Rate My Professor Caroline Faulkner

Caroline L. Faulkner is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Franklin & Marshall College, affiliated with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program. She earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Faulkner teaches a range of courses including Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of the Family, Sociology of Human Sexuality, Sociological Research Methods, and Sexual Fields. She was promoted to associate professor in fall 2025. In addition to her teaching and research, Faulkner collaborates on innovative pedagogical initiatives, such as partnering with Senior Instructional Designer Kelly Miller to deliver a four-part workshop series during the fall semester on fostering AI literacy among faculty and guiding students in navigating artificial intelligence in academic settings.

Faulkner's research specializes in identity formation and change among individuals exiting high-demand religious communities, with a focus on the Amish and Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, alongside examinations of gender beliefs in hookup culture and international migration. Her publications include 'Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation while Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism' (2021), 'Hooking Up and the "Ritual Retelling": Gender Beliefs in Post-hookup Conversations with Same-sex and Cross-sex Friends' published in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World (2018), 'Gendered Motivations for Religious Exit among the Former Amish' (2018), 'Identity Change Among Ethno-Religious Border Crossers: The Case of the Former Amish' in Review of Religious Research (2017), and 'Understanding Defection among the Former Amish' co-authored with Rachel Christen Dinger in Mennonite Quarterly Review 88(1): 107-126 (2014). She also authored the monograph Economic Mobility and Cultural Assimilation among Children of Immigrants (LFB Scholarly Publishing LLC, 2010), which explores segmented assimilation theory using data on intergenerational economic mobility and cultural adaptation among immigrant families in the United States. Faulkner's scholarship appears on platforms such as ResearchGate, where her work has garnered 29 citations, and Academia.edu, highlighting her contributions to sociology.