Core Faculty

Professor, Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program Faculty Website Research Interests: Mental Health, Law, and Policy; Ethics and Public Policy; Crime and Social Justice Dr. Arrigo was awarded the Ph.D. from the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the Pennsylvania State University in the Administration of Justice where he specialized […]

Professor, Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program Faculty Website Research Interests: Gang Membership; Capital Punishment; Institutional Anomie Theory Dr. Bjerregaard received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York. She has since focused on a variety of gang membership and delinquent behaviors, as well as family […]

Emeritus Professor of Health Policy Emeritus MMF Distinguished Professor, Political Science and Public Administration Research interests: Health and Healthcare; Social Policy; Medicaid/Affordable Care Act; Aging; History of Health Care; Health Financing Since retiring in December 2014, Dr. Brandon has supervised three PhD dissertations and is currently conducting a reading course (“Rethinking State and Workplace: Alternatives […]

Faculty Website Associate Professor, Department of Sociology Associate Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program Office location: Fretwell 490D Research Interests: Institutional Change; Social Inequality; Employment Relations; Values and Value Change Dr. Cao received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University. His research focuses on social change in contemporary China, and has been awarded funding from the […]

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public AdministrationAssociate Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program https://politicalscience.charlotte.edu/directory/joanne-g-carman Office location: Fretwell 445DResearch interests: Public and Nonprofit Management; Program Evaluation; Community Development; Civic Engagement Dr. Carman received her Doctorate in Public Administration from Rockefeller College, University at Albany. Her research has focused on the use of social network analysis […]

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Public Administration Associate Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program Website Dr. Chattopadhyay earned her Ph.D. in Government & Social Policy from Harvard University in 2012 and her B.A. (Political Science; Economics) from the University of California, Irvine in 2005. Her research considers the ways that actors inside and outside […]

Dr. Craig A. Depken, II joined the Belk College of Business in August 2007. Prior to coming to UNC Charlotte, he was an associate professor of economics at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Depken has taught a wide variety of applied economics courses, including econometrics, international economics and industrial organization. He has a […]

Research and Teaching InterestsMicroeconomics, Applied Game Theory, Labor/Personnel Economics, Behavioral Economics,Experimental Economics, Innovation and Creativity, Health Economics Dr. Dutcher received his PhD in Economics in 2011 from Florida State University. His research focuses onmonetary and non-monetary factors affecting decisions, utilizing insights from game theory andbehavioral economics. His current NIH-funded project examines the decision-making processes oftransplant […]

Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology Professor, Public Policy Doctoral Program Faculty Website Research Interests: Economic Inequality; the American Middle Class; Social Movements; Religion Dr. Fitzgerald earned his PhD (2003) in Sociology from the University of Iowa, an M.A. (1997) in Political Science from Iowa State University where he studied homelessness and public policy, and […]

Dr. Giersch is an associate professor who teaches courses on American politics, research methods, state and local politics, politics & film, and education policy. He is also the associate director of the university’s Public Policy program. His research focuses on education policy, specifically the areas of school choice, high-stakes testing, segregation, and teacher quality, as […]