Jonas Adams
Research Interests: Environmental Sociology; Urban Sociology; Law and Society; Political Ecology; Historical Sociology; Theory
Pronouns: he/him
Education:
MA, Sociology, University at Buffalo
BA, Sociology, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Bio: Jonas Adams is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University at Buffalo. His research examines the social and material construction of place, focusing on how social, legal and ecological dynamics shape the development and redevelopment of cities of different sizes. His work also explores the historical development of popular and academic ideas about cities, nature and their relationship through projects of urban ecological design.
Recent Courses Taught:
- SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
- SOC 293: Social Research Methods
- SOC 315: Sociology of City Life
- SOC 330: Cinematic Sociology
Publications:
- Adams, Jonas. Forthcoming. “Reporting Revitalization: Local Newspaper Portrayals of Economic Change in a Small Rustbelt City.” Urban Affairs Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/10780874261475339
- Adams, Jonas. 2025. “Becoming Uniquely Urban: A Small City’s Socio-Environmental Development Since 1945.” City & Community 24(4): 289-311. https://doi.org/10.1177/15356841251341260
Conference Presentations:
- “Litigating Rationality: Defining Environmental Legal Compliance in a Case of Contested Urban Development.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2026.
- “Envisioning ‘City’ and ‘Nature’ Across Three Moments of Roadway Development in Buffalo, NY.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY, 2026.
- “Nature’s Downtown: Regional Landscape Revalorization and Small City Growth in the Rustbelt.” Environmental Sociology Mini Conference at the Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 2026.
- “Future Projections of ‘City’ and ‘Nature’ in the Making of a Rust Belt Road.” “The Milton Plesur Conference: A Celebration of Interdisciplinary Scholarship and Cross-Departmental Conversations,” Department of History, University at Buffalo, 2026.
- “No Toxic Tunnel: Legal Mobilization and Growth Politics in Buffalo, NY’s Kensington Highway Redevelopment.” Law and Society Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2025.
- “Where Does Environmental Sociological Data Come From, Really? A Review of Existing Literature and an Argument for a Post-Positivist Agenda.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL, 2025.
- “The Uniquely Local City of Visitors: Media Reimaginations of City Experiences and Community for Growth.” Community and Urban Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association Virtual Mini Conference, “Building Communities in Research and Practice,” 2024.
- “Uniquely Urban? A Small City’s Socio-Environmental Development Since 1945.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC, 2024.
- “Producing Environmental Ignorance in Urban Change Processes.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2023.
Email: jonasada@buffalo.edu
CV: Jonas Adams' CV