Dr. Elizabeth Ransom

Biography

Elizabeth Ransom is an Associate Professor in the School of International Affairs at Penn State University and a Senior Research Associate at the Rock Ethics Institute. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in sociology from Michigan State University and a B.A. from Western Carolina University. Prior to joining Penn State, Ransom served as a faculty member in Sociology at the University of Richmond from 2003 and was a research associate at the Institute for Theory and Practice in International Relations at the College of William and Mary from 2013 to 2017. Her research interests focus on international development and globalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, with particular attention to gender, political economy, agriculture, and food systems, as well as the social studies of science and technology. She has conducted research in Australia, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, and the United States. Ransom teaches graduate courses on international agriculture and food systems, development ethics, and globalization. Her work has been published in notable journals including Gender & Society and the Journal of Rural Studies, and she has co-edited significant books such as 'Rural America in a Globalizing World: Problems and Prospects' and 'Global Meat: Social and Environmental Consequences of an Expanding Meat Industry.'

Research Interests