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Franklin T. Wilson Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Criminology and Security Studies
Holmstedt Hall 230
Email: Frank.Wilson@indstate.edu
Twitter: @DrFrankWilson
LinkedIn: Dr. Frank Wilson
Education
2006 Ph.D., Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University
2000 M.S., Criminal Justice, Eastern Kentucky University
1993 B.A., Criminal Justice, Ohio University
1993 A.A.S., Law Enforcement Technology, Ohio University
Areas of Expertise
Mass Incarceration
Crime and Media
Death Penalty
Race and Gender
Current Research Interests
Entertainment Media Depictions of Police Use of Force
Prison Cemeteries (Historical)
Race, Class and Crime Issues
New Visual Media Research Methodologies
Select Honors and Distinctions
2020 Named one of the Top 20 Influencers in Criminology by Cronycle |
2019 Invited to Serve as a “Criminal Justice Research Institute Doctoral Student Research and Teaching Mentor” Criminal Justice Research Institute Texas Southern University (October 16, 2019). |
2019 State of Opportunity in America Summit Invitee - This event is conducted by The Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO), a Washington, D.C.-based research and education initiative created by a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Charles Koch Foundation, and Koch Industries. Summit focused on At Risk Communities and the role of education and criminal justice. Only 200 scholars, entrepreneurs, civic and private leaders invited to take part. April 14th-16th, 2019 |
2017 Named one of fifteen Top Criminology and Criminal Justice Professors on Twitter by OnlineEducation.com |
2014 Keynote Speaker – Annual Meeting of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) |
2010 Indiana State University Tenure Track International Faculty Award |
2005 Outstanding Leadership Award, College of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State University, Spring 2005 Semester. |
Select Publications
Wilson, F. T., Schaefer, B. P., Blackburn, A. G., & Henderson, H. (2019). Cultivating police use of force perceptions through cinema: Maintaining the racial divide?. Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society, 20(3), 1-22. (Criminology, Criminal Justice, Law & Society is the official journal of the Western Society of Criminology)
Wilson, F. T., Schaefer, B. P., Blackburn, A. G., & Henderson, H. (2019). Symbolically annihilating female police officer capabilities: Cultivating gendered police use of force expectations?. Women & Criminal Justice, DOI: ttps://doi.org/10.1080/08974454.2019.1588837
Wilson, F. T. (2015). Crime and Media Studies: Diversity of Method, Medium, and Communication (1st Ed.). San Diego, CA: Cognella Academic Publishing.
Wilson, F. T. & Henderson, H. (2014). The criminological cultivation of African American municipal police officers: Sambo or sellout. Race and Justice: An International Journal 4(1), 45-67. (Race and Justice is the official journal of the American Society of Criminology Division on People of Color and Crime)
Wilson, F. T. & Blackburn, A.G. (2014). The depiction of female police officers in the first forty years of the core cop film genre: It’s a man’s world. Women and Criminal Justice 24(2), 83-105.
Wilson, F. T., Longmire, D., & Swymeler, W. (2009). The absence of gay and lesbian police officer depictions in the first three decades of the core cop film genre: Moving towards a cultivation theory perspective. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 16(1), 27-39.
Wilson, F. T., (2009). Identifying large replicable film populations in social science film research: A unified film population identification methodology. Criminal Justice and Law Review Journal, 1(1) (June), 19-40.
Cho, Y. & Wilson, F.T. (2008). Terrorism and media in Korea. Journal of the Institute of Justice & International Studies, 8, 89-98.
Henderson, H. & Wilson, F. T. (2008). Seeking reasonableness in use of force cases: Analysis of judicial parameters. Contemporary Issues in Criminology and the Social Sciences, 2 (3), 91-110.
