Dr. William (Bill) Lovekamp
Professor of Sociology Office: 3151 - Blair HallPhone: 217-581-3123 (Department Office)
Email: welovekamp@eiu.edu
Website: https://eiu.academia.edu/BillLovekamp
INTRODUCTION
Fall 2024 Student Hours: Tuesday & Thursday 11:00 am -12:00 pm; Wednesday 12:00 - 2:00 pm.
Dr. Lovekamp completed his Ph.D. at Southern Illinois University and joined the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology in 2005. He specializes in the sociological study of disasters, and also conducts research in cemetery studies. Other areas of specialty include collective behavior, social movements, race/ethnicity, and gender studies. He is Past President (2018-2023) of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee on Sociology of Disasters (RC #39), served as the secretary/treasurer (2012-2018), and is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters.
Dr. Lovekamp regularly teaches courses such as Introduction to Sociology; Research Methods; Social Problems (Honors); Social Movements, Crowds, and Violence (Senior Seminar); Sociology of Disasters; Sociology of Popular Culture; Sociology of Social Movements; and Current Issues in Sociology.
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Research & Creative Interests
Dr. Lovekamp's research emphasis is disaster preparedness, recovery, and social vulnerability of diverse human populations. He has also recently published about various aspects of cemeteries and the importance of maintaining and archiving cemeteries as a means of disaster planning. His research has been published in various outlets such as The International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, The Association of Gravestone Studies Quarterly, Markers, Teaching Sociology, Natural Hazards Observer, and The Journal of Criminal Justice Education.
He co-produced a documentary film in 2017 called "Nature's Fury and the Human Spirit: The Charleston and Mattoon Tornado 26 May, 1917" that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the May 26, 1917 Mattoon-Charleston (Coles County) Tornado. The documentary regularly airs on the local PBS television station, WEIU-TV.
He published a book in 2019 called "Cemeteries and the Life of a Smoky Mountain Community". "In one of the few studies to draw upon cemetery data to reconstruct the social organization, social change, and community composition of a specific area, this volume contributes to the growing body of sociohistorical examinations of Appalachia. The Authors herein reconstruct the Cades Cove community from circa 1818 to 1939, whose demise can be traced to the establishment of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. By supplementing a statistical analysis of Cades Cove's twenty-seven cemeteries, completed as a National Park Study (#GRSM-01120), with ethnographic examination, the authors reconstruct the community in detail to reveal previously overlooked social patterns and interactions, including insight into the death culture and death-lore of the Upland South. This work established cemeteries as a window into (proxies of) communities, demonstrating the relevance of socio-demographic data presented by statistical and other analyses of gravestones for Appalachian Studies, Regional Studies, Cemetery Studies, and Sociology and Anthropology." (Palgrave MacMillan Publisher book summary)
Publications
Books:
Foster, Gary S. and William E. Lovekamp. 2019. Cemeteries and the Life of a Smoky Mountain Community: Cades Cove Under Foot. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Thomas, Deborah S.K., Brenda D. Phillips, William E. Lovekamp & Alice Fothergill. 2013. Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd edition, London: CRC Press.
Articles, Chapters, Reviews, Reports, and other Creative Works:
Lovekamp, William E. 2024. Review of “After Tragedy Strikes: Why Claims of Trauma and Loss Promote Public Outrage and Encourage Political Polarization” by Thomas D. Beamish. Social Forces. https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soae149
Foster, Gary S. & William E. Lovekamp. 2024. “Family Cemeteries of the Upland South as Time Journeys.” pp. 53-73 in Geography of Time, Place, Movement and Networks, Volume 5, edited by Stanley D. Brunn. Springer Publishing.
Foster, Gary S, & William E. Lovekamp. 2022 “Cemeteries as Wildlife Habitats: Conservation and Management Issues.” Association of Gravestone Studies Quarterly, 42(3):10-12.
Haney, Timothy J. and William E. Lovekamp (Editors). 2019. Innovative Teaching Techniques and Practices in Hazards and Disaster Studies: II. (37). International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters.
Lovekamp, William E. 2019. “Foreword” pp. i-iii in The Sociology of Disaster: Fictional Explorations of Human Experiences, by Thomas E. Drabek. Routledge.
Soboroff, Shane D., William E. Lovekamp, and Robert B. Jenkot. 2019. Social Status and the Effects of Legal Concealed Firearms on College Campuses. Journal of Criminal Justice Education 30(3):376-388. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2018.1520270
Foster, Gary S. and William E. Lovekamp. 2018. “Identity Denied: Gravestones as Collectibles.” Association of Gravestone Studies Quarterly 42(3):23-29.
Haney, Timothy J. and William E. Lovekamp. 2018. “On the Margins, No More: Teaching and Learning as a Core Concern of Disaster Scholarship.” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 36(3):208-219.
Haney, Timothy J. and William E. Lovekamp (Editors). 2018. Innovative Teaching Techniques and Practices in Hazards and Disaster Studies. (36)3. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters.
