Contact Professor Art Ferrari
Education
B.A., SUNY Albany; M.Phil, Ph.D., Yale University; M.S.W., University of Connecticut School of Social Work
"What better way to earn a living -- helping fine young adults develop their talents and become contributing members of society."
Arthur C. Ferrari
Professor of Sociology
Chair of Sociology Department
Director of SATA Rome 2004
Joined Connecticut College: 1970
Specialization:
- The analysis of social arrangements and how they might be transformed to be more fulfilling to participants, more effective in achieving their ends, and more democratic, just and supportive of individual freedom
Arthur Ferrari's teaching focuses on fundamental issues of human social organization, especially freedom and justice, self-fulfillment and identity, inequality, and the definition and control of deviants. His classes "Deviant Behavior and Social Control," "Group Dynamics," "Social Reality, Inequality, and Power," and "Self and Society" reflect those interests.
Ferrari's recent publications include "Social Complexity, Threat, Ego Defenses and Labeling the Other a Deviant: A 'Racial' Incident in the Development of a Small Group" (1990) in Small Group Research and "Psychotherapy as an Educational Process" (1989) in Clinical Social Work Journal.
His current work explores the importance of "community" in grounding human identity and how social changes modify the human experience of self. These and related issues are being explored in his current research conducted on neighborhood organizations in Siena, Italy and in a social change organization in Rome. See the SATA Rome 2004 site.
Ferrari has participated in national conferences and presented numerous papers, including "Revising the At-Risk Concept" at the 1993 National Conference on Racial and Ethnic Relations in American Higher Education, "Expanding the Minority Student Pool of College Applicants," a case study of the High School Student Advancement Program (HSSAP) at Connecticut College at the American Association of Higher Education Conference in 1991, and "Introducing Minority High School Students to the College Environment" at the College Board National Forum "Reaching Each Student" in 1990.
In addition to being the founding director of HSSAP, Ferrari received awards and numerous grants for his work. He is the recipient of grants from the Ford Foundation, the New York Times Foundation, the Xerox Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, the Merck Family Fund, and the Nellie Mae Fund for Education, among others, for HSSAP.
Ferrari was the co-facilitator of the regional forum that formulated a plan to increase educational quality and diversity in the northeastern region of Connecticut that covers 26 towns and school districts. He also directed the United Way's Community Needs Assessments of 1993 and 1994, served two terms as a member of its Board of Directors and served on the Board of Fellows of the Lyman Allyn Art Museum. He was also Dean of the College from 1994-1999.