Professor Frank Wilson is an associate professor of Criminology at Indiana State University. He grew up in Ironton, Ohio. This is a small southern city with a population of a little over ten thousand people. Throughout his education, Professor Wilson has attained three degrees. His first degree was a bachelor’s in criminal justice at Ohio University. Secondly, he received a Master’s in criminal justice from Eastern Kentucky University, ending with a Ph.D. in criminal justice at Sam Houston State University. Professor Wilson has been a professor at Indiana State University for 15 years.
As a professor at Indiana State University, he currently teaches Introduction to Corrections (CRIM 210), Race and Crime CRIM (416), and Crime and Media (CRIM 416). Professor Wilson’s area of study includes criminology, but specifically within race and gender. There are a wide variety of methodologies used to study crime and the criminal justice system. Professor Wilson said, “I for example study crime and media with a specific focus on the historical impact of entertainment media depictions of police use of force on public perceptions.” Additionally, Frank Wilson has studied the Texas State Prison Cemetery for 11 years. He said, “Specifically, I focus on how the burial patterns and practices have impacted the over 4,000 buried in the cemetery.” Within his research, this cemetery became a Historical State Cemetery in 2012.
In relation to Indiana State University, Professor Wilson loves his ability to work with first generation college students that come to ISU. He said, “I am a first-generation college student raised by a single mother.” This adequately explains his passion for teaching first generation students. Professor Wilson also enjoys the flexibility of offering both in person and online courses. His favorite place on campus, like many other people, is either the fountain or George’s Café in the commons.
If Professor Wilson were to give advice to students, his best advice would be to genuinely enjoy your university experience. He said, “This is possibly the last time in your life you will get to spend each day exploring and questioning various parts of society.” In addition to this, Professor Wilson believes that it is important to explore different courses the University has to offer outside of your major. In his own personal experience, he stated that he took a photography class as an elective during his undergraduate degree which eventually led to a hobby and a research tool used within his research today.
Professor Wilson has an innate fondness for television and movies. Some of his favorite TV shows include: “’The Sandman’, ‘Discovery of Witches’, ‘Will Trent’, ‘Curse of Oak Island’, and ‘Expedition Unknown.’” He also has many different favorite movies, however, according to Wilson, “More recently it would be ‘Black Panther-Wakanda Forever’ and ‘Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.’” Professor Wilson also has many books that he believes everyone should read in their lifetime. Some of these include “The Power Elite” by C. Wright Mills, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Freire, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander. Not only does Professor Wilson enjoy watching programs and reading, but he also enjoys golfing, hiking, and photography.
