Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr David Joseph Piacenti

Personal Biography Statement

I am originally from Kankakee, Illinois and received by BS in Psychology and my MA in Sociology from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. I received my PhD from the Department of Sociology at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I am currently an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Metropolitan State University of Denver. I research and teach on classical and contemporary sociological and anthropological theory, prejudice and discrimination in US society, qualitative and ethnographic methods and globalization and immigration. My research interests are globalization, immigration, and cultural change as it relates to Latin America and more specifically, Yucatec-Maya immigration and migration to the United States.

Selected Publications

***Peer-Reviewed Publications***

Piacenti, David. "Yucatec-Mayans in San Francisco: Contemporary Life on the Mayan Corner—24th and Mission" in Reed Ueda ed. "America’s Changing Neighborhoods" (Accepted and Forthcoming, 2016).

Piacenti, David. "Growing Culture and Harvesting Tourists in Colorado: Community Cultivation and Border Crossing Denver’s 3.5 Sector" in Reed Ueda ed. "America’s Changing Neighborhoods"(Accepted and Forthcoming, 2016).

Piacenti, David. 2012. "Yucatec-Mayan Im/migration to the Mission and Edison Neighborhoods: A Comparison of Social Conditions and Im/migrant Satisfaction." Journal of Méxican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, V.28,(1) Winter.

Piacenti, David. 2011. “The Tangle of Anthropological Tourism: How the Consumption of Fantasy and Academia Share Common Spaces." Applied Anthropologist, V.31,(1) Winter.

Piacenti, David. 2009. "For Love of Family and Family Values: How Immigrant Motivations Can Inform Immigration Policy." Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, V.21.

*****Non Peer-Reviewed Professional/Trade Publications*****

Piacenti, David. 2012. “Denver, Colorado and Utopia: Historical Notions and Contemporary Realities” American Sociological Association Footnotes National Newsletter, January.

Piacenti,David. 2009. “A Note from the Field: Some Words on Immigration and the Economic Meltdown” Society for the Study of Social Problems Labor Studies Newsletter, 3(2).

Piacenti,David. 2006. “Goffman, Foucault, and Chaos Theory: Power System Integration” E-Proceedings of the North Central Sociological Association Conference—Social Movements Session.

Selected Presentations

“Growing Culture and Harvesting Tourists in Colorado: Community Cultivation and Border Crossing Denver’s 3.5 Sector” American Sociological Association Annual Conference, Denver, August 2012

“Faculty Learning Communities and Migrant Education: Interdisciplinary Approaches to CAMP Student Integration” National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education, Portland, Oregon, March 2012

“Classroom Strategies to the Topic of Immigration” MSUD Spring Forum, Denver, Colorado, February, 2012

“For Love of Family and Family Values: How Yucatec-Mayan Im/migrant Motivations can inform Im/migration Policy.” Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, Yucatán, México, January 2012

“The Urban Experience in Santiago during the Allende Government, 1970-73: The Politics of the Right to the City, in collaboration with and second author to Dr. Antonio Bellisario MSUD Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers, Yucatán, México, January 2012

“Ethics and Ethnographic Methods: Notes from the Fieldwork Experience” High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Conference and Retreat, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico 2011

“Yucatec-Mayan Resistance to Mestizaje: The Role of the Internet and Social Networking Sites in Transnational Community Development” High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Conference, MSCD 2011

“The Ethnic Identity of Immigrants from a Pueblo in Yucatán, México: A Comparison Between San Francisco and Michigan” American Sociological Association Annual Conference 2009

“Wert-rationality: Towards a Weberian, Family-Centered Model of Immigration” North Central Sociological Association Annual Conference 2009

Educational Biography

Ph.D. Sociology, Western Michigan University 2009

Dissertation: The Ethnic Identity of Returning Immigrants to a Pueblo in Yucatán.

Dissertation Advisors: Chair, Professor Paul Ciccantell, Department of Sociology and National Science Foundation Sociology Program Director; Dr. Gregory Howard, Dr. Douglas Davidson, and Dr. Sarah Hill

M.A. Sociology, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 2000

Thesis: Slave Songs as Informal Channels of Communication during High-Intensity, Intergroup Conflict

Thesis Advisor: Professor Warren Handel, Department of Sociology

B.S. Psychology, Sociology minor, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 1995

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching style is improvisational, meaning it is loosely structured. I envision my classroom pedagogical style to operate like a jazz ensemble. This entails my identifying 4-6 talking points which I attempt to link together through the class period. The day’s topic is the structure or melody from which each individual’s contribution will extend, as a kind of educational, musical solo. Under my direction, it is the student’s task to engage in theoretical analysis, critical thinking and argumentation in the Socratic Method of question and answering. This approach flattens the classroom hierarchy and promotes learning between student and instructor and among the students themselves. What is more, this fosters learning both from my expertise, and, from the vast differences in social backgrounds that MSUD students present. This, in effect, utilizes both the Piagetian (higher order thinking between my knowledge and student knowledge) and Vygotskyan (learning through comparing and contrasting of different forms of knowledge) pedagogical methods of learning.

Links

Below is a link to a 1 minute video clip telling you more about who I am and what I research. Copy and paste into your browser to view!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqdBSpfmrss&feature=youtu.be

Research Areas/Interests

Globalization, Transnationalism, Immigration, Sociological and Anthropological Theory, Theory of Science and Knowledge, Qualitative Methods and Ethnography, Migrant Education and College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP), Yucatec-Mayan culture, Latin America, Globalization in Peru.

Professional Affiliations:
American Sociological Association-Intl. Migration Section
High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology
Latin Americanist Geographers

Courses Taught

AAS-3220,SOC-1010,SOC-2600,SOC-3220,SOC-3320,SOC-365M,SOC-4710,SOC-498Y
,WMS-3220

Office Hours

Monday - [14:00 to 15:00]
Tuesday - [11:00 to 12:00]
Wednesday - [14:00 to 15:00]
Thursday - [11:00 to 12:00]
[14:00 to 15:00]