His teaching interests focus on race and ethnic relations, immigration, sociology of war, and research methods. His primary research agenda examines the social integration of Latino immigrants into the American South, as well as examining how individuals and people use color-blind language to justify racist actions and policies. He also studies issues of postmodern cultural shifts in the United States and abroad concerning the rise of craft beer, "legal moonshine," and fair trade coffee. Most recent book publications include authoring Building Inequality: Race, Ethnicity, and Latino Immigration in the Atlanta Construction Industry; Being Brown in Dixie: Race, Ethnicity, and Latino Immigration in the New South; and the editing of Race and Racism in the United States (4 volume encyclopedia); and Untapped: The Cultural Dimensions of Craft Beer.