Vincent N. Parrillo

Prof. Vincent Parillo

Prof. Parrillo received his B.S. degree from Seton Hall University, his M.A. from Montclair State University, and his doctorate from Rutgers University. He teaches the following undergraduate courses: Minority Groups in America, Urban Sociology, Sociology of Socialization, Social Problems, Ethnic and Racial Conflict Resolution. Graduate courses include Racial and Ethnic Experiences and Sociology of Intercultural Communication.

His books include: Strangers to These Shores 9th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 2008); Cities and Urban Life 5th ed. with John Macionis (Prentice-Hall, 2009); Uncertainty and Insecurity in the New Age (Calandra, 2009); Diversity in America 3rd ed. (Pine Forge Press, 2008); Contemporary Social Problems 6th ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 2005); Understanding Race and Ethnic Relations 3rd ed. (Allyn & Bacon, 2008); William Paterson University (Arcadia, 2005); Millennium Haze: Comparative Inquiries About Society, State and Community (FrancoAngeli, 2000); Ridgewood (Arcadia, 1999); and (ed.) Rethinking Today's Minorities (Greenwood Press, 1991). He is General Editor of the two-volume interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Social Problems (Sage, 2008).

Prof. Parrillo is the executive producer and writer of two award- winning PBS television documentaries: Smokestacks and Steeples: A Portrait of Paterson (1992) and Ellis Island: Gateway to America (1991). His scholarly articles have appeared in such journals as Social Science Journal, Sociological Forum, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, and Small Group Behavior, and some of them have been published in eight languages.  He was Vice President of the Eastern Sociological Society in 2008-2009, and its Robin M. Williams, Jr. Distinguished Lecturer for 2005-2006.

An invited lecturer to dozens of universities in Canada, Europe, and the United States in the past few years, Professor Parrillo has gone on numerous assignments for the U.S. Information Agency to confer with national leaders in Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Romania, and Sweden on issues relating to immigration and intergroup tensions. He has conducted diversity training sessions for NCOs and senior army officers at various military bases, at the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, and for managers in the Saint Barnabas Health Care System in New Jersey.

In Spring 2000, Prof. Parrillo was a Fulbright teaching fellow at Palacky University, Czech Republic. A Senior Fulbright Specialist, he worked in 2005 with faculty at Roehampton University, London, in developing cooperative international courses. In 1996, he was asked by the Salzburg Seminar to join a team of four scholars to create a Ph.D. program in American Studies at the North American Studies Center in Lodz, Poland. He has also been the keynote speaker at international conferences in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, and Romania. In October 2001, his keynote speech, "The Challenge for Educators," given at a bilingual educators conference, was published in Vital Speeches of the Day. In Spring he was a Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Pisa, repeating that position in Fall 2006. In February-May 2010, he will be a visiting scholar at the University of Liege, Belgium.

Active in regional theater as an actor in many plays, he has also directed dozens of plays of every genre. In 2003, he directed a cast of Broadway stars (including four Tony nominees) in a staged reading of the rock opera Hamlet at the Lamb's Theatre in New York City and in 2005 he co-produced its world premiere in Prague. In October 2007, it premiered in Seoul to rave reviews and enthusiastic audience responses, and it is still running there. Hopes are for a London or U.S. production in the near future (visit www.hamlettherockopera.com) for more details.