dr. TA (Thomas) Calkins III

Biography

Thomas Calkins (1980) is a lecturer at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Arts and Culture Studies department. He earned his BA (Magna Cum Laude), MA, and PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

He was awarded the 2019 Graduate Student Paper award from the UW-Milwaukee Sociology department for his publication in City & Community entitled "More Than Sound: Record Stores in Majority Black Neighborhoods in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Detroit, 1970 – 2010”.

He has published in a number of academic areas including: cultural sociology, sociology of culture, urban sociology, education, cultural and creative industries, and popular music. These publications appear in Poetics, Cultural Trends, Empirical Study of the Arts, City, and Culture and Society, among others.

Along with colleagues both in and outside of Erasmus, he has produced professional reports in the areas of music management, fair-pay for artists, cultural heritage, and matters facing musicians in popular music (AI adoption, mental health and well-being).

He uses quantitative, qualitative, GIS, and mixed methods to explore the linkages between cultural expression and wider society.

Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication

Lecturer | Department of Arts and Culture Studies
Email
calkins@eshcc.eur.nl

Work

  • Thomas Calkins III (10 March 2026) - Interview with Austrian Public Radio on Music and Digitization

  • Thomas Calkins III (2026) - EPJ Data Science (Journal) (Reviewer)
    Activity: Publication Peer-review Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III (2025) - Review of Education (Journal) (Reviewer)
    Activity: Publication Peer-review Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III, Iwona Gusc, Sergül Nguyen & Julia de Vogel (2024) - Bachelor Graduation Project Taskforce (Participant)
    Activity: Other Professional
  • Thomas Calkins III (2023) - Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication (Organisational unit) (Member)
    Activity: Membership of board Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III (2021) - Journal of Consumer Culture (Journal) (Reviewer)
    Activity: Publication Peer-review Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III (2020) - Journal of Consumer Culture (Journal) (Reviewer)
    Activity: Publication Peer-review Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III (2019) - It’s a Thin Line: Record Stores, Consumption, and Production in the City (Speaker)
    Activity: Invited talk Academic
  • Thomas Calkins III (2000) - F1000 Research (Journal) (Reviewer)
    Activity: Publication Peer-review Academic

Manag. of Cult. & Creat. Industr.

Level
BA-1
Year Level
BA-1
Year
2025
Course Code
CC1022

Social Science Research

Year Level
Pre-master, Pre-master, Pre-master
Year
2025
Course Code
CC1024

Introduction to Statistical Analysis

Year Level
Pre-master, BA-2, BA-2, Pre-master, BA-3, BA-3
Year
2025
Course Code
CC2010

Internship

Year Level
BA-2, BA-2
Year
2025
Course Code
CC2020

Globalisation, culture and place

Year Level
BA-2, BA-2, BA-3, BA-3, Pre-Master
Year
2025
Course Code
CC2053

Bachelor Graduation Project

Year Level
Pre-master, Pre-master, BA-3, Pre-master
Year
2025
Course Code
CC3003

RW Cultural Lifestyles and Participation

Year Level
BA-2, Other, BA-2, BA-3, BA-3
Year
2025
Course Code
CC3072

Master Thesis Class ACS

Level
MA
Year Level
MA
Year
2025
Course Code
CC4008

Applied Methods of A&C Research

Year Level
MA, MA-2
Year
2025
Course Code
CC4026

Master Thesis

Level
MA
Year Level
MA
Year
2025
Course Code
CC4050

Master Thesis

Level
MA
Year Level
MA
Year
2025
Course Code
CC4150

News regarding dr. TA (Thomas) Calkins III

ESHCC hosts international conference on music: 'We Want More: Music / Sociology!’

This April, the Rotterdam Popular Music Studies (RPMS) research cluster organised the international science conference ‘We Want More: Music / Sociology!’.
We Want More Music Sociology DJ set

BAM! Artist Monitor: almost half of Dutch pop musicians earn less than €5,000 per year

Many artists in the Dutch pop music sector experience considerable uncertainty, according to ESHCC researchers and BAM! Popauteurs.
Hand on mixing panel

'Fair pay on live performances should be introduced structurally'

ESHCC researchers investigated the Fair Pay Pilot: fair income for performing Dutch artists.
FIEP band performance

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