Profile for PJ Marina

PJ Marina

Associate Professor

Sociology & Criminology

Specialty area(s)

Urban Ethnography, Critical & Cultural Criminology, Deviance & Transgression, Race & Ethnicity, Criminal Justice, Human Rights Policing, Sociology of Culture, Social Inequalities, Travel and Tourism, Urban Sociology, Hispanic Immigration, among other topics.

Brief biography

Dr. Peter Marina, a sociologist and criminologist, holds a Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in Manhattan. His book publications include Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy (Columbia University Press, 2017), Human Rights Policing: Reimagining Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (Routledge, 2022), and Emergency Dispatch and Human Rights: Before the Sirens (Routledge, 2026), among other books and articles. Marina's scholarly endeavors focus on exploring new and emergent forms of transgression within our complex late-modern social world. His approach to sociology and criminology integrates the dialectic of history and biography, enabling him to engage with a diverse array of social groups worldwide. From inner-city youths and street performers to urban occultists and marginalized urban dwellers, Marina's research spans a broad spectrum of cultural and social contexts. With a keen eye for the intricacies of human behavior, Marina looks into the lives of individuals on society’s fringes, seeking to unravel the complexities of experiences and interactions. His work explores the lives of religiously inspired inner-city residents, urban occultists, and even law enforcement officers, offering valuable insights into the dynamics of power, resistance, and social control in contemporary urban environments. Through his interdisciplinary approach, Marina endeavors to bridge the gap between empirical observation and theoretical understanding, shedding light on the ever-evolving landscape of modern society. His scholarly pursuits reflect a deep commitment to understanding and contextualizing the complexities of human existence in an era marked by rapid change and social transformation.

Current courses at UWL

Social Problems (SOC 120); Sociological Foundations (SOC 200); Sociology of City Life (SOC 319); Delinquency (CRIM 321); Criminology (CRIM 322); Youth Rebellion (CRIM 329); Crimes of the Powerful (CRIM 329); Human Rights Policing (CRIM 333); Qualitative Explorations/Senior Capstone (SOC 416); Readings & Research in Sociology (SOC 409); Sociology of Deviance (SOC 429); Internship in Criminal Justice Field Studies (CRIM 451); Research Apprenticeship in Sociology (SOC 485); Teaching Apprenticeship/Practicum (SOC 486)

Creator/Professor- Human Rights Policing Certificate Program, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Extended Learning (Fall 2020 – Current) - This program trains law enforcement agents how to apply human rights to policing. Law enforcement agents who complete the program receive a Certificate of Completion in Human Rights Policing.

I also developed the "Human Rights & Criminal Justice Certificate" where students who want to work in criminology/criminal justice or community advocacy can boost their criminal justice credentials.

Education

Ph.D., Sociology: New School for Social Research, New York, New York
M.A., Sociology: University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
B.A., Education: University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana

High School, College Preparatory: De La Salle, New Orleans, Louisiana

Career

Teaching history

Courses Taught — Previous Institutions

University of Missouri–St. Louis: Urban Sociology (3202); Sociology of Conflict (3268); Current Issues in Anthropology (3291); Power, Ideology, and Social Movements (4316); Qualitative Methods in Social Research (4331); Problems in Urban Community (4344); Ethnic and Minority Relations (4360); Sociological Writing (4365); Masculinities (4600); Special Topics in Women’s and Gender Studies (5450); Independent Studies (4350). John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY): Introductory Sociology (1000); Sociology of Deviance (1010). Borough of Manhattan Community College (CUNY): Sociology of the Family (SOC 250). University of New Orleans: Criminology (4921); Research on Transgressive Sociology in the City.

Online Teaching

UW–La Crosse (2017–present): Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, Sociology of Deviance. UW–Whitewater (2016–2018): Juvenile Delinquency.

