Erin E. O'Connor

Erin E. O’Connor is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Politics and Human Rights at Marymount Manhattan College (MMC), where she also serves as an Affiliated Faculty of Environmental Studies and contributes to the BFA in Art. She is a world-recognized expert in craft studies, particularly the sociology of glassblowing, materiality, and embodied knowledge. Dr. O’Connor is the author of Fire Craft: Art, Body, and World Among Glassblowers (Columbia University Press, 2025) and is currently working on The Middle Mineral & the Mine: An Ethnogeology of Studio Glass, supported by a 2023 Rakow Grant from the Corning Museum of Glass.

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. and M.A. from the New School for Social Research and an Honors B.A. from Michigan State University. Her interdisciplinary work bridges sociology, art, environmental studies, and phenomenology.

Dr. O’Connor’s research explores the intersections of craft, labor, embodiment, and environment through ethnographic, archival, and sensory methods. Her key interests include studio glass, material culture, posthumanism, material feminism, and settler colonialism. She has published in leading journals such as Qualitative Research, Thesis Eleven, and West 86th, and contributed to influential edited volumes on craft and design. Her recent work analyzes the environmental and ethical dimensions of glass as a material, linking artistic practice to global mineral supply chains.

The trends in her publications reveal a consistent focus on the body in craft, the material agency of glass, and the socio-ecological implications of artistic production. Her work moves from micro-level ethnographies of skill acquisition to macro-level critiques of resource extraction and colonialism, reflecting a deep commitment to both theoretical innovation and social justice.

Her scientific awards include the Marymount Manhattan College Faculty Scholarship Award (2024, 2025) and the 2023 Rakow Grant for Glass Research. These honors reflect her significant contributions to both academic scholarship and public discourse in craft and environmental studies.

Dr. O’Connor is actively involved in mentoring and institutional leadership. She co-founded and co-coordinates the Social Justice Academy at MMC and serves as Faculty Co-Advisor for the Bedford Hills Club, supporting college programs in women’s correctional facilities. She has not received public information about research grants, but her award-funded projects indicate active research support. Her teaching spans courses in radical labor, environmental justice, ethnography, and material culture, reflecting her interdisciplinary approach.

She is affiliated with research and pedagogical initiatives centered on social justice, prison education, and public sociology. Her work with incarcerated students and her public writing in outlets like Hyperallergic demonstrate a strong commitment to engaged scholarship and community impact.