Diana
G. Tumminia, Ph.D.
Web site: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/t/tumminia
Gender,
Race, and Social Class
Social Theory, Collective Behavior, Social Movements
Education
UCLA
1989-1995
Ph.D. Sociology
San Diego State University 1984-1987 M.A. Sociology
San
Diego State University 1982-1984 B.A. Social Science
Summa
Cum Laude and
Outstanding Graduate Award
Mesa
College
1980-1982
A.A. Psychology
Highest
Honors
Teaching
Experience
California
State University at Sacramento
Outstanding
Teaching Award for the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary
Studies 2001
Nominated
for Outstanding Teaching Award 98/99
Instructor
8/95 - present - In Sociology
Classical
Sociological Theory (capstone course)
Social Psychology (core course upper division)
Sociology of Gender
Ethnic
and Race Relations (upper division)
Principles
of Sociology (WEB CT online supplement)
In
Women’s Studies 8/95 – 5/03
Seminar
in Gender Roles
Women
of Color
Gender,
Race, & Social Class
Feminism
& the Spirit (Feminist Spirituality)
In
Psychology 1/99 - 5/00
Psychology
of Multicultural Groups
University
of California at Davis
Visiting
Professor 9/95-12/95
Sociology of Adolescence
University
of California at Los Angeles
1990-93
Family
& Socialization (co-instructor with Walter Allen)
Culture
and Personality (co-instructor with Walter Allen)
Group
Processes (teaching assistant for Phil Bonacich)
San
Diego State University and San Diego Community Colleges
Part-time
Instructor 8/85 - 8/89
Introductory Sociology and Social Problems
Areas
of Teaching, Study, & Knowledge
Social
Psychology, Micro and Macro Social Psychology, Self and Society, Group
Processes, Family and Socialization, the Ethnic Family, Domestic Violence
and Violence Against Native-American Women, Native-American Issues, Women
of Color, Gender, Race, Social Class & Sexualities, Ethnic & Race
Relations, Workshops in Gender and Racial Sensitivity Training, Classical
and Contemporary Sociological Theory, Social Psychology of Genocide,
Social Psychology of Prejudice, Social Construction of Reality, Feminist
Theory, Feminist Movements, Collective Behavior and Social Movements,
Social Psychology of the Life Course, Adolescence,
Qualitative/Ethnographic Methods, Culture and Personality, Sociology of
Religion, Women in Sociology.
Research
Assistantships
UCLA
- Graduate Research Assistant 10/89 to 5/93 for Walter R. Allen,
National Study of Black College Students and editorial assistant for College
in Black and White, edited by Walter R. Allen, et al., State
University of New York Press: 1991.
San Diego State University - Research Assistant 1982-87 for R. George Kirkpatrick
in
Comparative Religions, Cults, and Occult Groups.
Research
Consultant
for the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C., Genocide
Studies of California Indians.
Historical
research on the California Indian genocide that resulted in the Web
publication of the California Indians Memorial: http://www.csus.edu/indiv/t/tumminia/Memorial.htm. A resource for Native-American studies.
Analysis
of open-ended responses on gender issues on the National Study of Black
College Students (1990) and research on the sociology of black men for
Walter R. Allen, UCLA. Editorial
assistant for College in Black and White.
Social
Movements: historical research in millenarian, feminist, Native-American,
and new religious movements (NRMs).
Ethnographic
research, participant observation, historical research, and literature
review of the Unarius Academy of Science, a UFO organization. 1987 to
present.
Participant
observation, surveys, semantic differential test and twenty statement
tests comparing Hare Krishna members and members of American Atheists for
master’s thesis, SDSU.
A
research report, Childcare in San Diego, a study assessing childcare needs
in San Diego, submitted to the San Diego Community Foundation on March 20,
1987. Research conducted by
C. Coultis, J. DiLella, J. Petrey, and D. Tumminia under the direction of
Dr. Richard Hough, SDSU, Dept. of Sociology, San Diego, Ca. 92182.
Interviews, participant observation, and analysis of literature on American Neo-Pagans, 1986 to 1989.
Thesis
The
Sacred Self: A Social Psychological Study of Religious Self-Identity and
the Case of Hare Krishna.
1987. San Diego State
University.
Dissertation
Brothers from the Sky: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group. 1995. UCLA.
Publications
When Prophecy Never Fails: Myth and Reality in a Flying-Saucer Group by Diana G. Tumminia. New York: Oxford University Press. (ethnographic monograph), 2005.
