Susan Wortmann, Ph.D.

Susan L. Wortmann (Ph.D. University of Nebraska-Lincoln) is a sociology and gender studies professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University (NWU). Her scholarly interests include classical sociological theory, gender, religion, and health. 

She is the author of Society: A User’s Guide, a collection of introductory sociology readings, and a co-author with Daina Eglitis of Discover Sociology, an introduction to sociology textbook. She has published articles on meaning and religious participation, sociological theory, and project evaluation, and has contributed to Blackwell’s Encyclopedia of Sociology and the Encyclopedia of Consumer Culture. Dr. Wortmann practices applied sociology in her community to address social issues. She enlists sociological methods, theories, and concepts in her collaboration with community partners. She has helped address campus sexual assault, diabetes and mental health access for refugees and immigrants, and services for at-risk youth. She is a recipient of teaching, community, and scholarship awards and honors. When she is not teaching, Dr. Wortmann is an avid fiction reader and traveler. Her favorite travels have involved mutual discovery with students: how face-to-face contact fostered mutual understanding in a rural village in Izmir Province, Turkey, the reality of resilience beyond struggle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, and the importance of instructor-student trust while exploring abandoned underground tunnels in Havana, Cuba.