Judith R. Porter
Ph.D., Harvard University
Office: Dalton Hall Room 200D

Office Hours: Tu 12:30-1:00 and 3:30-4:30
Extension: x5657
Prof. Porter's Homepage.

Judith Porter's area of research is sociology of AIDS and injection drug use. She is currently doing a study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse on service-seeking strategies and experiences of injection drug users, focusing on the role of needle-exchange programs as a bridge to service acquisition.

The research involves interviews with injection drug users on AIDS knowledge, use of drug treatment and medical services, and AIDS risk behavior. The study compares injectors who use needle-exchange programs with those who do not.She volunteers as an AIDS educator with Congreso de Latinos Unidos in welfare offices, programs for the homeless and drug treatment programs. In her courses on Sociology of AIDS, Sociology of AIDS Internship, and Sociology of Poverty, her students also intern in AIDS or poverty agencies as outreach workers, AIDS educators and service providers, giving them an opportunity to apply what they are learning.

These internships expose students to the reality of what they are studying and incorporate speakers from community agencies and affected communities into the classroom as well. She also teaches a senior seminar in contemporary social theory, a course in sociology of religion, and Society, Culture, and the Individual (the departmental introductory course), which requires each student to do a questionnaire study that teaches basic statistical analysis and computer skills.

Her students often continue their course projects as senior theses. For instance, Manuela de Allegri spent a summer in Uganda doing research on AIDS palliative care, Malvina Gregory studied grafitti by interviewing grafitti muralists, and Kate Locke did research on the AIDS risk behavior of young injection drug users in Philadelphia and Portland, Ore.Please send any questions or comments to Judith Porter.