Fall 2022 Sociology Newsletter |
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Hello from FSU Sociology! I hope that you had a wonderful fall and enjoyed the holiday season. Due to some unfortunate technical/bureaucratic hang-ups, this newsletter is reaching you well over one month later than we had initially intended. We have lots of great news to share with you, though, so I hope it will have been worth the wait!
I am happy to report that things have been going very well for us here. Sociology faculty, staff and students continue to excel in their work, winning competitive awards and honors, receiving excellent course evaluations, publishing research in top-tier journals and academic presses, receiving numerous grants and contracts, and taking on leadership roles within the university and the larger academic discipline. Over the course of Summer and Fall, we also graduated over 50 undergraduate students, ten master's students and four PhD students.
In addition to this amazing work, we have been deeply involved throughout this semester in the process of hiring new faculty members. This work is ongoing, but we hope to welcome several new tenure-track assistant professors and a specialized teaching professor to our department in fall of 2023. We are incredibly excited by this opportunity and can't wait to see how our department grows!
We also are truly grateful for the continued support we have received from our alumni and friends. Our fourth annual fundraising campaign was a great success! Thank you to everyone who contributed to that campaign or at other times throughout the year. Each gift is having a substantial, direct impact on FSU Sociology students, helping us to support them in ways we otherwise could not (e.g. recruitment efforts, awards, extra technology and software resources, supplemental training and workshops, etc.). Your support has been crucial to our success! Please continue to keep the Department in mind as you consider ways to give back (Donate to FSU Sociology).
Please read further into this newsletter to learn about the achievements, awards, and recognitions recently garnered by our Sociology community. I also encourage you to keep up with the Department on Facebook (FSU Sociology), where we provide updates, as well as links to many of the newspaper articles, magazines, and online media sites that quote or discuss the work of FSU Sociology members. Finally, make sure to check out the College of Social Science and Public Policy's online blog, "Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions," which features compelling new scholarship (often by sociologists!) that is useful and relevant to the work of academics, policy makers, and community leaders, as well as to the lives of those in the general public.
In closing, I invite you to share updates about your own accomplishments and life events in our next newsletter by contacting me at ktillman@fsu.edu or sending us your information through this survey form.
May your holidays be happy and safe, and the new year bring much joy to your lives!
Kathi Tillman
Professor and Chair of Sociology
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- Meet Our New Graduate Students
- Meet Our Recent Graduates
- Grad Student On the Job Market
- Alumni Spotlight
- Faculty Spotlight
- Student Spotlight
- SWS Update
- AKD Update
- Newsworthy News
- Thank You to Our Donors
- Celebrations
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Meet Our New Graduate Students |
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The 2022 Incoming Cohort
Left to Right: Levi Mitzen, David Okunlola, Brianna Soulie,
Sally Warren, Jing Zhang, and Mwedusasa-bety Mtenga
Not pictured: Bridgett Birmingham and Melissa Frost
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Levi Mitzen is interested in Social Movements, Political Sociology, and Cultural Sociology. He holds a BA in Anthropology and Sociology and MA in Sociology from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.
David A. Okunlola is interested in Social Demography, Health Demography, and Social Statistics. He holds a BSc and MSc in Demography and Social Statistics from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
Brianna Soulie is interested in Life course and Aging research and Gender studies. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from Florida State University.
Sally Warren is interested in Medical Sociology, Gender and Sexualities, and Policy Analysis. She holds a MA in Sociology from Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, TN.
Jing Zhang is interested in social stratification, social mobility, and Asian Americans’ intergenerational mobility. She holds a BA and MA in Sociology from Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
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Mwedusasa-bety Mtenga is interested in health related public policy, disparities in policy implementation, social determinants of health, and health outcome disparities. She holds a B.A. in History from Florida State University and a Masters of Public Health (MPH) from Florida A & M University. She has over seven years of experience as an epidemiologist with the Florida Department of Health in health surveillance and informatics.
Bridgett Birmingham is interested in Social Inequalities, Policies and Outcomes, and the Diaspora. She holds a BA from Florida A&M University in English Literature and a MS in Information Science from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.
Melissa Frost is interested in medical sociology, health and aging, and disparities of military veterans. She holds a bachelor and master of public health from Florida State University and works as an epidemiologist in HIV/AIDS prevention.
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Meet our Summer and Fall 2022 PhD Graduates |
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Pierce Dignam
Dissertation: A Digital Liminality Framework: How News Comment Sections Facilitate Identity-Based Liminal Engagement Within Politicized Digital Environments
Dr. Dignam’s work focuses on the nexus between masculinity, collective identities, digital social movements, and liminal behavior. His dissertation investigated the political impact of news site comment sections through an analysis of the liminal behavior that occurs on these sites. This work establishes a “digital liminality framework” to serve as an explanation for the continued emergence of liminal behavior within digital spaces. Under this framework, he finds that right-wing American political spaces are far more adept at maintaining emotionally resonate and liminally-engaging online spaces than their left-wing counterparts, primarily through an efficient use of discursive tactics that keep users well-connected with political rhetoric. This has numerous implications for the future of political messaging and our understanding of liminal spaces in an increasingly digital age.
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Dr. Dignam is currently performing consulting work as a data analyst for the United Vision Project, a progressive effort through an alliance of non-profit organizations with the ultimate goal of tackling American political polarization through voter outreach. He also contributes to the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism, which he helped cofound to address the rising threat of male supremacist movements.
