Mary Ann Lamanna is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Her research and teaching interests include family, reproduction, gender and law. Other research includes the sociology of literature -- specifically "novels of terrorism" -- and a sociological analysis of Marcel Proust's novel IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. In addition to numerous articles in law, sociology and medical humanities journals, Dr. Lamanna is the author of EMILE DURKHEIM ON THE FAMILY (Sage, 2002) and co-author of a book on Vietnamese refugees. She received her bachelor's degree Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University (St. Louis) in political science, her master's degree in sociology (minor in psychology) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and her doctorate in sociology from the University of Notre Dame.