"Alien Worlds: Social and Religious Dimensions of Extraterrestrial Contact, Diana G. Tumminia, editor, Syracuse University Press. 2007.
“Introduction”
by Diana G. Tumminia, In
Alien Worlds, Diana G. Tumminia, editor, Syracuse University Press.
2007.
“In
the Dreamtime of the Saucer People: Sense-Making and Interpretive
Boundaries in a Contactee Group” by Diana G. Tumminia, In Alien
Worlds:, Diana G.
Tumminia, editor, Syracuse University Press. 2007.
“Galactic Messenger!: An Overview of the Universal Industrial Church of the New World Comforter” by Diana G. Tumminia, In Alien Worlds:, Diana G. Tumminia, editor, Syracuse University Press. 2007
.
“Unarius
Academy of Science.” Encyclopedia of Religion, edited by Lindsay
Jones. New York: Macmillan Reference. 2004.
“Heart and Soul: A Qualitative
Look at the Ethos of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness” by Diana
G. Tumminia, In Controversial Religions, edited by James R. Lewis.
New York: Oxford University Press. 2005.
Contributor
to The Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, Festivals.
Routledge. 2005.
“Blood Rituals,” “Satanic Rituals,” and “Trance and
Spirit Possession” by Diana Tumminia.
Berkshire Publishing.
“Unarius
Academy of Science.” In New Religions: A Guide, edited by
Christopher Partridge. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.
“In
the Dreamtime of the Saucer People: Sense-Making and Interpretive
Boundaries in a Contactee Group” by Diana G. Tumminia, Journal of
Contemporary Ethnography. December, 2002. 3 (6): 675-705. (refereed
article - top sociological journal in ethnography - 12% acceptance rate)
“When
the Archangel Died: From Revelation to Routinization of Charisma in a
Millenarian Group” by Diana Tumminia in UFO Religions, Chris
Partridge, (ed.), New York: Routledge Press. 2003.
“The
Mythology of New Religious Movements” by Diana Tumminia and R. George
Kirkpatrick, in The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, James R. Lewis, (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2003.
“How
Prophecy Never Fails” by Diana Tumminia, in Encyclopedic Sourcebook
of UFO Religions. James
R. Lewis (ed.) Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
2003.
“From
Rumor to Post-Modern Myth: A Sociological Study of UFO Rumor” by Diana
Tumminia, in Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions.
James R. Lewis (ed.) Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 2003.
Contributor
to The Encyclopedia of Religion and War.
Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, (ed.). Routledge.
2003. “Thuggees,”
by Diana Tumminia.
“Four
Innovations for Teaching Classical Theory: Internet, Multiculturalism,
Feminist Theory, and Queer Theory” by Diana Tumminia in The Resource
Book for Teaching Sociological Theory. American Sociological
Association. 2001
Tumminia,
Diana. 2001. “Syllabus for Teaching Classical Theory and Three Study
Guides” in The Resource Book for Teaching Sociological Theory.
Terri LeMoyne (ed.), Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.
“Unarius”
by Diana Tumminia in Odd Gods, James R. Lewis (ed.), Amherst, NY:
Prometheus. 2001.
Three
chapters: “Gender Journal”, “Women’s Spirituality”, and
“Showing the Color of Fear” by Diana Tumminia, in Teaching
Sociological Concepts and the Sociology of Gender.
Marybeth Stalp and Julie Childers (eds.), Washington, DC: American
Sociological Association Teaching Resources Center. 2000.
“Unarius”
by Diana Tumminia in UFOs and Popular Culture: An Encyclopedia of
Contemporary Myth, James R. Lewis (ed.), Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.
2000.
Contributor
to The Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial
Movements. Richard Landes, (ed.). Routledge/Berkshire.
2000. Entries:
“Communism,” “Delaware Prophet,” “Deganaweda and Hiawatha,”
“Handsome Lake,” “Indian Shaker Movement,” “John Frum
Movement,” “Ramtha School of Enlightenment,” “Unarius Academy of
Science,” “White Buffalo Woman,” by Diana Tumminia.
“An
Annotated Film Guide for Race, Gender, and Social Class” by Diana
Tumminia, in Race, Gender, and Class in Sociology: Toward an Inclusive
Classroom. Jean Ait
Ambert Belkhir, (ed.) Washington, DC: American Sociological Association,
1999. (Second Edition)
“Ruth
Norman” by Diana Tumminia in Peculiar Prophets: A Biographical
Dictionary of New Religions by James R. Lewis, 1999.