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Shawn Gaulden
Dissertation: Misinformation, Leading Tasks, and Echo Chambers Within the #NeverTrump and #NeverHillary Movements."
Chair - Dr. Deana Rohlinger
Dr. Gaulden uses both qualitative and quantitative methods to study social movements, social networks, and social media. To date, he has published papers in Social Movement Studies, Emerald Studies in Media and Communication, and Social Inclusion and Usability of ICT-Enabled Service.
Dr. Gaulden's dissertation examined the spread of misinformation among online social movements, its diffusion by social bots and online users, and the leadership tasks among central users within movement networks during the 2016 presidential election. Using network, bot, and content analysis, he finds a heavy presence of social bots within Twitter networks and widespread misinformation within political networks. Dr. Gaulden's current research interests include studying how social movements navigate the opportunities and barriers that accompany contemporary information and communication technologies.
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Dr. Gaulden is currently a Data Scientist at Knowli Data Science.
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R. Kyle Saunders
Dissertation: Healthcare Stereotype Threat and LGBT Well-Being Across the Life Course
Dr. Dawn Carr
Dr. Saunders’s research since joining FSU has dealt with the processes and mechanisms that undermine and promote well-being for sexual and gender minorities (SGMs). His projects have been published in Society and Mental Health, The Gerontologist, and Demography. Dr. Saunders' research has focused on important questions about mental health at various stages of the lifecourse. His topics of study span from an exploration of religious affiliation changes and mental health among sexual and gender minorities (SGMs) in young adulthood to the differential effects social support sources on mental health among SGMs in late-life.
Dr. Saunders' dissertation contributes to the literature by establishing evidence for a novel instrument called "healthcare stereotype threat" and its effect on the well-being of SGMs. First, he explores how this instrument maintains its significant and adverse effect on well-being, net of other established health factors such as experiencing discrimination and stigma. Then Dr. Saunders shows how the effect of healthcare stereotype threat on well-being varies across birth cohorts of SGMs. Throughout both papers, he highlights how the effects of health care stereotype threat are more consequential for the well-being of trans people than for the well-being of other SGM individuals.
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Dr. Saunders is currently a Consultant for Knowli Corp, and is in negotiations for a full-time position. He will be leading a new Dashboard that will examine health inequities in Florida across social groups as well as a contributing member of an evaluation team examining the outcomes of an intervention program aimed at improving Black maternal health.
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Dissertation: How are Florida Colleges and Universities “Serving” Hispanic Undergraduate Students? – Testing a Latent Variable
Chair - Dr. Miles Taylor
In Dr. Ramirez Surmeier's dissertation, she created and tested a construct of what it means to “serve” undergraduate Hispanic students attending Florida post-secondary institutions using structural equation modeling (SEM). She found that having Hispanic students, faculty, staff, and leaders are all independently and significantly important to having “Hispanic representation” on campus. In turn, Hispanic representation has a significant positive effect on Hispanic student success. Her current research projects include a systematic review of sexual health among college students and a follow-up on her dissertation examining the extent to which the curriculum in Florida's State University System Institutions represents the Hispanic population.
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Meet Our Summer and Fall 2022 MS Graduates |
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JoVontae Butts (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Voting Behavior In An Era of Turbulent Race Relations: Revisiting The Effects of Church Attendance On Turnout”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Katrinell Davis
Rebekah Carpenter (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “The Effect of Occupational Segregation on Individual Earnings for Older Workers: The Impact of Gender and Education”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Dawn Carr
Tara Henry (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “The Cost of Pursuing Beauty: Gender, Beauty Work, and Mental Health”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Patricia Homan
André Vaughn Ivey (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Reentry Workers' Construction of Moral Selves”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Doug Schrock
Sunshine Jacobs (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Investigating Acculturation Patterns amongst non-Hispanic Mexican Americans”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Mathew Hauer
Madeline Levey (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Pregnancy Tracking Technology, Obstetric Normality, and the Production of the Datafied Pregnant Cyborg: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Bloomlife Pregnancy Tracker”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Miranda Waggoner
Christine Matragrano (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Understanding Women Trump supporters: Constructing and Signifying Political Identity”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Doug Schrock
Siriruay (Ploy) Methakitwarun (Summer 2022)
Thesis: “Immigrant Generation, Home Leaving, and Parent-child Relationships”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Kathi Tillman
Destiny Reices (Fall 2022)
Thesis: “Gendered Contradictions in the Perception and Practice of Housework among Dual-Career Women and Men During Remote Work Experience”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Paromita Sanyal
Jordan W. Scott (Fall 2022)
Thesis: “Neoliberalising State Retirement: Market Dependence, State Autonomy, and the Florida Retirement System”
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Sourabh Singh
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Graduate Students On the Job Market |
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Kristen Amaya
Kristen is a doctoral candidate researching U.S.-Latinx populations using qualitative methods. Her dissertation focuses on the lived experiences of Central American immigrants living in the United States and analyzes their forms of identity construction through in-depth interviewing. Kristen applies a critical approach to Latinx immigration through a lens of neocolonialism and considers the historical and political contexts that have led to the present-day border "crisis." Her master's research explored Latinx-Americans who do not speak Spanish and the interactive strategies they use to communicate their ethnoracial identities.
