Department of Sociology
Ryan Amundson: maa89@mizzou.edu
Heather Arnold: hma262@mizzou.edu
Heather Arnold is a first year graduate student who migrated from Webster University in St. Louis. Her research interests are centered around gender, sexuality, and identity formation, and she is presenting at MSS this April with a study on femininity and pop punk music.
Stephen Barnard: srb221@mizzou.edu
After completing a B.A. and M.A. in Sociology at MU, I decided to continue my studies here as a doctoral student. My master’s thesis, entitled “Crooked Coverage: A Study of (De)Racialized Texts in Print Media,” focused on exploring various ways in which print media outlets (de)racialize issues via implicit racial codes and spatial (mis)representation. On top of my overarching interest in media, I am also drawn to the areas of inequalities, social control, deviance, and social movements. Given my longing for social justice and interests in practicing and promoting public sociology, I plan to continue my research and teaching with these ends in mind.
Jennifer Beggs: jjby87@mizzou.edu
Keith Brekhus:
klb427@mizzou.edu
Lloyd
Chia: lc4f3@mizzou.edu
Amanda Clough:clougha@missouri.edu
I am currently a doctoral student at MU. I have completed a B.A. in Sociology
at Mizzou and an M.S. in Criminal Justice at Columbia College. My interests
include criminology, deviance, and social control. My master’s thesis
focused on child rearing and how it impacts juvenile delinquency.
Jennifer Correa: jc9p9@mizzou.edu
I'm a second year Ph.D student at the
David Criger: dwcwv5@mizzou.edu
Daniel Delgado: djdhw2@mizzou.edu
Priya Dua: pd3d2@mizzou.edu
My areas of research are gender, feminism, and mentoring in graduate education.
I use gender and feminist theory to explore graduate students access to
mentoring structures. I examine how graduate departments facilitate and
constrain the development of a mentoring culture as well. I am currently
doing research on gender differences in graduate students' conceptualizations
of mentoring.
David Elliott: dle46f@mizzou.edu
My long-time implicit interest in social questions grew and became explicit
when I was a business student whose courses included economics and organizational
behavior. Although my formal introduction to social theory was through
economics, it eventually became clear that neoclassical economic theory
and the public policy prescriptions of its adherents were insufficient
to their tasks. I was introduced to sociological theory as a first-year
doctoral student in accounting, and I knew that I had found my intellectual
home at last. (Speaking of homes, I am thrilled to be even a small part
of the great ongoing tradition of this department.) Among the many influences
on me to this point, the main ones have been the Pragmatist philosophers
(especially Dewey and Mead) and the interactionist sociologists who inherited
their general assumptions and perspective. Among the areas of interest
to me now are the sociology of morals and ethics, socio-economics, organizational
theory, including the division of labor and articulation (coordination,
alignment) of work, and human development (socialization, the self and
identities).
Derek Evans: djedz2@mizzou.edu
Christopher
Feuille: cbfz89@mizzou.edu
I did my MA thesis on the wage gap between married and never married men.
I am currently interested and investigating the economic structure and
policy in Southeast Asia. My interests include Economic Sociology, Methodology,
Inequality, Globalization, Social Organization, and Political Contention.
Karen Foote: kmf21a@mizzou.edu
William Force: wrfrz9@mizzou.edu
As a student of social reality, I engage constructionism, postmodernism/s,
and queer theory in an attempt to develop a more lucid understanding of
how individuals navigate the precarious terrain of social identity. My
work so far has been on topics including punk rock, pro-anorexia, and
sociological "reads" of Chuck Palahniuk's work. I enjoy consuming
theorists named Jean, thrash metal bands with really long song titles,
all things pop cultural, and fruit leather.
