Dylan Sears | Kansas State University

About Me

Dylan Sears is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology/criminology at Kansas State University, and is currently working on his dissertation. He has taught intro to sociology and youth and crime at Kansas State University and his ongoing research projects include an analysis of Kyle Rittenhouse’s rising celebrity as well as an exploration of the ongoing gentrification of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood district, also known as Black Wall Street through the lens of dark tourism and hauntology. His dissertation aims to explore the gentrification of Tulsa’s Greenwood in relation to the broader city of Tulsa and the various institutions involved.

Research Interests

Race & Ethnicity: Racial inequality in the United States, Whiteness in the United States, the rising tide of “layman’s physiognomy” on social media platforms, particularly X (formerly twitter).
Comparative-Historical Methods: Combining the use of primary and secondary historical sources alongside sociologically-informed ethnographic and textual analysis to better capture the present conjuncture.
Cultural Criminology: An interest in not only the causes and consequences of crime and deviant activity, but the contested meaning present within those behaviors and labels as well.

Updates

[November 2024] Presented “Violent Revitalization: Specters of Dark Tourism in Tulsa’s Greenwood” at American Society of Criminology Conference in San Francisco, CA.
[Fall 2024] Won American Society of Criminology, Division of Critical Criminology and Social Justice Graduate Student Paper Award for “Good Kid, Mad City: On the Political Meaning of Kyle Rittenhouse.”
[August 2024] Passed second preliminary sociology doctoral exam and advanced to Ph.D. Candidacy.
[Early 2024] Completed essay/chapter submission for “50 Facts Everyone Should Know About Police” for Bristol University Press.
[Early 2024] Completed work with Dr. Travis Linnemann on Oxford Encyclopedia of Critical and Cultural Criminology entry on Cultural Criminology.
[November 2023] Presented “Good Kid, Mad City: On the Political Meaning of Kyle Rittenhouse” at American Society of Criminology Conference in Philadelphia, PA.

Publications

Accepted

Sears, D. (2024). “The Police Have Often Attempted to Pre-empt Cases of Political and Religious Violence Through Covert Intelligence.” In M. Hart, J. B. Lamb, A. Lynes, J. Treadwell, & C. Kelly (Eds.), 50 Facts Everyone Should Know About the Police. Bristol University Press.
Linnemann, T. and Sears, D. (2024). “Cultural Criminology.” In K. D. Haggerty & L. Presser (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Critical and Cultural Criminological Theory. Oxford University Press.

Forthcoming/In-Progress

“Violent Revitalization: Specters of Dark Tourism in Tulsa’s Greenwood”
“Good Kid, Mad City: on the Political Meaning of Kyle Rittenhouse”

Teaching Experience

As Instructor:

Fall 2024: SOCIO 211 Intro to Sociology
Summer 2024: SOCIO 211 Intro to Sociology
Spring 2024: SOCIO 211 Intro to Sociology
Fall 2023: SOCIO 211 Intro to Sociology
Spring 2023: SOCIO 211 Intro to Sociology
Fall 2022: CRIM 460 Youth and Crime

As Teaching Assistant:

Spring 2022: Social Research Methods with Dr. Corina Medley
Fall 2021: Comparative Social Theories with Dr. Gerad Middendorf
Guest Lecture: Theodor Adorno and the Culture Industry
Fall 2021: Urban Sociology with Dr. Frank Weyher
Spring 2021: Intro to Sociology with Dr. Corina Medley
Fall 2020: Intro to Sociology with Dr. Jeremy Briggs