Her teaching experience includes Introductory Sociology, Sociology of Marriage and the Family, Sociological Theory, and Special Topics: Sociology of U.S. Latinos.
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Isamar is a doctoral candidate who studies racial inequality, policy, and the school-to-prison pipeline, with a particular focus on inequality and policing in schools.
Her dissertation uses a comprehensive police assessment that she designed in order to obtain in-depth interview data from high school girls. She uses this interview data to better understand the influence of police brutality videos on teenaged girls’ perceptions of police.
Other recent projects include content analysis of school handbooks to investigate how racism and sexism are woven into school policies in ways that make Black female students particularly vulnerable to school police violence.
Isamar also has notable teaching experience, including designing unique syllabi, assignments, and course materials for her own Social Problems course. In addition to teaching face-to-face, the recent pandemic prompted her to gain experience in designing online and hybrid courses, including an online Sociology of Marriage and the Family course.
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Tyler is a doctoral candidate researching how early-life circumstances shape health and well-being in future life stages, through nonmaterial resources like social relationships and psychological resilience. His dissertation employs a life course perspective to understand how the associations between psychological resilience and physical health vary across racial and ethnic groups in early adulthood, and whether disproportionate disadvantage in early life explains observed variations in these resilience-health linkages.
Tyler also is experienced in conducting research in applied settings. He is a data analyst for Knowli Data Science (2021-present) and is currently evaluating a pilot program aimed at reducing racial inequalities in maternal morbidity.
Before pursuing his Ph.D., Tyler managed the Campus Recreation Employability Study, a longitudinal study of student-employees across 30 colleges and universities.
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Cherish Michael
Cherish is a doctoral candidate whose dissertation examines sociological explanations for gender differences in chronic pain. Her areas of expertise include medical sociology, gender, aging and health (especially ageism), and sociology of the body & embodiment.
Cherish's recent publications include an examination of gender patterns in subjective aging and an analysis of Twitter reactions to generational sacrifice as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her research experience also includes working on a large-scale mixed-methods project funded by the Florida Department of Transportation.
Cherish is a dedicated instructor with experience teaching sociology of the body, sex and gender, social problems, marriage and the family, social deviance, drug and alcohol problems, and political sociology. She also has published course materials in the ASA’s Teaching Resources and Innovation Library for Sociology (TRAILS).
Cherish was a recipient of the 2021 Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) scholarship and was a top 10 finalist for an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award (OTTA) through FSU’s Program for Instructional Excellence.
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Jessica Noblitt
Jessica is a doctoral candidate who studies sexual minority status, age, and gender as social factors that influence physical and mental health. Her dissertation uses data from the National Health Interview Survey to examine the effects of sexual identity on health-related behaviors, including sleep, exercise, health care utilization, and substance use.
Other recent projects include examinations of how same-sex partner loss affects mental health and how hetero-normative definitions of sex reduce LGB+ women’s use of preventive healthcare.
Jessica's research experience also includes working on a project funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. This project involved designing and conducting an online survey of middle-aged and older adults’ transportation behaviors and attitudes, analyzing the results, and drafting reports for the funding agency.
Jessica's teaching experience includes designing and teaching courses on Social Statistics and Social Problems.
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Jeralynn “Lynne” Sittig Cossman, PhD - Class of 1996
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Medical sociologist and demographer Jeralynn “Lynne” Sittig Cossman is the inaugural Dean of the College for Health, Community and Policy (HCAP) at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She also serves as the Mark G. Yudof Endowed Professor in the Departments of Demography and Sociology. As she leads the development of UTSA’s largest college, Dr. Cossman is building undergraduate and graduate programs that are designed to send UTSA students out into the community in health-related capacities—and from many perspectives. Most recently, HCAP launched an interdisciplinary major in Health, Aging and Society.
A proud Seminole, who claims she bleeds garnet and gold, Dean Cossman earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology and women’s studies in 1990 and went on to earn her master’s in sociology with an emphasis on family. In 1996, she completed her doctoral studies in sociology and demography. It was during this time that she developed a passion for marginalized communities – in particular, communities dealing with AIDS. Her dissertation focused on the development of children’s attitudes toward people with AIDS.
Early on, her research was driven by personal circumstances of experiencing sexism, being a child of divorce, and having extensive interactions with the health care system. Wanting to understand how structures influenced these seemingly personal circumstances is what drove Dean Cossman to study sociology. Well, technically, what first drove her to sociology was missing the business school's acceptance cut-off by one-100th of a GPA point. In the process of trying to raise her GPA, however, she found sociology and never looked back.
After completing her Ph.D., Dean Cossman taught at Miami University (Ohio) and the University of Central Arkansas. In 2001, she relocated to Mississippi State University and began her 13-year tenure there, ultimately serving as professor, graduate program coordinator, director of the Ellen Bryant Women’s Resource Center and Gender Studies, research scientist at the Mississippi Health Policy Research Center, and finally department head for sociology. Most important to her, Dean Cossman was the first female sociologist to “rise through the ranks” from Assistant Professor to Professor in that program.
