Faculty Bio

Paul S. Dean

Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology; Department Chair

Education

• A.A.S., Jamestown Community College
• B.A., Binghamton University
• M.A., University of Maryland
• Ph.D., University of Maryland

About

Paul Dean is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Sociology/Anthropology Department. His teaching and research areas include First-Generation Students; Stratification and Inequality; Race and Ethnicity; Social Movements; Economic Sociology; Sociological Theory; Globalization; and Service Learning. Along with co-author George Ritzer, he has written two books: Globalization: A Basic Text (2022, 2015) and Globalization: The Essentials (2019). His current work focuses on class inequality and first-gen students, including his third book, Class Cultures and Social Mobility: The Hidden Strengths of Working-Class First-Generation Graduates (2025).

In Class Cultures and Social Mobility, Paul explores the differences between working-class and middle-class cultures, and the cultural experience of upward mobility. As the first members of their family to graduate from college, first-gen students become immersed in entirely new worlds. They must learn the unwritten rules for how to speak, behave, and interact with new peers and colleagues, which can take a heavy toll of alienation, shame, and imposter syndrome. This book tells the stories of upwardly mobile first-gen graduates who flipped the script and turned their working-class roots into a strength. Through dozens of interviews, the book explores how first-gen graduates overcame hardship in their emotional journey of upward mobility. While they had to learn the rules of new cultural worlds, they also found that their working-class background equipped them with unique skills in college and their professional careers. 

Paul also works with faculty and staff across higher education to better support working-class first-generation students. He has collaborated with numerous organizations to offer customized workshops and trainings to better understand how class cultures shape their environment and how to help first-gen students thrive. Read more about the book and opportunities to collaborate at drpauldean.com.

At OWU, Paul has won the Sherwood Dodge Shankland Award for Encouragement of Teachers (2018), Presidential Award for Racial and Cultural Diversity (2017), and Bishop Francis Emner Kearns Faculty of the Year Award (2016). He is also co-creator of The Sociological Cinema, an award-winning website for using video and popular culture to teach and learn sociology.

You will often see Dr. Dean on campus with his dog, Kerouac. When he's not working with students or his research, Dr. Dean loves hiking, relaxing with his family, watching live music, and playing with Kerouac.

Areas of Expertise

• First-Gen Students
• Stratification and Inequality
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Justice
• Globalization
• Social Movements
• Economic Sociology
• Socially Responsible Business
• Sociological Theory
• Service Learning

Recent Publications

• Paul Dean. November 2025. Class Cultures and Social Mobility: The Hidden Strengths of Working-Class First-Generation Graduates. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press. [Book]
• Paul Dean and Franchesca Nestor. 2024. "Assessing Outcomes of an Antiracism Unit in a Required First-Year Seminar." Journal on Excellence in College Teaching 35(1): 31-44. [Article and Supplementary Materials]
• George Ritzer and Paul Dean. 2022. Globalization: A Basic Text, 3rd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. [Book]
• Paul Dean, and Claudia Kelly. 2020. "Educational Travel for First-Generation Students." Teaching Sociology 48 (4): 341-352. [Article]
• George Ritzer and Paul Dean. 2019. Globalization: The Essentials, 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. [Book]

Curriculum Vitae (PDF)