Rate My Professor Aaron Howell

Dr. Aaron J. Howell is the Associate Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Mount Union. He holds a B.S. in Sociology from Kansas State University, an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Cincinnati. Howell's interest in sociology originated during his undergraduate studies when he worked for the Upward Bound program, motivating him to pursue graduate education and a career as a sociology professor. He appreciates Mount Union's small, personal environment, which enables close interactions with students and supports their intellectual and personal development in a nurturing educational setting.

Howell's academic interests encompass social inequality, urban sociology, race and ethnicity, international migration, globalization, social movements, African American activism and political engagement, ethnoracial group distances in U.S. metropolitan areas, urban affairs, poverty geography, civic mindedness, social responsibility, migration, multiculturalism, and social spatial segregation. His key publications include the peer-reviewed article 'Racial and Ethnic Trends in the Suburbanization of Poverty in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1980-2010' in the Journal of Urban Affairs (2014, co-authored with Jeffrey M. Timberlake), which has garnered 177 citations; 'Trends in Minority Suburbanization in American Metropolitan Areas, 1970-2000' in Urban Affairs Review (2011, with Jeffrey M. Timberlake and Amanda J. Staight); and 'Trends in the "Ecological Distance" of Ethnoracial Groups in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1970 to 2019' in Spatial Demography (2022, with Jeffrey M. Timberlake). Other notable works are 'Recommitting Campus to Goals of Civic Mindedness and Social Responsibility' in Network: Proceedings of the Faculty Resource Network National Symposia (2019, with Noel Holton Brathwaite); book reviews such as 'Bulls Markets: Chicago’s Basketball Business and the New Inequality' in Journal of Urban Affairs (2020) and 'Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty' in Social Forces (2019); and forthcoming encyclopedia entries including 'The Election of Barack Obama,' 'Barack Obama’s Second Term in Office,' 'Barack Obama’s First Term in Office,' and 'The First Black President: The Contributions and Legacy of Barack Obama' in African American Activism and Political Engagement (2023, ABC-CLIO).