Louis Hicks

Professor of Sociology

Louis Hicks

Biography

Louis Hicks was a Fulbright scholar at Kwansei Gakuin University in Nishinomiya, Japan for the academic year 2013-2014. He is currently Professor of Sociology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland where he has taught since 1993. He served as Chair of the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2004-2006. He has been a visiting professor at Brigham Young University, the U.S. Army War College, the Canadian Forces College, and Lingnan University (Hong Kong). From 1998 to 2000 he was the Research Director of The First Measured Century, a PBS television documentary about the rise of the social sciences in America. He is a co-author (with Theodore Caplow and Ben Wattenberg) of its companion volume, The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000, which was covered in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. As part of The First Measured Century project, he participated in Middletown IV, a replication of the famous community studies by Robert and Helen Lynd. He also co-authored Systems of War and Peace. His articles have appeared in numerous journals including Armed Forces and Society, Sociological Perspectives, City and Community, and College Student Journal. He is a Life Fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society and serves on its Council. During 2007-2008, he served as Chair of the Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict of the American Sociological Association. Along with Zach Messitte, he co-founded the annual Patuxent Defense Forum, which brings together academics, military officers, government officials, and contractors from around the world to discuss military issues.

Areas of Research Specialization

  • Organizations

Education

  • B.A. in Soviet Studies at University of Maryland University College, 1989
  • B.S. in Management at University of Maryland University College, 1989
  • M.A. in Sociology at University of Virginia, 1991
  • Ph.D. in Sociology at University of Virginia, 1994

Spotlight

  • First Measured Century

    From the producers of Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg, the weekly PBS program on ideas, comes The First Measured Century, a 3-hour PBS special, a reference volume entitled The First Measured Century: An Illustrated Guide to Trends in America, 1900-2000, by Theodore Caplow, Louis Hicks and Ben J. Wattenberg, published by the American Enterprise Institute Press, and this companion website. The First Measured Century project presents a unique look at American History, using data to show us where we've been and where we might be going.

    http://www.pbs.org/fmc/

  • The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans Vol. 1

    "a research-based approach that sociologists, social scientists, and social policy makers will greatly appreciate." ---Library Journal (starred review)

  • The Civilian Lives of U.S. Veterans Vol. 2