Teaching Assistant Professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Heritage Hall 460K
(205) 934-8679

Research and Teaching Interests: Social movements, Political sociology, Culture, Social inequality, Qualitative methods

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• BA, Haverford College, Anthropology
• MPA, Washington State University, Public Affairs
• MA, University of California Irvine, Sociology
• PhD, University of California Irvine, Sociology

As a teaching professor, my goal is to provide students an academic foundation to embark on their own expedition into the field of sociology. By activating our sociological imaginations, we can recognize the interconnections between society and our own individual experiences. By cultivating our knowledge of past and present social realities, we become more equipped to understand our social world and potentially change it for the better.

My own academic journey has been a winding road. After earning my BA, I entered the workforce never considering the possibility of graduate education. Through my employment in human resources in a higher education setting, I had the opportunity to use a tuition waiver to complete a Master’s of Public Affairs degree. I then embarked into forays in activism and administrative work in government, industry, and nonprofit settings. Later, with a renewed desire to learn, I returned to graduate school and earned my PhD in Sociology from the University of California Irvine where I specialized in social movements, political sociology, culture, and qualitative methods. My dissertation examined movement-party relationships during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. I focused on two major electoral cleavages — race and LGBTQ rights — and compared the success of opposing movements of the political left and right in shaping electoral agendas. This work demonstrated how factors including the political environment, competitiveness of the primary contest, and pressure of organized interests all shaped movements’ differential levels of electoral incorporation.

Here at UAB, I teach undergraduate sociology courses (both face-to-face and online) and online courses in the MA in Sociology program. I am also the Sociology Internship Director for undergraduate internships. Internships provide an ideal opportunity to gain valuable hands-on work experience and apply your academic learning to the real world. Please reach out if you are a sociology or medical sociology major or minor and are interested in pursuing an internship!