Lee
Garth Vigilant (Ph.D. Boston College 2001)
is professor of sociology at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
His principal areas of teaching are classical and contemporary sociological theory, qualitative
methods for social research, social movements, and social problems. He is a past recipient of the Donald J. White
Teaching Excellence Award for Sociology at Boston College (2000), the TCU
Senate Professor of the Year Award for Tufts University (2001), and most
recently, the Excellence in Teaching Award at Minnesota State
University Moorhead (2013). Some of his peer-reviewed research are in the journals
Sociological Spectrum (2014, 2008), Humanity and Society
(2013, 2004), and Deviant Behavior (2005). He is author of several
sociological essays, encyclopedia entries, and book chapters. He is
co-editor/co-author with Dr. Joel Charon of the books Social Problems: Readings with
Four Questions, 4/E (CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning 2012) and The Meaning of
Sociology: A Reader 9/E (NJ: Prentice Hall 2009). He lives in Moorhead, Minnesota with
his wife (Ayuko) and home-schooled children (Jonah & Aya).