Preferred Pronouns
she/her
Educational History
Ph.D., M.A., Sociology; Graduate Certificate in College Teaching; Graduate Certificate in Gender, Women, and Sexualities Studies; B.A., Sociology and English, University of Iowa
Professional Highlights
My work focuses on structural inequalities, androsexism, and navigational strategies of stigmatized populations, including women who have reported sex-based discrimination, first-generation/working-class college students, and burlesque performers. My research has been published in Consuming Bodies: Body Commodification and Embodiment in Late Capitalist Societies, Teaching Sociology, and Advances in Gender Research. I have presented papers in progress at annual meetings of the American Sociological Association, Association of Black Sociologists, American Society of Criminology, Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, Association for Humanist Sociology, and Midwest Sociological Society. I currently serve as chair of the First Generation/Working-Class Issues Committee of the Midwest Sociological Society and have served as a peer reviewer for Gender and Society, Humanity and Society, and Social Forces. My teaching has been recognized at the national and institutional levels, including nomination for Faculty of the Year (Livingstone College, 2024) and receipt of the Keith Roberts Teaching Innovations Award (SAGE College Publishing, 2018) and Council on Teaching Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (University of Iowa, 2018). I particularly love working with students on individual research projects they find meaningful.
Personal Highlights
I like to be involved in my community and have recently joined the Winchester branch of the American Association for University Women (AAUW). I am also a new virtual ESL tutor with the Rowan County Literacy Council. On weekends I like to spend time with my partner and our cats in North Carolina, listen to audiobooks, and paddle flat water.
Fields of Expertise
My areas of formalized expertise are in gender, sexualities, and agency/structure, including criminological theory. I am trained in both qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Quote
Sociology can contribute to a living world, one where solidarity, healing, and growth exist, building communities of hope, justice and joy.” ~Joya Misra, ASA 2024 President Elect. Full meeting statement here: https://www.asanet.org/2024-annual-meeting/
“Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” ~Arundhati Roy (From The Pandemic is a Portal, Financial Times 2020: https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca)
“The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.” ~bell hooks (from Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom)