People

Jay Sokolovsky

Professor of Anthropology

CONTACT

Office: TER100
Phone: 727-873-4514
Email

Education

M.A., Pennsylvania State University
Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University

Bio

Dr. Jay Sokolovsky is passionate about making anthropology count. His research interests range from the anthropology of aging to globalization of indigenous Mexico and video documentation. Much of his career has been spent demonstrating the importance of anthropology in dealing with health issues related to homelessness, schizophrenia, dementia and chronic diseases. Sokolovsky has also used anthropology to help indigenous Mexican villages cope with globalization and created a documentary about the fight to preserve New York City community gardens, Urban Garden: Fighting for Life and Beauty.

Sokolovsky teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on topics like urban life and visual anthropology. He is the author of numerous articles and five books, including the award-winning volumes, The Cultural Context of Aging (2019) and Indigenous Mexico Engages the 21st Century (2015), which was the first fully multimedia-enabled book in anthropology, allowing readers to view daily activities and rituals, and giving students the opportunity to interact with individuals in the community via social media. In 2013, Sokolovsky was awarded the Textor Award for Anticipatory Anthropology by the American Anthropological Association for his pioneering research and publications.

Outside of academia, Sokolovsky can often be found training young players on the tennis courts. He remains active in the local tennis scene, serving as the first president of the St. Petersburg Tennis Center in South St. Pete.

RESEARCH

Anthropology of Aging, Psychological/Medical Anthropology, The Globalization of Indigenous Mexico, Urban Anthropology and Video Documentation.

Learn more about Sokolovsky’s research and publications.