In 2014, Dean Cossman moved to West Virginia University, an R1 land-grant university where she oversaw curriculum and program development in a department of more than 1,000 students in criminology, sociology and anthropology. Notably, she spearheaded the design and implementation of the university’s doctoral program in sociology. Additionally, she led the expansion of the department’s research infrastructure, including affiliating with multiple health science research centers, to support and provide funding opportunities for all doctoral students. Her biggest personal accomplishment at WVU was graduating the first doctoral student from that program, Dr. Julia Wolf, who now works with Dean Cossman as a post-doctoral fellow.
Dean Cossman’s research focuses on community health and health professionals. She has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services, among others. She is the author of approximately 70 peer-reviewed publications in sociology and interdisciplinary journals, including the American Journal of Public Health, Social Problems, Health and Place, Population Research and Policy Review, Sociological Inquiry, and The Journal of Rural Health. Her current research is largely focused on the effects of the COVID-19 epidemic on subjective life expectancy, protective behaviors (distancing/masking), and health behaviors (sleep, exercise, and diet).
In her spare time, Dean Cossman loves to travel—anywhere—and especially enjoys trying different foods and wines during her travels.
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Dr. Doug Schrock is a Professor of Sociology and has served as the department's Director of Graduate Studies since 2018. He has been at FSU since graduating with his PhD from North Carolina State University in 2001.
Dr. Schrock’s research employs qualitative methods and primarily focuses on the social construction of gender (and sometimes race and class) via identity work, embodiment, emotions, interaction, and cultural and political representations. Often working with co-authors, including sixteen graduate and two undergraduate students, he has examined diverse groups, including transgender and nonbinary people, politicians and their supporters, batterers and their social workers, self-injurers and cage fighters, Black artists and white musicians, and queer Christians and ex-Mormon feminists. What ties this work together is his longstanding scholarly project of building critical interactionism one study and conceptual intervention at a time. His publications have been cited over 4,444 times and have appeared in such journals as Social Problems, Social Psychology Quarterly, Gender & Society, Men & Masculinities, Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Annual Review of Sociology, and Social Forces. He recently became an affiliate of FSU’s Institute of Politics and is currently serving on the editorial board of Social Psychology Quarterly.
In terms of teaching, Dr. Schrock primarily leads courses on qualitative methods, interactionism and inequalities, as well as seminars aimed at helping graduate students to develop and write master’s papers and dissertation proposals. He has served as chair for 17 graduate students, including those now tenured at Purdue University, University of Central Florida, Coastal Carolina, University of Tampa, and Broward College.
During his time as Director of Graduate Studies, Dr. Schrock has skillfully overseen recruitment and admissions, graduate student evaluations and funding, and the comprehensive exam process. Dr. Schrock also has spear-headed efforts to update and develop the graduate program’s curriculum in exciting new ways, led a multitude of student-focused workshops and discussion sessions, and responded to evolving institutional, student, and faculty needs. During the 2021-2022 academic year, he was a crucial member of the administrative team that compiled the department's 7-year Quality Enhancement Review self-study. As part of these efforts he put together a comprehensive report comparing the major elements of our doctoral program with all other U.S. doctoral programs ranked in the top 60, using data that he and a small team of graduate students obtained from publicly available graduate handbooks and websites and through surveys administered to the graduate directors of those programs. This report has proven invaluable to our long-term strategic planning and already has benefitted our students tremendously.
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Rebekah Carpenter, a third-year doctoral candidate in sociology, has been working with Dr. Dawn Carr since she started graduate school at FSU. Their project, with colleagues at the University of Michigan, has resulted in the publication and public release of the most refined set of measures about job characteristics and work environment ever linked to U.S. Census occupational classification data. Rebekah is the lead author for these public release datasets, which are made available on the Claude Pepper Center (CPC) website at FSU. She is also the lead author for linked data files released for use with the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a major longitudinal study of adults over age 50 in the United States.
Rebekah was responsible for the complex data coding process, in which she developed a series of datasets based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Occupational Information Network (O*NET) data program. Although detailed data about U.S. jobs has been collected for decades, researchers have been unable to easily use this information to advance science because the data are not released in a form that can be readily used by survey researchers. Rebekah’s work is now making it possible, for the first time, for researchers to easily leverage an extensive selection of detailed information about jobs and work environments in the United States.
Beyond being the lead author of all publications and data products related to this new FSU-University of Michigan collaborative Census-O*NET data linkage project, Rebekah has also played a leading role in the first workshop designed to introduce and teach scholars studying older workers about the O*NET data. Along with Dr. Dawn Carr (Florida State), Dr. Katy Cao (Florida State), and Dr. Amanda Sonnega (U. of Michigan), Rebekah led a pre-conference workshop at the Gerontological Society of American 2022 Annual Meeting, during which they explained the benefits and potential uses of the Census-O*NET linkage.
This project has the potential for significant impact on a variety of research fields. Rebekah and her colleagues, through the public release of these data, have made it possible for researchers to more effectively evaluate important issues like factors that shape equitable work environments and the role of work environments in shaping later-life health and wellbeing.
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Sociologists for Women in Society is a national feminist organization committed to promoting social justice, the development of sociological feminist scholarship, and feminist leadership.
Tallahassee’s local chapter of Sociologists for Women in Society hosted two in-person events during the Fall semester.
They met at FSU’s Museum of Fine Art in September for a guided tour of “It’s a Lot Like Falling in Love,” an exhibit showcasing interviews with women involved with Naiad Press, a woman-run and Tallahassee-based publishing company of lesbian fiction and non-fiction.
