Faculty Bio
Dr. Nicholas Pagnucco
Assistant Professor, Sociology
Phone: 403-254-3732
Email: nicholas.pagnucco@stmu.ca
Originally from the United States, I received my bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, an interdisciplinary program that applies social scientific approaches to the relationship between employee and employer. While at Cornell, I was introduced to sociology and came to deeply appreciate its approach to inquiry. I then enrolled in the doctoral sociology program at the University of Albany (SUNY) where I specialized in sociological theory, organizational sociology, and cultural sociology. Methodologically, I was drawn to qualitative interviewing, as it allowed me to consider the accounts and concerns of others in rich detail. After gaining my doctorate, I taught at several universities across the United States before moving to Canada, and I have been teaching at St. Mary’s since 2017.
I teach a wide range of courses at St Mary’s, ranging from the Sociology of Religion to Race & Ethnic Relations to Sociology of Education. However, they are unified by my belief that academic inquiry has value for practical problems and concerns. As a discipline, sociology helps us engage politically fraught topics in ethical and nuanced ways. As a professor, part of my role is to invite students to join the ongoing academic conversations through the structured development of research skills and reasoning habits.
Regarding research, I am a sociologist of postsecondary education. I have published on contingent faculty working conditions in the United States, and I served on the American Sociological Association Task Force on Contingent Labor. I am beginning a new research project focusing on undergraduate education to better understand what students consider a meaningful education, and how they act according to that vision.
Specialization/Research Interest
Sociology of Education, Qualitative Methods, Cultural Sociology, Social Theory, Organizations
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, University at Albany (SUNY), 2012
M.S., Industrial Labor Relations, Cornell University, 2000
B.S., Industrial Labor Relations, Cornell University, 1999
- Nicholas Pagnucco, 2025. “When Is a Job Not a Job: Justifications of Part-Time Faculty Work in English and Math Departments at Three Colleges and Universities,” Higher Education Politics & Economics 11(2): 2-32
- Elizabeth Popp-Berman & Nicholas Pagnucco, 2010. “Economic Ideas and the Political Process: Debating Tax Cuts in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1962-1981.” Politics & Society, 38: 347-372.