She earned a B.A. from SUNY Geneseo in Sociology and an M.A. from the University of Arizona (also in Sociology). She expects to earn her Ph.D. in Sociology from Arizona in December of 2011. Lorien's primary interest is in teaching and learning in sociology and her research interests include culture, deviance, and symbolic interaction. Her current research explores the content of introductory textbooks in sociology and the implications for scholarly research.