In November, they met at Tallahassee’s LGBT and feminist bookstore, Common Ground Books, for a reading and book release party for RUMORS, SECRETS & LIES: Poems about Pregnancy, Abortion, & Choice.
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The FSU Chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta Honors Society, the International Sociology Honors Society, was created in 1949. FSU Sociology professor Dr. Raymond Bellamy, for whom our building is named, was among the charter members.
AKD received 11 applicants this year, including graduate and undergraduate students. We sent their applications in and they will be inducted in the spring. We held our fall social on November 17th to celebrate.
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Recent Faculty Life Celebrations (Fall 2022) |
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Dr. Lisa Munson married Ken Baldauf (Founding Director of the FSU Innovation Hub) in November of 2022.
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Dr. Teresa Roach married Forrest Lee in October of 2022.
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Recent Faculty Transitions (Summer 2022 - Fall 2022) |
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Dr. Katrinell Davis was appointed to serve as the Director of FSU's interdisciplinary African American Studies Program . She previously served as the Associate Director of the program.
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Recent Faculty Achievements, Awards, and Honors
(Summer 2022 – Fall 2022)
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Dr. Shantel Buggs has co-edited an amazing new book, Unsafe Words: Queering Consent in the #MeToo Era with Rutgers University Press. What can queer people learn from the #MeToo conversation? And what can queer communities teach the rest of the world about ethical sex? This provocative book brings together academics, activists, artists, and sex workers to tackle challenging questions about sex, power, consent, and harm. The book is now available. You can go to the Rutgers University Press website and use code RFLR19 for 30% off + free shipping in US (paperback or PDF are only $13.97 with discount!).
Dr. Woody Carlson (Professor Emeritus) would like to encourage all those interested to subscribe to demographile, his personal YouTube channel. The demographile channel includes videos of his 2022 Charles Nam Lecture "farewell address," other conference presentations, video lectures from online courses, a series of video interviews with well-known demographers about the articles they have written, and other materials.
Dr. Dawn Carr was awarded the 2022 Busse International Research Award by Duke University. The Busse award is bestowed on one junior-to-mid-career scientist once every four years, in recognition of significant contributions to aging research. She received her award in a June 12 virtual ceremony at the 22nd World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Dr. Carr also was awarded the 2022 Innovative Research on Aging Award by the Mather LifeWays Institute on Aging. In addition, she was awarded multiple teaching and mentoring awards, including the Sociology Graduate Student Union's 2022 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award and Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, the FSU College of Social Sciences and Public Policy's 2022 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, and the Florida State University 2022 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award.
Dr. Matt Hauer was a guest speaker for the FSU Carothers Faculty Lecture Series in September. He gave a fascinating presentation entitled, "Climate Migration Amplifies Demographic Change and Population Aging."
Dr. Patricia Homan was awarded the 2022 Matilda White Riley Early Stage Investigator Award from the National Institute of Health, Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research. This award recognizes emerging scientists whose research reflects Dr. Matilda White Riley’s vision of research excellence in health-related behavioral and social sciences. Dr. Homan also was awarded the 2022 Early Career Gender Scholar Award by the Sociologists for Women in Society and the 2022 Early Career Research Award by the FSU College of Social Sciences and Public Policy. In addition, she received the 2022 Distinguished Article Award Honorable Mention from the American Sociological Association's Sociology of Religion Section. Finally, Dr. Homan was the recipient of the 2022 Florida State University Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Major.
Dr. Patricia Homan was an invited plenary speaker for an amazing NIH Office of Research on Women's Health virtual panel on "Gender and Health: Impacts of Structural Sexism, Gender Norms, Relational Power Dynamics, and Gender Inequities."
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Dr. Lisa Munson traveled to Beirut, Lebanon in October to co-lead a Design Thinking training workshop organized under the Higher Education Capacity Development Program funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and in partnership with Florida State University (FSU). The workshop was held at Antonine University (UA). Participants from 9 different Lebanese universities explored the various phases that make up the Design Thinking process, an innovative problem-solving methodology that relies on reshaping the way products and services are developed. Attendees worked in groups to apply the Design Thinking approach and began brainstorming about the usefulness of applying Design Thinking in higher education institutions by offering courses that teach the learners how to hone their problem-solving skills. https://ua.edu.lb/en/news/design-thinking-workshop.
Dr. Teresa Roach was awarded the 2022 FSU Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in the Major Award, Florida State University and the 2022 College of Social Sciences and Public Policy Specialized Faculty Distinguished Service Award.
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Dr. Deana Rohlinger has co-edited an incredible new book, The Oxford Handbook of Digital Media Sociology with Oxford University Press. Written by an international group of authors, these diverse voices bring a broader array of existing research to bear, giving readers access to work that may be new to them. The 34 chapters in the Handbook are arranged in six sections which look at digital media as they relate to: theory, social institutions, everyday life, community and identity, social inequalities, and politics & power. You can find the book for purchase through either the publisher or at major sellers like Amazon.
Dr. Miranda Waggoner was awarded the 2022 College of Social Sciences and Public Policy Mid-Career Research Award.
