BIO
Professor Ann Herda-Rapp joined the UW-Stevens Point faculty in 2018, when the UW-Marathon County campus in Wausau became a branch campus of UW-Stevens Point. For four years (2018-2022), she served as the Campus Executive at the Wausau campus. Herda-Rapp arrived at UW-Marathon County in 1998 soon after completing her dissertation on women’s activism in the anti-toxic waste movement and earning her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Herda-Rapp’s research and teaching specialization is environmental sociology, though she loves teaching Introduction to Sociology.
PUBLICATIONS
Herda-Rapp, Ann and Theresa Goedeke, eds. 2005. Mad About Wildlife: Looking at Social Conflict Over Wildlife, Brill Academic Publishers, part of Human-Animal Studies series (edited by Kenneth Shapiro). Includes chapter, “Contested Meanings: The Social Construction of the Mourning Dove in Wisconsin,” co-authored with former student, Karen Marotz.
Herda-Rapp, Ann. 2003. “The Social Construction of Threat: The Reconstruction of School Shootings in the News Media and Professional Organizations.” Sociological Inquiry, 73(4): 545-574.
Herda-Rapp, Ann. 2000. “Gender Identity Expansion and Negotiation in the Toxic Waste Movement.” The Sociological Quarterly. 41(3): 431-442.
Herda-Rapp, Ann. 2000. “The Impact of Social Activism on Gender Identity and Care Work: Women’s Activism in the Toxic Waste Movement.” In Care Work: Gender, Labor and Welfare States, edited by M. Harrington Meyer (Routledge).
Herda-Rapp, Ann. 1998. “The Power of Informal Leadership.” Sociological Focus. 31(4): 341-355.
LAST BOOK READ
“The Round House” by Louise Erdrich
ADVICE
In the words of the great philosopher, George Strait, “Love is everything.” Work to build strong, loving relationships and make sure those you love know it. Those relationships will be your legacy.
FUN FACT
Ann has two dogs but would have 10 were it not for her spouse and a Wausau ordinance.