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
- calkins@eshcc.eur.nl
More information
Work
- Thomas Calkins, Julian Schaap & Michael Berghman (2026) - Bridging nodes: How race/ethnicity affects the breadth of cultural tastes - Poetics. Journal of Empirical Research on Culture, the Media and the Arts(online), 115–116 - doi: 10.1016/j.poetic.2026.102091 - [link]
- Thomas Calkins & Britt Swartjes (2025) - From host to guest settings: how the music festival has changed over time - Cultural Trends - doi: 10.1080/09548963.2025.2576681 - [link]
- Thomas Calkins III, Yosha Wijngaarden, Pauwke Berkers & Dylan Thompson (2026) - What musicians do all day? Results from the artist monitor 2025. (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Thomas Calkins III (2026) - EPJ Data Science (Journal) (Reviewer)
Activity: Publication Peer-review › Academic - Thomas Calkins III & Pauwke Berkers (2026) - The mental health and well-being of musicians in the Dutch popular music sector: findings from the Artiesten Monitor 2025. (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Thomas Calkins III, Julian Schaap & Michael Berghman (2025) - Bridging Nodes: How Race/Ethnicity Affects the Breadth of Cultural Tastes (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Pauwke Berkers, Frank Kimenai & Thomas Calkins III (2025) - Live aid: The social impact and financial implications of fair pay for live concerts (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Thomas Calkins III & Britt Swartjes (2025) - Urban Inequality and Festivalization. (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › 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 - Britt Swartjes & Thomas Calkins III (2024) - Music Festivals and the City: How Festivalisation is Shaped by Urban Inequalities (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › Academic - Thomas Calkins III, Michael Berghman & Julian Schaap (2024) - Race and the Breadth of Cultural Tastes (Speaker)
Activity: Oral presentation › 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