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Recent Faculty Grants and Contracts
(Summer 2022 – Fall 2022)
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Dr. Amy Burdette and colleagues B. Dowd-Arrow and T. Hill received funding from the FSU Claude Pepper Center for their study, Political Identity and Pandemic Health Lifestyles among Older Adults. Funded by FSU Claude Pepper Center. (2022, Total award $25,000)
Dr. Amy Burdette, graduate student Rebekah Carpenter, Dr. Patricia Homan, and Dr. Miles Taylor, & Knowli Data Science received funding from the Florida Department of Health for their project, Analysis of the Health Disparities Among People living with Disability (May 2022–Jul 2022, Total award $27,000).
Dr. Amy Burdette, graduate student Rebekah Carpenter, Dr. Patricia Homan, and Dr. Miles Taylor, & Knowli Data Science received funding from the Florida Department of Health for their project, Underlying Causes of Health Disparities Among Black or African American Women of Reproductive Age. (May 2022–Jul 2022, Total award $27,000).
Dr. Dawn Carr and colleagues B. Helppie-McFall and A. Sonnega received funding from the University of Michigan/Social Security Administration for their project, Racial and ethnic disparities in the effects of COVID-19 on employment disruption and financial precarity (Oct 2022–Sep 2023,Total award $125,000).
Dr. Dawn Carr and colleagues A. Sonnega and B. Helppie-McFall received funding from the University of Michigan/Social Security Administration for their project, Racial and ethnic differences in job characteristics and patterns in disability retirement and Social Security retirement wealth (Oct 2022–Sep 2023, Total award $125,000).
Dr. Dawn Carr, Dr. Miles Taylor and A. Sonnega received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R21) for their project, Resilience and Health Trajectories in the Context of Adverse Events in Later Life (Sep 2022–May 2024, Total award $409,486).
Dr. Patricia Homan, along with colleagues J. Daw, N. Barban, G. Chi, A. Corradi, A. Gillespie, J. Jung, S. Ortiz, L. Pessin, T. Purnell, A. Santos-Lozada & A. Surachman, A.received a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health (R01) for their project, The Impact of Structural Racism on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in End-Stage Kidney Disease from Healthy Population to Mortality. (Aug 2022–May 2026, Total award $2,646,872).
Dr. Miles Taylor received funding from the Florida Department of Transportation for the ongoing projects of the Safe Mobility for Life Coalition (2022–2023, Total award $300,000).
Dr. Miles Taylor and Dr. Dawn Carr received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (R21) for their project, Psychological Resilience as a Health Resource in the Context of Stressful Life Events in Later Life (Total award $409,486).
Dr. Miles Taylor and Dr. Dawn Carr received funding from the Florida Department of Health for their project, Department of Health SMMT Pilot Evaluation (Sep 2022–Oct 2022, Total award $432,952).
Dr. Miles Taylor and Dr. Dawn Carr received funding from the Florida Department of Health for their project, Pilot Evaluation of Intervention to Reduce Severe Maternal Morbidity through Telemedicine (2022–2023, Total award $432,952).
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Recent Faculty Appointments and Elections
(Summer 2022 – Fall 2022)
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Dr. Anne Barrett was elected Chair of the Membership Committee for the American Sociological Association's Section on Aging and the Life Course.
Dr. Shantel Buggs was appointed as an editorial board member of Social Currents.
Dr. Dawn Carr was appointed to the FSU-UM Smart Tech/Dwellings Research Committee, to the FSU Health - Research Committee, as an editorial board member of Journal of Health and Social Behavior, and as a grant reviewer for the National Academy of Medicine's Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards.
Dr. Matt Hauer was appointed as an editorial board member of Frontiers Climate Mobility.
Dr. John Taylor was appointed as an editorial board member of Society and Mental Health.
Dr. Miranda Waggoner was appointed as an editorial board member of American Sociological Review.
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Recent Graduate Student Achievements, Awards and Honors (Summer 2022 – Fall 2022) |
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Skyler Bastow, a second-year student, was co-author on a paper presented in a paper session at the American Sociological Association meetings in August.
Tyler Bruefach, a fifth-year student, presented research in one paper session, and was co-author on research presented in another, at the American Sociological Association meetings in August.
Rebekah Carpenter, a third-year student received funding from the Florida Department of Health (along with Dr. Amy Burdette, Dr. Patricia Homan, Dr. Miles Taylor and Knowli Data Science) for their project Analysis of the Health Disparities Among People living with Disability (May 2022–Jul 2022, Total award $27,000). Along with the same group of collaborators, she also received funding from the Florida Department of Health for their project, Underlying Causes of Health Disparities Among Black or African American Women of Reproductive Age. (May 2022–Jul 2022, Total award $27,000).
Jason D'Amours, a fourth-year student, presented research in one paper session, and was co-author on research presented in another, at the American Sociological Association meetings in August.
Taylor Darks, a fourth-year student, was awarded the Most Impactful Presentation in Humanities Award at the Florida State University Fellows Forum.
Rachael Dominguez, a second-year student, was co-author on a paper presented in a paper session at the American Sociological Association meetings in August.
Sunshine Jacobs, a fourth-year student, was one of six teaching assistants at Florida State University to receive a 2021-2022 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award for her incredible work in the classroom. She also was co-author on a paper presented in a paper session at the Southern Demographic Association meetings in October.
Ploy Methakitwarun, a third-year student, finished a term as the Listserv Coordinator of the Population Section of the American Sociological Association and transitioned into a new role as Community Coordinator for the same section (2021-2023). Ploy recently presented research at a roundtable at the American Sociological Association meetings in August and in a paper session at the Southern Demographic Association meetings in October. She also presided over a paper session at the ASA meetings and at the SDA meetings.
Cherish Michael, a sixth-year student, was recently highlighted as the "Featured Scholar" for the Disability and Society Section of the American Sociological Association.
Jessica Noblitt, a sixth-year student, presented research at the Gerontological Society of America meetings in November.
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Meg Skowronski, a second-year student, presented a Late Breaker poster with Dr. Dawn Carr and Dr. Patricia Homan at the Gerontological Society of America meetings in November. Their breaking research used recently released COVID data from the HRS.
Rachel Sparkman, a fourth-year student, presented research in a paper session at the American Sociological Association meeting in August.
The following students successfully defended their dissertation prospectus and are now officially ABD!!:
Jason D’Amours (Spring 2022) - "Knowledge Production and Inequality in the Contemporary Response to HIV/AIDS." Chair: Dr. Miranda Waggoner.
Metin Guven (Summer 2022) - "Financial Strain and Health: Exploring the Moderating Role of Religious Involvement." Chair: Dr. Amy Burdette.
Izzy Hernandez (Fall 2022) - “From Good to Bad and Bad to Worse: The Reframing of High School Girls' Perceptions of Police via Their Vicarious Experiences on Social Media." Chair: Dr. John Reynolds.
Rwiti Roy (Summer 2022) - "The "Female World" in Trade Unions: A Cross-cohort Qualitative study of Gender and Trade Unions in India." Chair: Dr. Paromita Sanyal.
Emily Saras (Fall 2022) - "Institutional Racism and Undergraduate STEM Education Interventions." Chair: Dr. John Reynolds.
Rachel Sparkman (Fall 2022) - "Industrial Restructuring in Rural America: Immigrant Household Industry Participation Before and During COVID-19" Chair: Dr. Kathi Tillman.
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Recent Undergraduate Student Awards and Honors |
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Leena Asad, a Sociology major, appeared in an Undergraduate Spotlight in the COSSPP Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions Blog.
Grace Bouloy, a Sociology and Political Science double-major, has been inducted as a 2022-2023 Institute on Politics Fellow.
Rebecca Kanter, who is graduating in Fall 2022, was inducted into the FSU Garnet and Gold Scholar Society. This honorific society facilitates involvement and recognizes the engaged, well-rounded undergraduate student who excels within and beyond the classroom in the areas of International, Internship, Leadership, Research and Service.
Susan Morales, a Sociology and Women’s Studies double-major, was awarded a Tyler Center for Global Studies Undergraduate Research Award. She presented her research project (with co-author Kalijah Rahming), How They See Us: Black Women Abroad at the President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence in September, 2022.
Jacob Ohlsen, a Sociology major who graduated in Summer 2022, was awarded an honors medallion for graduating with University Honors.
Mary Peterson, a Sociology major who graduated in Summer 2022, was awarded a dual-honors medallion for graduating with both University Honors and Honors in the Major.
Kalijah Rahming, a Sociology and Humanities double-major, was awarded a Tyler Center for Global Studies Undergraduate Research Award. She presented her research project (with co-author Susan Morales), How They See Us: Black Women Abroad at the President’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence in September, 2022.
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Recent Alumni Awards (Summer 2022 – Fall 2022)
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Dr. Harry Barbee (PhD 2020) was recently awarded the 2022 Vanderbilt University Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year Award. Selected from among 700 postdocs across Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, they were recognized for their outstanding work in the LGBT Policy Lab.
Dr. Ben Dowd-Arrow (PhD 2020) was nominated for the FSU Honor’s in the Major Mentor Award.
Dr. Ladanya Ramirez Surmeier (PhD 2022) was awarded the 2022 FSU Rosalina Gonzales Award for Sharing & Upholding the Principles of Latinx Culture.
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Recent Alumni News (Summer 2022 – Fall 2022) |
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Dr. Harry Barbee (PhD 2020) accepted a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where they will be starting in January 2023.
Dr. Jessi Bishop-Royce (PhD 2010) took a new position at the College of Nursing at Rush University as a statistician in February 2022 and was appointed Assistant Professor in April of 2022.
Dr. Stephanie Bradley (PhD 2017) recently took a new position as an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
Dr. Jennifer Brailsford (Ph.D. 2016) received funding from the Florida Department of Health for her project, "Point-of-care intervention to address financial toxicity in families facing pediatric cancer."
Dr. Elyse Claxton (PhD 2019) recently was promoted to a managerial role at Dell Boomi.
Dr. Ryon Cobb (PhD 2013) recently took a new position as an Assistant Professor of Social Work and the Chancellor’s Scholar for Inclusive Excellence in Research on Black Americans at Rutgers University.
Dr. Benjamin Dowd-Arrow (PhD 2020) received a research grant from the Claude Pepper Center at FSU to study the role of ideology on health behaviors.
Dr. Catherine Garcia (MS 2014) recently took a position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science at Syracuse University. She also is a Faculty Affiliate of the Aging Studies Institute, a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Aging and Policy Studies, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion. Dr. Garcia has received funding from NIH/NIA Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research as the principal investigator on a project entitled, "Socioenvironmental Influences on Health among Older Island Puerto Ricans." (2021-2023, Total Award: $389,490).
Dr. Bob Hummer (PhD 1993) gave a keynote address at the 2022 hybrid meetings of The Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3). CAnD3 seeks to collaboratively develop, implement, and deliver an innovative training program, Population Analytics in an Aging Society, to equip the next generation of academic and applied population researchers with the knowledge, skills, and networks to support data-driven decision-making in aging societies.
Dr. Taylor Jackson (PhD 2021) was featured in a Dissertation Spotlight in the COSSPP Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions Blog.
Alec Jimenez (B.S. 2022) was featured in an Honors Thesis Spotlight in the COSSPP Wicked Problems, Wicked Solutions Blog.
Dr. Amanda Koontz (Ph.D. 2011) was recently chosen as the co-editor of the flagship journal for the Southern Sociological Society (SSS), Social Currents.
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Dr. Byron Miller (PhD 2012), recently published a book entitled, "Interracial Romance and Health: Bridging Generations, Race Relations, and Well-Being" with Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. With a particular focus on a group of young adults whom he calls the "Bridge Kids," the book provides a critical examination of how racial identity, socialization, and the partner selection process influence whether a person becomes interracially involved and how interracial romantic involvement can impact young people's lived experiences and health outcomes. You can find the book for purchase through either the publisher or at major sellers like Amazon.
Dr. Rebecca Redmond (PhD 2016) was recently promoted to Director of EDI Assessment & Research at Duke University School of Medicine.
Dr. Summer (McWilliams) Roberts (PhD 2013) was promoted in 2021 (sorry we missed this!) to Associate Professor with tenure within the Department of Social Sciences at the University of South Carolina Beaufort, where she also serves as the Coordinator of the Sociology program and the Coordinator of the Gerontology Certificate Program.
Dr. David Russell (PhD 2007) and a colleague were awarded funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for their study, “Disparities in Infection in Home Health and Patients/Caregivers' Perceptions (Dis-Infection in HHC)” (2021-2026, Total award $868,580). Dr. Russell and a colleague also received funding from the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai for their study, “Home Health Aide Continuity Among Home-based Long-Term Care Clients and Its Relationship with Health Outcomes” (2021-2023, Total award $28,500).
Dr. Ladanya Ramirez Surmeier (PhD 2022) recently published a co-authored chapter on gender and educational inequality in the new SAGE Handbook on the Sociology of Education. She also had a first-authored paper on life satisfaction and intergenerational mobility among older Hispanics accepted for publication by the Journal of Aging and Health.
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Dr. Ramirez Surmeier also presented research with undergraduate students in the FSU Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at the annual Southern Sociological Society meetings. That project, coauthored with Catalina Caceres and Carly Lewis (pictured to the right), examined how COVID-19 impacted students in fraternity and sorority Life. Funding for that research project was provided through a UROP Materials Grant.
Dr. Lacey Ritter (Ph.D. 2017) married Jon Bunger in November, 2022. Best wishes!
Dr. Ursula (Keller) Weiss (PhD 2012) recently started a new position as Director of the Network for Clinical Research and Training & Community Engagement at the FSU College of Medicine.
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Our fundraising efforts have been a huge success this year! This fundraiser, along with some additional direct donations to the department, raised over $7000 that can be used for graduate student recruitment and supplemental educational experiences for both graduate and undergraduate students. We truly appreciate your generosity and your commitment to invest in the next generation of scholars and professionals!
Here we would like to extend our deepest appreciation to those who donated during the fundraising campaign or directly to us over the summer and fall months. We couldn't do it without you!
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- Dr. Anne Barrett
- Dr. Carmen Battaglia
- Dr. Ray Bellamy and Ms. Jann Bellamy
- Ms. Alena Lawson Bennett
- Dr. Rolf Blank
- Dr. Dawn Carr
- Dr. Lynn Cossman and Mr. Randy Quinn
- Dr. Metin Guven and Ms. Sacide
- Dr. Pina Holway and Mr. Andrew Holway
- Dr. Robert Hummer and Ms. Dawn Hummer
- Mr. Ed King
- Dr. Gloria Lessan
- Dr. Andrew Mannheimer
- Dr. Byron Miller
- Dr. Steven McDonald and Ms. Page Purgar
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- Dr. Irene Padavic
- Drs. Jill and David Quadagno
- Dr. Ladanya Ramirez Surmeier and Mr. Lee Surmeier
- Dr. John Reynolds
- Dr. Teresa Roach
- Dr. Deana Rohlinger and Mr. Jack Rohlinger
- Dr. David Russell
- Drs. Xan Nowakowski and J. Sumerau
- Dr. Edward Schafer and Chung Chih-Fang
- Dr. Douglas Schrock
- Dr. Miles Taylor
- Dr. Kathi Tillman
- Dr. Koji Ueno
- Dr. Miranda Waggoner
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If you would like to support our student recruitment and training efforts, please donate today!
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In addition to working very hard, we also enjoy having fun together. This fall we were able to revive our tradition of holding an annual Welcome Back BBQ at The “Rez.” It was such a wonderful day!
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Unfortunately, due to our very busy job interviewing schedule, we were unable to hold our annual holiday party and cookie-contest this year. We look forward to holding a department-wide gathering at the end of the Spring semester! |
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We would love to hear from you. Please share any updates we can include in our next issue by clicking the button. |
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FSU Sociology Department | 850.644.6416 | 526 Bellamy | coss.fsu.edu/sociology |
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