CONTACT
SUNY Westchester Community College
Department of Social Sciences
75 Grasslands Road
Valhalla, NY 10595
Classroom Building #27
zachary.sunderman@sunywcc.edu
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Sociology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY (2021)
Committee Chair: Jeffrey C. Goldfarb, Ph.D.
Advisors: Rachel Sherman, Ph.D., Robin Wagner-Pacifici, Ph.D., and Deva Woodly, Ph.D.
Dissertation: Can a Man Condemn Himself?: The Existential Dilemmas of White Allyship
M.A., Sociology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY (2015)
B.A., Social Science, Hiram College, Hiram, OH (2012)
Major focus: Communication
POSITIONS HELD
*Currently held*Instructor of Sociology (2024-present)
Department of Social Sciences, SUNY Westchester Community College
Assistant Research Scientist (Spring 2024)
Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh
Assistant Professor of Sociology (2022-24)
Department of Academics, Eastern Gateway Community College
Division Chair of Sociology, History, and Political Science (2019-24)
Department of Academics, Eastern Gateway Community College
Instructor in Sociology (full time) (2018-22)
Department of Academics, Eastern Gateway Community College
Adjunct Lecturer (2017)
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, CUNY College of Staten Island
PUBLICATIONS: BOOKS
Sunderman, Zachary V. 2024. Dilemmas of Allyship: White Anti-Racists and the Challenges of Social Justice. New York: Routledge.
WORKS IN PROGRESS: ARTICLES
Sunderman, Zachary V. "The Sociology of Dilemma in the Case of White Allyship." (Under review)
WORKS IN PROGRESS: BOOKS
Sunderman, Zachary V. Other Power. (In development)
CONFERENCES: PAPERS PRESENTED
Sunderman, Zachary V. 2025. “Solidarity and Contemporary Identity Politics: Considering the Dilemmas of Allyship in Greater Political Context.” Invited presentation at the 18th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, panel on “Solidarities Across Power and Difference: Challenges and Possibilities,” Bologna, Italy, August.
Sunderman, Zachary V. 2025. “The Sociology of Dilemma in the Case of White Allyship.” Presentation at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, panel on “The Politics of Racism and Anti-Racism: Racial Processes Across Institutions,” Chicago, IL, August.
Sunderman, Zachary V. 2011. “Rhetorical Justice: Bush Administration Fear Appeals and the Justification of Human Rights Violations Committed by the United States.” Presentation at the 75th Annual Meetings of the Ohio Communication Association, panel on “Rhetorical Justice and Tea Party Discourse: Collective Perspectives on the Republican Party,” Findlay, OH, September.
CONFERENCES: AS DISCUSSANT
March 31, 2018. “Authentic Myths, Fabricated Truths, and the Ordering of Society”: Annual Sociology Student Conference, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY. Discussant for panel on “Discourse and Hierarchies in Media."
March 31, 2018. “Authentic Myths, Fabricated Truths, and the Ordering of Society”: Annual Sociology Student Conference, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY. Discussant for panel on “Digital Communities: Knowledge and Ideology.”
March 14, 2018. “Peter L. Berger, His Biography and His Sociology: A Memorial Retrospective.” CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY. Discussant for presentation “Sociology Meets Biography: Peter Berger and the Social Construction of Both Continuous and Discontinuous Selves” by Eviatar Zerubavel and supplementary paper by Thomas DeGloma.
OTHER PRESENTATIONS & APPEARANCES
“Sociology and Leadership.” SUNY Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY, October 23, 2025. Invited talk before the Philosophia Honors Society.
“Black Lives Matter and White Allyship.” The New School, New York, NY, April 24, 2018. Invited appearance in the series "Disrupting Injustice: An Action Plan to Mobilize Social Change Within Psychology" in conversation with Shanelle Matthews, former Director of Communications for Black Lives Matter.
COURSES TAUGHT
*Also designed course
SUNY Westchester Community College (2024-present):
*Introduction to Sociology
*Honors Introduction to Sociology
Sociology of Families (online only)
Eastern Gateway Community College (2018-24):
*Introduction to Sociology
*Social Problems
Sociology of Marriage and Family (online only)
College of Staten Island (2017):
*Introduction to Sociology
MEMBERSHIPS & APPOINTMENTS
American Sociological Association (2021-present)
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (2024-present)
European International Studies Association (2025-26)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Peer reviewer for:
Book proposals in sociology and politics, Routledge (2024-present)
Journal: Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change
Reader for papers in sociology, Beacon Conference (2025)
HONORS & AWARDS
Professional:
Honored faculty, Eastern Gateway Community College (2023)
Graduate study:
Prize Fellowship, The New School for Social Research (2015-18)
High pass, Master's comprehensive examination (2015)
Undergraduate study:
Summa cum laude
Alpha Society, Hiram College (2011-12)
Lambda Pi Eta (Zeta Lambda chapter), National Communication Association (2011-12)
Top Undergraduate Paper, Ohio Communication Association (2011)
ADDITIONAL WRITINGS (SELECTED)
Substack @zvsphd:
"Ambivalence Marocaine" (February 5, 2025)
Public Seminar:
"America the Troubled" (November 12, 2016)
"On Dylan Anxiety" (October 16, 2016)
"The Disability Paradox" (October 14, 2015)
"The Utopia of Art" (July 5, 2015)
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
Editor, Public Seminar (2014-18)
Research Assistant, Public Seminar (2013-14)
Contract research work for CoraGroup including collection and analysis of qualitative data (2014)
AREAS OF RESEARCH & INTEREST
Sociological approaches to selfhood and identity
Sociologies of knowledge and culture
Existential sociology and philosophy
Discourse, rhetoric, semiotics, and hermeneutics
Social movements and politics
Qualitative/interpretive methods
