Michael Blain
Professor
Vita
Michael Blain earned a Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Colorado. His dissertation described how revolutionaries employ language to legitimate acts of revolutionary violence (The Politics of Death, available from amazon.com). He has published a number of influential works on how discourse functions in politics, most notably "The Role of Death in Political Conflict" (Psychoanalytic Review), "Fighting Words: What We Can From Hitler's Hyperbole" (Symbolic Interaction), "Power, War and Melodrama in the Discourses of Political Movements" (Theory and Society), "The Politices of Victimage" (Critical Discourse Studies), and "On the Genealogy of Terrorism" (Interrogating the War on Terrorism).
Blain has also engaged in policy research in Idaho. As a member of the steering committee of the Snake River Alliance, Blain produced two influential reports on cancer in populations adjacent to the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (with Carl Johnson, M.D.) and Hanford Nuclear Reservation. He also coauthored (with Charles Etlinger) a series on Power in Idaho in The Idaho Statesman.
Blain has served four terms as Chair of the Department of Sociology. He is also an official member of the Council of the Pacific Sociological Association. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Social Research, the Sociology of Drugs, and (with Ed McLuskie) Power and Communication.
Contact Information
Office: L-171d
Phone: 208/426-1346
Email: mblain@boisestate.edu
| Course Title | Course Number |
|---|---|
| Introduction to Sociology | 101 |
| Sociological Theory II | 302 |
| Social Research | 311 |
| Drugs in Societal Context | 435 / 535 |
| Sociology/Social Science Seminar | 498 |