Wilson, F. T. (2004). Out of sight out of mind: An analysis of Kansas v. Crane and the fine line between civil and criminal sanctions. The Prison Journal, 84, 362-379. Wilson Out of Sight.pdf (indstate.edu)
Invited Keynote Addresses, Guest Lectures, Panel Discussant, and Program Chair Positions
2020 Panel Discussant - Indiana State University Athletics Department Social Justice/Racism Panel. Invited by Indiana State University Athletics Department (November 8, 2020) | |
2020 Panel Discussant - ‘Cops on Film’. Invited by the California State University San Bernardino Pfau Library’s Conversations on Race and Policing. (August 25, 2020) | ![]() |
2019 Lecture - Researching the Largest Prison Graveyard in the United States. Invited by University of New South Wales Center for Crime, Law and Justice. (December 3, 2019). | |
2018 Panel Discussant - Police and the Media Panel. Invited by the Department of Criminology at the University of West Georgia. (October 24, 2018). | ![]() |
2018 Lecture - Stories from Peckerwood Hill: Exploring the History of Mass Incarceration and Punishment in the United States Through Its Largest Prison Cemetery. Invited by the University of Westminster, London, England. (March 12, 2018) | |
2018 Lecture - Stories from Peckerwood Hill. Presented at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Invited by the Indiana University Criminal Justice Student Association. (October 11, 2018). | |
2017 Program Chair for the Special Topic Area “Media and Crime” for the 2017 Annual Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Conference. Kansas City, Missouri. Invited by Dr. Lorenzo Boyd President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. (March, 2017) | |
2016 Round Table Discussant by the Criminal Justice Research Alliance - How to Talk to the Media About Your Research at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, New Orleans, LA. (November 18, 2016). Invited by the American Society of Criminology | |
2016 Workshop Instructor with Caitlin Kizielewicz of the Criminal Justice Research Alliance - How to Effectively Share Your Findings and Expertise with National Media Outlets at the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, New Orleans, LA. (November 15, 2016). Invited by the American Society of Criminology | |
2015 Lecture - What Forty Years of Cop Films Can Tell Us About Racism, White Privilege, and Ferguson. Invited presentation given at St. Francis College, Brooklyn, New York. Invited by the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice at St. Francis College, New York and sponsored by the Center for Crime and Popular Culture. (February 2015) | ![]() |
2014 Keynote Speaker - African American City Police Officers are Good for Comedic Entertainment Only - At Least That's What the Movies Tell Us. Keynote Address presented at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Annual Conference. Invited by Joseph C. Akers Executive Director of NOBLE and Introduced by Dr. Cedric L. Alexander NOBLE National First Vice President. | ![]() |
2013 Lecture - Compassion and the Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery. Presentation was part of the two-day remembrance ceremony for the Captain Joe Byrd Prison Cemetery in Huntsville, TX. Invited by Yaira Robinson, Associate Director of the Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy. (November, 2013) | ![]() |
2013 Program Chair for the Special Topic Area “Media and Crime” for the 2013 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Annual Conference. Dallas, Texas. Invited by Dr. Craig Hemmens President of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. (March, 2013) | |
2013 Lecture - Peckerwood Hill: Americas Common Ground. Speech Presented to the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University. Invited by Dr. Della C. Cook Department of Anthropology Indiana University (February, 2013) |
Select Media Appearances
General Interviews
Prison Cemetery Research
2014 The Texas Observer 11 March 2014 Laid to Rest in Huntsville |
2013 The Monitor 8 November 2013 For Prisoners and Families, Burials with Dignity |
2013 Texas Tribune 8 November 2013 For Prisoners and Families, Burials with Dignity |
2013 New York Times 7 November 2013 For Prisoners and Families, Burials with Dignity |
2013 TIFA Contact: Official News Letter for Texas Inmate Families Association 2 November 2013 Faith Community Calls Texans to “Remembrance” of Those Who Die in Prison |
2013 Texas Interfaith Center for Public Policy 2 November 2013 In Remembrance 2013: Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, Huntsville |
2012 The Republic (Columbus, Indiana) 7 August 2012; Curiosity Spurs Criminologist to Document History of Texas Prison Cemetery |
2012 The Courier of Montgomery County 5 August 2012: America's Common Ground |
2012 Bloomington Herald Times 5 August 2012: Criminologist Documents Story of Largest Prison Cemetery in US |
2012 UPI 4 August 2012: Historic Prison Cemetery Filling Up |
2012 Houston Chronicle 4 August 2012: Eternity's Gate Slowly Closing at Peckerwood Hill |
2012 Huntsville Item 17 July 2012: SHSU Alumnus Writing Book on Prison Cemetery |
2012 Sam Houston State University College of Criminal Justice News 16 June 2012: Alumnus Unearths Stories from Prison Graveyard |
2012 Sociological Images 24 February 2012: Prisons, Social Class, and One’s Final Resting Place |
2012 John Jay College Center on Media, Crime and Justice The Crime Report 5 January 2012: Texas Maintains Larges Prison Grave Yard: 2100 Burials So Far |
2012 Grits for Breakfast Blog 5 January 2012: Texas Prison Burials are a Gentle Touch in a Punitive System |
2012 Pittsburg Post-Gazette 5 January 2012: Texas Prisoner Burials Are a Gentle Touch in a Punitive System |
2012 U.S. Catholic 4 January 2012: Dignity in Death for those Who Die in Prison |
2012 New York Times 4 January 2012: Texas Prisoner Burials Are a Gentle Touch in a Punitive System |
Cop Film Research
Experience
2014 – Present Associate Professor
School of Criminology and Security Studies
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, Indiana
2008 – 2014 Assistant Professor
School of Criminology and Security Studies
Indiana State University
Terre Haute, Indiana
2006 – 2008 Assistant Professor
Department of Criminal Justice
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, Missouri
2005-2006 Assistant Professor
Department of Criminal Justice Administration
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
2004-2005 Doctoral Teaching Assistant
College of Criminal Justice
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, Texas
2002-2004 Doctoral Research Assistant
Texas Correctional Office on Offenders with Mental or Medical Impairments
Texas Department of Criminal Justice
Huntsville, Texas
2000-2002 Doctoral Research Assistant
National Institute for Victim Studies
Huntsville, Texas
Courses Taught
CRIM 416 Crime and Media
CRIM 416 Race and Crime
CRIM 396 Research Methods
CRIM 200 Criminology