St. Paul, Minnesota: Paragon House.
“Unarius
Academy of Science” by Diana Tumminia, for Encyclopedia of Religion,
edited by Gordon Melton. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio.
“How
Prophecy Never Fails: Interpretive Reason in a Flying-Saucer Group” by
Diana Tumminia, Sociology of Religion, 59(2): 157-170, 1998.
(widely cited refereed article in the field)
“Unarius Academy of Science” by Diana Tumminia in The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions by James R. Lewis, (ed.) Amherst, NY: Prometheus Press. 1998.
“Unarius:
Emergent Aspects of an American Flying Saucer Group” by Diana Tumminia
and R. George Kirkpatrick. Pp.
85-104 in The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds.
James R. Lewis, (ed.). Albany: State University of New York Press. 1995.
“Hard
Work, Luck, and Uncontrollable Variables: A Guide to Getting into Graduate
School” by Diana Tumminia. Sociological Practice Review. 3(1):
37-41. 1992. (refereed
article in an ASA published journal)
“Space
Magic, Techno-Animism, and the Cult of the Goddess in A Southern
Californian UFO Contactee Group: A Case Study of Millenarianism,” by R.
George Kirkpatrick and Diana Tumminia, Syzygy: Journal of Alternative
Religion and Culture 1(2): 159-172. 1992.
“California
Space Goddess: The Mystagogue in a Flying Saucer Group.” by R. George
Kirkpatrick and Diana Tumminia, In William Swatos, Jr. (ed.) Twentieth-Century
World Religious Movements In Neo-Weberian Perspective. Edwin Mellen
Press. 1992.
“Hard
Work, Luck, and Uncontrollable Variables: Getting Into Grad School and
Using It to Your Advantage.” by
Diana Tumminia. California Sociological Association Newsletter.
June, 1991.
Test
Bank and Instructor’s Manual for Sociology: Traditional and Radical
Perspectives
by Howard J. Sherman and James L. Wood by Diana Tumminia, Harper & Row
Publishers, New York, 1989.
Papers
“Seventeen
Years of Research on Unarius Academy of Science: An American UFO
Psychotherapy Group,” by Diana Tumminia and R. George Kirkpatrick. Paper
read at the international meeting of the CESNUR meetings at Salt Lake
City, Utah, June 22, 2002.
When
the Archangel Died: From Revelation to Routinization of Charisma in a
Millenarian Group” by Diana Tumminia for session on Millennial Movements
at the American Sociological Association Meetings in Anaheim, August
18-21, 2001.
“California
Exceptionalism: California Indian Genocide” by Diana Tumminia for
session on California Exceptionalism at the Pacific Sociological Meetings
in San Francisco, March 28-31, 2001.
“Countdown
to the Landing: Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Ethnomethodology, and Failed
Prophecy” by Diana Tumminia for session on Religion and Ethics at the
California Sociological Association Meetings, October 20, 2000 in
Riverside, California.
“Four
Innovations for Teaching Classical Theory: Internet, Multiculturalism,
Feminist Theory, and Queer Theory” by Diana Tumminia for the session on
Innovations in Teaching Theory at the Pacific Sociological Meetings in San
Diego, March 23-26, 2000.
“In
the Dreamtime of the Saucer People: Fieldwork and Interpretive Boundaries
in a Contactee Group” by Diana Tumminia for the session on the Social
Construction of Reality at the Pacific Sociological Meetings in San Diego,
March 23-26, 2000.
“Cultifornia:
California’s Cult History and Controversy” by Diana Tumminia.
California Sociological Association Meetings.
Berkeley, October 29-30, 1999.
“Using
the film, Color of Fear in the Classroom” by Diana Tumminia, sponsored
by the Section on Race and Ethnicity.
Pacific Sociological Meetings in San Diego, April 17-20, 1997.
“Man
is a Television Receiver: The Social Construction of the Person in a
Flying Saucer Group” by Diana Tumminia, Session on Sociology in Everyday
Life, at the Pacific Sociological Meetings, April 12-14, 1991 in Irvine,
Ca.
“Hard
Work, Luck, and Uncontrollable Variables: Getting Into Graduate School and
Using It to Your Advantage” by Diana Tumminia, Session - From JC to PHD,
California Sociological Association Meetings, October 10-12, 1990. Carson,
Ca.
“Black
College Student Attitudes on Career Path, Family, and Gender Issues” by
Walter R. Allen and Diana Tumminia, American Sociological Association
Meetings, August 11-15, 1990 in Washington, D.C.
“Extraterrestrial
Contact as Technoanimism: A New Form of Animism Emerging in
Post-Industrial Society.” by Diana Tumminia, International Sociological
Association Meetings, in Madrid, Spain. Summer 1990.
“A
Case Study of a Southern Californian Flying Saucer Cult” by R. George
Kirkpatrick and Diana Tumminia, Roundtable Session, American Sociological
Association Meetings, August 9-13, 1989. San Francisco, Ca.
“California
Space Goddess: The Mystagogue in a Deviant Psychotherapy Cult” by R.
George Kirkpatrick and Diana Tumminia, Collective Behavior Session,
Pacific Sociological Association Meetings, April 13-16, 1989. Reno,
Nevada.
“Faces
of the Self: Sacred, Magical, and Secular Identities” by Diana Tumminia
and R. George Kirkpatrick, Self-Concept Session, Pacific Sociological
Association Meetings, April 13-16, 1989. Reno, Nevada.
Work
in Progress
The Purple Rose: The Flowering of a New Religion, the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness by Diana G. Tumminia and James R. Lewis. (forthcoming)
Sartre's Great Refusal: A Public Intellectual's Revolt" by Richard P. Nadeau and Diana G. Tumminia.
Professional Work
Co-Presider with William Swatos at Session for the 50th Anniversary of When Prophecy Fails by Leon Festinger, et al. at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion at Portland, Oregon. October 19-22, 2006.
Meet the Author Session for When Prophecy Never Fails at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion at Portland, Oregon. October 19-22, 2006.
Tour of Unarius for members, CESNUR Meeting in San Diego, SDSU, July 16, 2006.
Consultant
to the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. on theCalifornia Indians Genocide Exhibit.
Organizer
for the session on Gender, Race and Social Class at the California
Sociological Association Meetings in Sacramento, California, October,
2001.
Presider
for the session on Genocide at the American Sociological Association
Meetings in Anaheim, August 18-21, 2001.
Organizer
for the session on New Age Religions at the American Sociological
Association Meetings in Anaheim, August 18-21, 2001.
Reviewer
for journal, Teaching Sociology, 2001-3.
Faculty
Advisor for the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, a school club, at
CSU-Sacramento. 1999-2001.
Advisor
and organizer for the Women’s Herstory Month Planning Committee under
the auspices of the Women’s Resource Center, CSU-Sacramento, 1999-2002.
Reviewer
for Social Psychology textbooks for Prentice-Hall and Pearson Educational
Company. 2000-2003.
Consultant
on documentaries on the enslavement of Native-Americans in the Americas
and the California Mission system, Collision Course Videos, San Francisco.
2001
Organized
the Social Construction of Reality session at the Pacific Sociological
Association Meetings in San Diego, March 23-26, 2000.
Presentation
on Women and Labor for “Labor Matters” Training Conference sponsored
by AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and the California Faculty Association,
February 12, 1999 at California State University, Sacramento.
Facilitated
with co-facilitator Sandra McDonald a Racial Sensitivity/Diversity
Workshop for Pacific Southwest Maintenance Management on November 19,
1998. We facilitated a
workshop for 60 maintenance workers involved in California’s parks and
recreation services at the UCLA Conference Center in Lake Arrowhead,
California.
Presentation
at a Workshop for the Summer Faculty Institute of Cosumnes River College
on “Pedagogical and Content Integration Strategies for Multi-Cultural
Educators” on June 5, 1997 at UC Davis.
Organized
two sessions at the Pacific Sociological Meetings in San Diego, April
17-20, 1997. 1. “Using the film, Color of Fear in the
Classroom”, sponsored by the Section on Race and Ethnicity.
2. “Women of Color”.
Assistant
organizer of the Conference on Extant Studies of Black Men, under the
direction of Walter R. Allen. San
Diego, Ca. March 1993.
Editorial assistant for College in Black and White, edited by Walter R. Allen, et al., State University of New York Press: 1991.
Web Publications
Group Profile: Unarius Academy of Science for the New Religious Movements Page (forthcoming)
Group Profile: MSIA for the New Religious Movements Page (forthcoming)
Professional
Membership
American
Sociological Association (ASA)
Pacific
Sociological Association (PSA)
Association
for the Sociology of Religion (ASR)
California
Sociological Association (CSA)
Sociologists
for Women in Society (ASA-SWS)
Society
for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI)
Alpha
Kappa Delta (AKD) Sociological Honor Society