Work and Education

· Kim Scipes voluntarily enlisted in the US Marine Corps, and served from 1969-1973, although fortunately staying in the States all four years. He received an Honorable Discharge with the rank of Sergeant (E-5).

· Completing his undergraduate education that he began while on active duty, he attended Florida State University in Tallahassee between 1973-75, and graduated with a BS, cum laude, in Criminology.

· Not satisfied with his college career, Scipes spent several years (1975-79), traveling around the country (usually by thumb and motorcycle), and working at a number of odd jobs.

· In 1979, Scipes began working in the printing trades in the San Francisco Bay Area. He worked in print binderies and eventually worked on printing presses themselves. He spent 1980-82 working in Tennessee and Kentucky, trying to organize workers into unions. In 1982, he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area. If it involves putting ink on paper, he has done it. He left the trades in 1988.

· In 1988, Scipes began working as a substitute and later full-time teacher in urban high schools in Contra Costa County, California (generally around Richmond). He taught US History, Economics, and Sociology.

· In August 1990, Scipes began his graduate work in Development Studies (basically, “Third World” Development) at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in The Hague, The Netherlands. The ISS had students and staff from over 120 countries all in one building! He was awarded a MA in Development Studies from the Program of Alternative Development Studies in December 1991.

· Returning to the US, Scipes again returned to the Bay Area and began teaching full-time in January 1992 at El Cerrito High School in El Cerrito, CA.

· He left teaching in the Summer of 1992 and began working as a temporary office worker. He did that full-time for a year, and would later turn to temping throughout his educational career to support himself and his family

· In August 1993, Scipes began his Ph.D. studies in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He studied there for one year, and then took a leave of absence to get his new wife into the US.

· In August 1995, Scipes transferred to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he completed his Ph.D. in 2003.

· Kim Scipes was appointed Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology at Purdue University North Central (PNC), Westville, Indiana, USA in August 2004.