John M. Kainer

John Kainer, Ph.D. is the Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW). He completed his Ph.D. in Sociology at Texas A&M University in the Fall of 2017 with a focus on culture and theory. In his research, Dr. Kainer examines food, culture and the modern food system to better our understanding of the connections and tensions between each one. In addition, he takes the same topics and uses them as vehicles for exploring deep questions about meaning, purpose, happiness, ethics, justice, love and belonging.

Prior to joining the faculty at UIW, he taught at Texas A&M, the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Our Lady of the Lake University. He joined the UIW faculty in the Fall of 2020 and took over as Department Chair in Fall of 2021. He has greatly enjoyed his time as part of the UIW Cardinal Community.

In his (limited) free time, he enjoys time with friends and family, exercising, sports, cooking, grilling, baking, video games, reading, singing in the UIW choir and serving others.

• August 2017 - Ph.D., Sociology, Texas A&M University
• August 2014 - Masters Paper Defended, Texas A&M University
• May 2012 - B.S., Sociology, Texas A&M University

• Fall 2020 - Present - Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of the Incarnate Word
• Fall 2018 - Summer 2020 - Lecturer III in Academic Inquiry and Scholarship (AIS), University of Texas at San Antonio
• Fall 2017 - Summer 2018 - Lecturer II in Academic Inquiry and Scholarship (AIS), University of Texas at San Antonio

Publications:

Kainer, John M. (2019) The McDermott Walk. William James Studies. Volume 15, Number 1, pp. 34-42.

Kainer, John M. (2019) Review of From Taverns to Gastropubs: Food, Drink, and Sociality in England. Food, Culture and Society. Volume 22, Issue 4, pp. 506-507. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15528014.2019.1621118

Kainer, John M. (2018) Review of Diet and the Disease of Civilization by Adrienne Rose Bitar. Food, Culture and Society. Volume 21, Issue 5, pp. 721-722. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15528014.2018.1516085

Kainer, John M. (2016) "Socratic Inquiry and Durkheim's Division of Labor." Class Activity, Lecture published in TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology. Washington DC: American Sociological Association. ( http://trails.asanet.org)

Presentations:

Oct 2019 John J. McDermott Memorial Celebration and Symposium
"The McDermott Walk"

Sep 2018 Feeling Race: An Invitation to Explore Racialized Emotions, the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association
"Postemotional Food and Postemotional Foodways"

July 2017 Rural Peoples in a Volatile World: Disruptive Agents and Adaptive Strategies, the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Association
"Postemotional Dietetics: From Superfoods to Super People"

June 2017 Social Justice in the Christian Tradition, the Christian Sociological Association
"Explain it All Away: C.S. Lewis’ Critique of Sociology"

June 2017 Migrating Food Cultures: Engaging Pacific Perspectives on Food and Agriculture, the joint 2017 annual meetings and conference of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), & Society for Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN)
"Food as Will and Representation"

Jan 2017 The Qualitative Report Annual Conference, Regular Session
"From Teaching Quantitative Methods to Learning Qualitative Methods of Research: Experiences of Shifting Mind-Sets."
First author: Katie Kainer

June 2016 Scarborough Fare, the joint 2016 annual meetings and conference of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), & Society for Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN)
"Towards a Foodcentric Pedagogy"
Second author: Katie Kainer

June 2015 Bridging the Past: Cultivating the Future, the joint 2015 annual meetings and conference of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society (AFHVS), Association for the Study of Food and Society (ASFS), & Society for Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN)
"Authentically Alone: Authenticity and the Screen Image"

• American Sociological Association (ASA)
• American Catholic Philosophical Association (ACPA)
• Christian Sociological Association (CSA)

Spending time With Friends and Family, Barbecuing, Cooking, Baking, Playing Video Games, Reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books, Watching TV Shows, Armchair Philosophy, Trying New Restaurants, Singing at Karaoke, Attending Adoration, and Going for Walks.

• Fall 2019 UTSA Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award Nominee
• Fall 2019 National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition Excellence in Teaching First-Year Seminar Award Nominee
• Fall 2018 UTSA Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award Nominee
• Spring 2017 Association of Former Students Graduate Award – Excellence in Teaching

• Fall 2018 - Summer 2020 - Teaching Assistant Coordinator in Academic Inquiry and Scholarship, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Fall 2018 - Summer 2020 - Social Science Pathway Coordinator in Academic Inquiry and Scholarship, University of Texas at San Antonio
• Fall 2018 - Summer 2020 - Exploratory Pathway Coordinator in Academic Inquiry and Scholarship, University of Texas at San Antonio

Cultural Sociology, Social Theory, Sociology of Food, Sociology of Religion, Philosophy of Social Science, Economic Sociology, Sociology of Sport, Personalism, Existentialism, Cross-Disciplinary Research, and the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.

Dr. Kainer teaches the following courses at UIW:

• Soci 1311 Introduction to Sociology
• Soci 3345 Sociology of Religion
• Soci 3350 Sociology of Sport
• Soci 3381 Statistics for the Social Sciences
• Soci 3387 Sociological Theory
• Soci 3399 Sociology of Food
• Soci 3399 Social Science and the Purpose of Life
• FYE 1211 First-Year-Engagement