Marriages and Families

BarBara Marliene Scott is a Professor Emerita of Sociology, African & African American Studies, and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University, and a long-time civic and political activist, anti-racist worker, and advocate for an equal and just world.  She has won numerous awards and honors and her research and teaching interests and professional presentations span a variety of topics and interests.  She is a past president of the Association of Black Sociologists, an international professional organization of sociologists of African descent, and currently acts as the organization's Executive Officer.  She holds a PhD in sociology from Northwestern University, a MA in sociology, a MPh specializing in Community College Education, and a BA in sociology each from Roosevelt University.  She is a strong advocate for curriculum transformation and the integration of race, class, gender and sexual orientation into the college curriculum and for more than 36 years, she has developed and taught courses in which she interjects intellectual vitality and justice-oreineted perspectives.  She still finds teaching exciting, challenging, and invigorating and thus, continues in retirement to teach part time.  Committed to an understanding of marriage and family life from a sociological perspective, she continues to co-author Marriages and Families with a goal of helping students understand marriage, family and intimate relationships through the lens of sociology.  Mary Ann Schwartz is a Professor Emerita of Sociology and Women's Studies at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, Illinois and a community activist.  She is Board Secretary for the Lincoln Park Village, a pioneering non-for-profit organization working to help people to live safely and well in their homes and neighborhoods as they grow older and to assist families in caring for their elderly members. She holds a PhD in sociology from Northwetstern University, an MS in sociology from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a BA in sociology and history from Alverno College in Milwaukee.  During her 35 years as an educator she has won numerous awards and honors and given many workshops on gender and family issues, the sociology of work, collective bargaining, and substance abuse prevention. She continues to co-author Marriages and Families with the goal of helping students to see the connections between their individual lives and the larger social forces that impact them.