Professional history

Creator of the Human Rights Policing Program, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse Extended Learning

Visiting Research Scholar. University of New Orleans
(Research on Transgressive Sociology)

Visiting Summer Lecturer. University of New Orleans (Criminology - 4921)

Visiting Assistant Professor. University of Missouri – St. Louis

Lecturer. City University of New York (John Jay College of Criminal Justice)

K–12 EDUCATION & TEACHING EXPERIENCE

New York City Public Schools / New Orleans Public Schools / Juvenile Education

– Crossroads Juvenile Correctional Facility, Brooklyn, NY
English Literature; Global History; Math

– I.S. 171 Abraham Lincoln, Brooklyn, NY
Social Studies; Science

– High School for the Humanities, New York, NY
Social Studies; Advanced American History; Civics; Global History; Economics

– John F. Kennedy High School, New Orleans, LA
Social Studies; Mathematics

– De La Salle High School, New Orleans, LA
Civics; American History; Sociology; Theology; Psychology

Research and publishing

ACADEMIC BOOKS

Books

2027. America’s Third Coast: Culture, Tourism, and Race in Coastal Mississippi. In progress.

2027. Walking in the Spirit: The Life, Faith, and World of a Brooklyn Pentecostal Bishop. In progress

2026. Emergency Dispatch and Human Rights: Before the Sirens. Routledge Press. October 14. ISBN 9781032951423.

2026. Social Problems in the Age of Discontent: A Manual for Sociological Thinking. Kendall Hunt Publishing. 4th ed., 2026, ISBN 9798319703118; 3rd ed., 2024, ISBN 9798385158669; 2nd ed., 2021, ISBN 978-1-7924-6631-3; 1st ed., 2016, ISBN 978-1465295859.

2023. Human Rights Policing: Reimagining Law Enforcement in the 21st Century (with Pedro Marina). Routledge Press. Paperback ISBN: 9781032115191; Hardback ISBN: 9781032115221.

2017. Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy. Columbia University Press. ISBN: 978-0-231-17852-5.

2016. Chasing Religion in the Caribbean: Ethnographic Journeys from Antigua to Trinidad. Palgrave Macmillan. Hardcover ISBN: 978-1137560995; Paperback ISBN: 978-1349934218 (2019).

2013. Getting the Holy Ghost: Urban Ethnography in a Brooklyn Pentecostal Tongue-Speaking Church. Lexington Books. Hardcover ISBN: 978-0739170731; Paperback ISBN: 978-1498503563 (2014).

Poetry Anthologies

Marina, Peter. 2026. Poet contributor. En El Cinturón Del Viento: Antología de poesía latinx en español del Midwest. Edited by Marlene De La Cruz-Guzmán. Madison, WI: Manzana Editorial in collaboration with Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development (LOUD).

Selected as one of 29 Latinx poets featured in this Spanish-language anthology representing writers from across the American Midwest.

Sample Media

Invited lecture for Distinguished Double Alumnus: “Tourism, Culture, and Preservation in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.” University of New Orleans: Department of Planning and Urban Studies (2024, April 17).

LAX Listening Sessions: Conversations on Homelessness and Capitalism with Peter Marina (Where’s Home Project, 2024).

Presentation, Social Justice Week, Institute for Social Justice, UWL: “Burning our Illusions: Travel and Ethnography as a Path Towards Social Transformation” (2024, April 4).

Interview, The Racquet Press (Anna Fischer) on UWL Social Justice Week (2023, April 10).

Newspaper Interview: UW System Campus Stories. “Reimagining law enforcement: UWL human rights policing course building compassion among officers” (2022, April 3).

Newsmakers: Peter Marina Radio Interview with Wisconsin Public Radio on human rights and law enforcement at https://www.wpr.org/shows/newsmakers-march-11-2022 (March 11, 2022).

PETER MARINA INTERVIEW WITH WPR: UW-La Crosse Offering Class On 'Human Rights Policing' To Local Law Enforcement (September 8, 2020) https://www.wpr.org/uw-la-crosse-offering-class-human-rights-policing-local-law-enforcement

PETER MARINA INTERVIEWED BY JOURDAN VIAN IN LA CROSSE TRIBUNE- UW-L program to dig deep into ‘human rights policing’
La Crosse Tribune, 31 August, 2020

Sociologist Peter Marina in Conversation with Radio Producer Laine Kaplan-Levenson
(August 24). NOMA’s Arts & Letters series. Authors, poets, journalists, playwrights, and literary scholars to the museum for public conversations that reflect on literature at the intersection of arts and culture. New Orleans Museum of Art building’s Stern Auditorium.

