For Xiaoshuo Hou, communication covers lots of bases. The assistant professor of sociology concentrated as a student at Nanjing University on international business communication. Communication is also her specialty at St. Lawrence, but via her teaching she is now communicating about such areas as race, gender and class and social class inequality, subjects she has taught before.  Having also been a communication specialist in the energy industry, she contributes to getting the word out on campus about St. Lawrence’s commitment to sustainability and especially carbon neutrality through wise energy consumption.

“The attractive campus and the liberal arts environment, and, more important, the smart students and friendly and supportive faculty and staff appealed to me,” she says in explaining her decision to became a teacher at St. Lawrence. “I most look forward to bringing diversity and a global perspective to the curriculum and to developing interesting, practical yet intellectually stimulating courses, for the benefit of the students. And while I'm not too much of a fan of snow activities, I will learn to be one!”

Prof. Hou came to St. Lawrence from a visiting position at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  She earned her Ph.D. in sociology from Boston University in January 2008.  Her research interests are economic sociology, social change and transitional societies like China, where St. Lawrence has an international study program based in Shanghai.  She teaches courses on the sociology of development.