Lovekamp, William E. 2017. “1917 Coles County Tornado” curated exhibit, Booth Library North Narthex, Eastern Illinois University.
Lovekamp, William E. 2017. “1917 Coles County Tornado” curated exhibit, Coles County Historical Society Museum.
Craig, Cameron Douglas and William E. Lovekamp, with Heaven Richey, producers. 2017. “Nature’s Fury and the Human Spirit: The Charleston and Mattoon Tornado 26 May, 1917” Tempestas et Caelum Films.
Lovekamp, William E., Steven M. Di Naso, and Gary S. Foster. 2017. “Mapping Cades Cove Cemeteries.” Investigator’s Scientific Study Final Research Report #3. U.S. National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM-01120.
Lovekamp, William E. and Gary S. Foster. 2017. “A Sociological Reconstruction of Cades Cove Cemeteries.” Investigator’s Scientific Study Final Research Report #2. U.S. National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM-01120.
Lovekamp, William E., Gary S. Foster, and Steven Di Naso. 2017. “Inventory of Cades Cove Cemeteries.” Investigator’s Scientific Study Final Research Report #1. U.S. National Park Service, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, GRSM-01120.
Lovekamp, William E., Shane D. Soboroff and Michael D. Gillespie. 2017. “Engaging Students in Survey Research Projects across Methods and Statistics Courses.” Teaching Sociology 45(1):65-72.
Foster, Gary S., William E. Lovekamp and Donald H. Holly, Jr. 2016. “The Old Kelley Cemetery: A Cold Case of Grave Concern.” Association of Gravestone Studies Quarterly 40(2):3-9.
Lovekamp, William E., Gary S. Foster and Steven M. Di Naso. 2016. “Protecting the Dead - Cemetery Preservation and Disaster Planning.” Natural Hazards Observer 40(6):4-9.
Foster, Gary S. & William E. Lovekamp. 2015. “Disasters and Cemeteries: A Clarion Call for Matters of Grave Urgency.” Association of Gravestone Studies Quarterly 39(3):14-19.
Foster, Gary S., William E. Lovekamp, Steven M. Di Naso & Grant Woods. 2015. “The Cast Iron Grave Cover: A Case of Mistaken Identity and Identity Found.” Markers 31:52-67.
Fordham, Maureen, William E. Lovekamp, Deborah S.K. Thomas and Brenda D. Phillips. 2013. “Understanding Social Vulnerability.” pp. 1-29 in Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd edition, edited by D. S. K. Thomas, B. D. Phillips, W. E. Lovekamp & A. Fothergill. London: CRC Press.
Lovekamp, William E. 2013. Instructor’s Manual and Test Bank for “Chapter 17: Social Change and Empowerment”, Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd edition, edited by D. S. K. Thomas, B. D. Phillips, W. E. Lovekamp & A. Fothergill. London: CRC Press.
Lovekamp, William E. & Sudha Arlikatti. 2013. “Social Change and Empowerment.” pp. 447-472 in Social Vulnerability to Disasters, 2nd edition, edited by D. S. K. Thomas, B. D. Phillips, W. E. Lovekamp & A. Fothergill. London: CRC Press.
Lovekamp, William E. & Joseph E. Trainor. 2013. “30 Years of Dissertation Trends in Disaster Studies.” HazNet 5(1):11-14.
Lovekamp, William E. & Sara K. McMahon. 2011. “I Have a Snickers Bar in the Trunk of My Car: Student Narratives of Disaster Risk, Fear, Preparedness, and Reflections on Union University.” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 29(2):132-148.
Lovekamp, William E. 2010. “Promoting Empowerment: Social Change in Disasters.” pp. 367-381 in Social Vulnerability to Disasters, edited by Brenda D. Phillips, Deborah Thomas, Alice Fothergill & Lynn Blinn-Pike. London: CRC Press.
Lovekamp, William E. 2009. Review of Response to Disaster: Fact versus Fiction and Its Perpetuation. 3rd Edition, Henry W. Fischer, III. International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 27(1):96-98.
Lovekamp, William E. 2008. “Gender and Disaster: A Synthesis of Flood Research in Bangladesh.” pp. 99-116 in Women and Disasters: From Theory to Practice, edited by Brenda D. Phillips & Betty Hearn Morrow. Philadelphia: Xlibris.
Lovekamp, William E. 2008. Review of The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe by David L. Brunsma, David Overfelt, & J. Steven Picou. Contemporary Sociology 37(3):260-261.
Lovekamp, William E. & Michelle L. Tate. 2008. “College Student Disaster Preparedness.” International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters 26(2):70-90.
Lovekamp, William E. 2005. Review of Heads Above Water by Alice Fothergill. American Journal of Sociology 111(4):1259-1260.
Education & Training
Ph.D., Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (2006)
M.A., Western Illinois University (1998)
B.A., Illinois College (1996)