). New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2008. “The Gift.” The Oxford American, 60 (Spring) : 118-121
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2006. “Surface Tension: Boundary Negotiations Around Self, Society, and Nature in a Community Debate Over Wildlife.” Symbolic Interaction 29, 2: 157-181.
  • Building Partnerships That Work: Grassroots, Science, and Social Change. The Endometriosis Association StoryStella M. Čapek. 2006. Building Partnerships That Work: Grassroots, Science, and Social Change. The Endometriosis Association Story Endometriosis Association.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2005. “Of Time, Space, and Birds: Cattle Egrets and the Place of the Wild.” Pp. 195-222 in Mad about Wildlife: Looking at Social Conflict Over Wildlife, Ann Herda-Rapp and Theresa Goedeke (eds.). Brill.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 2000. “Reframing Endometriosis: from ‘Career Woman's Disease’ to Environment/Body Connections.” pp. 345-363 in Illness and the Environment: A Reader in Contested Medicine. eds. Steve Kroll-Smith, Phil Brown, and Valerie J. Gunter. New York University Press.
  • Come Lovely and Soothing DeathElaine Fox, Jeffrey J. Kamakahi, and Stella M. Čapek. 1999. Come Lovely and Soothing Death: The Right to Die Movement in the U.S. New York: Twayne (Social Movement Series).
  • Stella M. Čapek. 1999. “Erasing Community: Institutional Failures and the Demise of Carver Terrace.” Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Volume 7: 139-162. JAI Press.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 1993. “The Environmental Justice Frame: A Conceptual Discussion and an Application.” Social Problems 40,1: 5-24.
  • Stella M. Čapek. 1992. “Environmental Justice, Regulation, and the Local Community.” International Journal of Health Services 22,4: 729-746.
  • Community versus Commodity: Tenants and the American CityStella M. Čapek and John I. Gilderbloom. 1992. Community versus Commodity: Tenants and the American City. State University of New York Press.
  • Joe R. Feagin and Stella M. Čapek. 1991. “Grassroots Movements in a Class Perspective.” Research in Political Sociology 5:27-53.