STEPHEN P.
VRLA
509 E. Circle Dr. Room 8 (602) 999-8447
East Lansing, MI 48824 [email protected]
EDUCATION
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Ph.D. in Sociology (Area of Specialization: Environment) May 2019 (expected)
Dual Major PhD:
o Curriculum, Instruction, & Teacher Education
Interdisciplinary Specializations:
o Environmental Science & Policy
o Animal Studies
Certification:
o Certification in College Teaching
Dissertation: Giving Voice to the Voiceless: The Theory and Practice of Multispecies Deliberative
Democracy and Deliberative Democratic Education
Williams College Williamstown, MA
B.A. in History, magna cum laude June 2010
RESEARCH AND TEACHING INTERESTS
Democratic deliberation, democratic education, critical theory, critical pedagogy, environmental
sociology, environmental education, animal studies, participatory action research
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Lead Instructor 2017 – present
Sociology 100: Introduction to Sociology
Teacher Education 250: Human Diversity, Power, and Opportunity in Social Institutions (2
semesters)
Teacher Education 801: Professional Roles and Teaching Practice I
Teacher Education 803: Professional Roles and Teaching Practice II
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Graduate Teaching Assistant 2014 – present
Integrative Studies in Social Science 210: Society and the Individual
Integrative Studies in Social Science 310: People and Environment
Sociology 100: Introduction to Sociology
Sociology 131: Social Problems
Sociology 281: Methods of Social Research I
Sociology 412: Animals, People, and Nature
Fenner Nature Center Lansing, MI
Naturalist and Youth Leadership Program Coordinator 2015 – present
Leading environmental education programs for elementary school students
Coordinating environmental leadership program for middle and high school students
Chinquapin Preparatory School Highlands, TX
Teacher and Resident Advisor August 2011 – June 2013
Developed and taught courses in 12th grade environmental science, 8th grade English, and 6th
grade life skills and social studies at school for low-income, inner-city youth
Developed and implemented residence life program in middle school boys’ dormitory
Outback Therapeutic Expeditions Lehi, UT
Wilderness Field Instructor January 2011 – May 2011
Led weeklong, primitive backpacking trips for youth struggling with anxiety, depression,
substance abuse, and other psychological disorders
Collaborated with psychologists and social workers to administer treatment plans
GUEST LECTURES
Animals, Children, and Education (to Madonna University Humane Studies Program) Fall 2017
Animal Studies and Zoo and Aquarium Science (to MSU Integrative Biology 369) Spring 2017
Non-Governmental Organizations and Natural Resource Policy (to MSU Forestry 466) Spring 2017
The Social Construction of Human-Wolf Conflict in Michigan (to MSU Sociology 363) Spring 2017
The Social Construction of Human-Wolf Conflict in Michigan (to MSU Sociology 363) Fall 2016
Value Paradigms and Environmental Decision Making (to MSU Geography 432) Fall 2016
Non-Governmental Organizations and Natural Resource Policy (to MSU Forestry 466) Spring 2016
Non-Governmental Organizations and the Michigan Wolf Hunt (to MSU Forestry 466) Spring 2015
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Fellow 2018 – present
Collaborated with Dr. Isaac Record to study the effects of a makerspace on student learning
in an undergraduate course on algorithms and big data
Participate in regular professional-development workshops on scholarship of teaching and
learning (SoTL) and discipline-based education research (DBER)
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Graduate Assistant 2016
Worked with the Teacher Education Department’s chair on an invited chapter on the role of
social activism in social studies teacher education
Worked with the teacher preparation program’s associate director to align elementary science
and social studies methods course assessments with InTASC standards as part of Teacher
Preparation Program’s CAEP accreditation process
Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
Graduate Research Assistant 2014 – 2015
Collaborated with Dr. Linda Kalof to analyze the interrelationship between photographic
representations of non-human animals in National Geographic and National Geographic Kids
magazines and societal attitudes toward animals
Developed and published online teaching modules to teach high school students about the
interrelationship between societal representations of animals and attitudes toward animals
and how to conduct social scientific research
PUBLICATIONS
Vrla, S. (2017). Humane education. In J. Urbanik & C. L. Johnson (Eds.), Humans and animals: A
geography of coexistence (pp. 187–189). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO.
Vrla, S. (2015). Something to see here: Looking at road-killing and road-killed animals. In D.
Moorehead (Ed.), Animals in human society: Amazing creatures who share our planet (pp. 147–166).
Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
Kalof, L., Whitley, C., Vrla, S., and Bell Rizzolo, J. (2017). Anthropogenic food sources in the co-
existence of humans with liminal animals in Northern environments: Representations from National
Geographic Magazine. In T. Räsänen and T. Syrjämaa (Eds.), Shared lives of humans and animals: Animal
agency in the Global North (pp. 147–162). New York, NY: Routledge.
Vrla, S., Whitley, C., & Kalof, L. (in review). Inside the yellow rectangle: Representations of
nonhuman animals on National Geographic Kids covers.
Whitley, C., Kalof, L., & Vrla, S. (in review). Assessing the exclusion of women in conservation
networks: An exploration of the connection between conservation photographers.
PRESENTATIONS
Vrla, S. Inside the yellow rectangle: Representations of nonhuman animals on National Geographic
Kids covers. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, August 2018.
Vrla, S. Catching ‘em all: The significance of the Pokémon GO phenomenon to animal studies.
American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, August 2017.
Whitley, C., Kalof, L., & Vrla, S. Assessing the exclusion of women in conservation networks: An
exploration of the connection between conservation photographers. American Sociological Association
Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, August 2017.
Vrla, S. On multispecies democracy. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA,
August 2016.
Vrla, S. Toward multispecies justice. American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA,
August 2016.
Vrla, S., & Heilman, E. The values of animals in education: The hidden curriculum of the BIG Zoo
Lesson. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, April 2016.
Vrla, S. The social aspects of animal-vehicle collisions: A call for further research. Integrated Network
for Social Sustainability Annual Meeting, East Lansing, MI, April 2015.
Vrla, S., Whitley, C., & Kalof, L. Representations of animals on National Geographic Kids magazine
covers. XX International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology, Bar Harbor, ME, October 2014.
Vrla, S. Something to see here: Looking at road-killing and road-killed animals. American Sociological
Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, August 2014.
HONORS AND AWARDS
MSU Scholarship of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Fellowship 2018
MSU Environmental Science & Policy Program Summer Research Fellowship 2018
MSU Sociology Graduate Office Fellowship 2016 – 2018
MSU Animal Studies Fellowship 2014 – 2017
MSU Environmental Science & Policy Program Doctoral Recruiting Fellowship 2013
Williams College Phi Beta Kappa Society 2009
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Student Animals & Society Institute of MSU (Founder and Co-President) 2014 – present
MSU ESPP Fate of the Earth Steering Committee (Member) 2017 – present
ASA Section on Animals and Society (Secretary/Treasurer) 2018 – present
Journal of Teacher Education (Interim Managing Editor) 2016 – 2017
MSU Sociology Department Speakers and Awards Committee (Member) 2016 – 2017
MSU ESPP Colloquia Committee (Member) 2016
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Educational Research Association 2015 – present
Division B: Curriculum Studies
Environmental Education SIG
American Sociological Association 2014 – present
Section on Animals and Society
Section on Science and Technology
Animals and Society Institute 2014 – present
John Dewey Society 2015 – present
