Kevin Doran

Much of my research is motivated by an interest in the ways that individuals perceive and interpret inequality and the influence that this has on social, political, and economic attitudes. My dissertation examined horizontal (or inter-ethnic) inequality in 49 developing economies. The project constructs national and group level measures to examine the ways that globalization influences horizontal inequality and the ways in which the existence of horizontal inequality may undermine economic outcomes.  Using individual survey responses, the dissertation also explores the ways that perceptions of ethnic advantage or disadvantage may undermine social stability. In other projects with colleagues I have focused on how the income distribution has changed in wealthy and transitional economies and the influence of national and global factors on ethnic violence and protest.

Originally from Pittsburgh, I attended graduate school at Indiana University after completing a dual major in Sociology and Politics, Philosophy & Economics at the University of Pittsburgh. While completing my Ph.D., I received excellent pedagogical training and support through IU Sociology's Preparing Future Faculty Program. I also had the opportunity to incorporate service-learning projects into several social statistics courses and was awarded the first ever Service-Learning Graduate Instructor Award by the Indiana University Service-Learning Program. I view the use of service-learning and community engagement in my courses as a valuable tool to ground the course material in concrete and observable ways and to provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom to benefit the local community.

For more information on my teaching and research please see my website (kevin-doran.com).