Nijole V Benokraitis, professor of sociology at the ', University of Baltimore, has taught the Marriage 'and Family course for 18 years and says it's her 'favorite class, although her courses in Racial and Ethnic Relations and Gender Roles run a close second. Professor Benokraitis received a B.A. in Sociology and English from Emmanuel College, a M.A. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a strong proponent of applied sociology and requires her students to enhance their study of course topics through interviews, direct observation, and other hands-on learning methods. She also enlists her students in community-service activities, such as tutoring and mentoring inner-city high school students, writing to government officials and other decision makers about specific social problems, and volunteering research services to nonprofit organizations.
Professor Benokraitis, who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania with her family when she was six years old, is bilingual and bicultural. She has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited Contemporary Ethnic Families in the United States: Characteristics, Variations, and Dynamics (Prentice Hall, 2002), Feuds about Families: Conservative, Centrist, Liberal, and Feminist Perspectives (Prentice Hall, 2000); Subtle Sexism: Current Practices and Prospects for Change (Sage, 1997); Modern Sexism: Blatant, Subtle, and Covert Discrimination, 2nd Edition (Prentice Hall, 1995); Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2001); and Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Action, Inaction, and Reaction (Westview Press, 1978).
Professor Benokraitis has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as institutional racism, discrimination against women in government and higher education, fathers in two-earner families, displaced homemakers, and family policy. She has served as both chair and graduate program director of the University of Baltimore's Department of Sociology and has chaired numerous university committees.
The recipient of grants and fellowships from many institutions, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ford Foundation, the American Educational Research Association, the Administration on Aging, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has for some time served as a consultant in the areas of sex and race discrimination to women's commissions, business groups, colleges and universities, and programs of the federal government, and she has made several appearances on radio and television on gender communication differences and single-sex educational institutions. She currently serves on the editorial board of Women & Criminal Justice.
Professor Benokraitis lives in Maryland with her husband, Dr. Vitalius Benokraitis, Chair of the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Shepherd College, West Virginia. They have two children, Gema and Andrius.
The author looks forward (and always responds) to comments on this 4th Edition of Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints. She can be contacted at
University of Baltimore
Division of Criminology,
Criminal Justice,
and Social Policy
1420 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Voicemail: 410-837-5294
Fax: 410-837-5061
E-mail: [email protected]