PETER MARINA ON WWNO- In case you missed it live, here is an excerpt from Peter Marina’s talk about his book, “Down and Out in New Orleans.” (The full, unedited version of the talk is here.)

PETER MARINA ON NPR NEW ORLEANS- Dr. Marina’s interview begins at 13 minutes This week on The Reading Life: Peter Marina, author of “Down and Out in New Orleans: Transgressive Living in the Informal Economy”.

PETER MARINA IN NEW ORLEANS’ THE GAMBIT- Meet the sociologist who lived among New Orleans squatters and street performers The Gambit, January 5, 2018.

LAX Listening Sessions: Conversations with Peter Marina on Homelessness and Capitalism (Where’s Home Project, 2017).

SAMPLE ACADEMIC ARTICLES

"The Hybrid Tourist-Leisure City: Tourism Urbanization on the Mississippi Gulf Coast." Southeastern Geographer, 2026. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sgo.0.a1001168.

"Pentecostalism as Cultural Resistance: Music and Tongue-speaking as Collective Response in the Small Church"(with Michael Wilkinson). PentecoStudies, 2017. 16(2): 216–242.

“Buskers of New Orleans: Transgressive Sociology in the Urban Underbelly.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography (first published on August 2, 2016).

"Becoming a God Hunter Towards Conversion in a Brooklyn Tongue-Speaking Church." Social Compass 2016, Vol. 63(1) 76–92.

Journalistic Articles

“The First Voice: Emergency Dispatching and the Future of Human Rights.” Forthcoming September 2026. The Blue Magazine.

“The Human Cost of Empire: Civilians and Children in U.S.-Backed Conflicts.” July 10, 2026. The Blue Magazine, 17(2).

"Rescuing Ms. Nelly: What One Seagull Taught Me About Vegan Sociology." International Association of Vegan Sociologists. May 7, 2026.

"War, Inequality, and Policing: The Hidden Costs of America’s Military Empire." The Blue Magazine. Vol. 16, Issue 3, August 18, 2025.

"The True Culprit: How Structural Failures Fuel Crime and Social Discontent.” The Blue Magazine. Vol. 15, Issue 5, December 16.

"Winston Vs Eichmann: Our Individual and Institutional Question.” The Blue Magazine. Vol. 15, Issue 3, July 17, 2024.

"School Resource Officers: ‘Momma Bear’ and the Human Rights Approach." The Blue Magazine. Vol. 13, Issue 6, February 1, 2023.

“Human Rights Policing: Those Who Point the Finger are Often Most Guilty.” The Blue Magazine. Vol. 13, Issue 3, September 5, 2022.

"A Call for Human Rights Policing: We Can Make the World Better.” The Blue Magazine. Vol. 12, Issue 5, (November 26, 2021).

“The Lesser of Two Evils is Still Evil” La Crosse Tribune (March 22, 2020)

How New Orleans Became the Paris of the Mississippi: A Cultural Magnet and Melting Pot, From the 1920s to Today(The Literary Hub, 2017)

"The Page 99 Test: Down and Out in New Orleans." September 16, 2017.

"My Book, The Movie: Down and Out in New Orleans." September 11, 2017.

“Diversity Makes Us Better.” La Crosse Tribune and Chippewa Herald (February 12, 2017)
“Broken-windows Policing is Failed Policy.” La Crosse Tribune (November 4, 2015)
“County's Juvenile Arrest Rate Hurting our Kids.” La Crosse Tribune (April 26, 2015)
“Hispanic Community Strengthens Community.” La Crosse Tribune (October 8, 2014)

Book Series Editor

2016-Current. Series Editor: Ethnographies of Religion (A New Series from Lexington Books).

Literary Fiction Books

2026. (In Progress) Doctor Fancyboy and Mister Mirliton, or How I Learned to Hate Empathy and Love the Fury.