Roslyn Fraser:
rsfpp9@mizzou.edu
I am currently a PhD student interested in the sociology of health and illness, specifically women's health, the commodification of health, and health care policy. I am passionate about health care policy issues including health technology, health care rights, Medicare, Medicaid, the overall payment system, policy making, and how policy affects people's lived experiences. I received my B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and my M.A. in Sociology from the
Daehoon Han: dh6t9@mizzou.edu
Interest Area: Political Sociology, Social movement, Civil Society (Social
movement which is initiated, mobilized, and organized via internet communication
in Korea).
Jennifer Heller: jh3h2@mizzou.edu
Lindy Hern: lsh8r4@mizzou.edu
Olivia Hetzler: orh013@mizzou.edu
Elizabeth Holden: eholden@primepoint.org
Elizabeth is a trainer and consultant with Organizational Leadership Programs
(OLP) at the Truman School of Public Affairs. She provides organizational,
leadership, and professional development training and consulting to organizations
operating in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. Before coming
to the Truman School, she served as Community Development Program Coordinator
with the Missouri Department of Economic Development (DED), primarily
overseeing tax credit programs. During her tenure with DED, she restructured
and administered the Neighborhood Assistance Program, the largest tax
credit program of its kind in the nation. She has vast experience in program
design and development, creating program guidelines and operating procedures
for the Neighborhood Assistance Program, Family Development Account Program
and the New Generation Cooperative Program that became models for other
DED programs. Through her work with DED, she provided extensive training
to nonprofit organizations and local governments in the areas of capacity
building, strategic planning, performance management, program evaluation
and grant writing. She previously worked with the Council of State Governments
(CSG) as a policy analyst where she coordinated CSG's Corrections Policy
Task Force, a national task force of state legislators. She also developed
CSG's first policy magazine on criminal justice issues and served as legislative
liaison for the American Probation and Parole Association. Elizabeth received
her Master of Public Administration from the Harry S. Truman School of
Public Affairs and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Transylvania
University. She is certified by the National Development Council as an
Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP). She has held numerous
leadership positions and is currently President of the Missouri Community
Development Society. She is also a Commissioner with the Community Development
Commission, City of Columbia.
Steve Kehnel: sck3k5@mizzou.edu
My general areas of research are gender/sexuality, shopping/marketing/advertising
discourses (the “production of consumption”), and the relationships
between the body and social/cultural/historical location. Currently, I
am working on ways to chart the relationships between bodily experiences
of biology/physiology, psychology, and larger social-cultural definitions
of masculinity. In other words, how specific ideas of who and how we should
be as men and women, are put into specific practices of “building” environments so as to encourage particularly gendered bodily experiences.
In this work, I will also need to explore a variety of novel approaches
to research and experience embodiment (methodology).
Previously, I have
researched the commodification of masculinity in US culture, the production,
use, and deployment of the marketing category of “metrosexual”
as an organizer (sense-making device) of masculine disruptions, and the
“work” (in the ethnomethodological sense) involved in deploying
the concepts of “bias” and “academic freedom”
to limit critical education. The primary sociological/theoretical inspirations
for this work come from Dorothy E. Smith, Michel Foucault, Zygmunt Bauman,
George Herbert Mead, Judith Butler, Aldous Huxley, James Baldwin, and
Patricia Hill Collins.
Portia King: pjkn69@mizzou.edu
Katherine
Knop: krknq6@mizzou.edu
Maksim Kokushkin: mk2n8@mizzou.edu
Interests: Organizations, Political Sociology, Post-communist
Countries: how, why, and in what direction organizations in these countries
are developing, what parallels could be drawn between them and the patterns
in the developed capitalist societies. Processes of consolidation in the
business, social, and political spheres. What and why went wrong during
the 10 years of transition to capitalism, if something went wrong. What
the future(s) of former socialist countries could be. Background: MA in
Business Administration – Sofia University (Sofia, Bulgaria), MA
in Sociology — Central European University (Warsaw, Poland).
Candace (Kandi) Korasick: cak307@mizzou.edu
I can't really remember a time when I was not at least somewhat fascinated
with gender and sexuality. I got thrown out of the Hannibal Public Library
when I was 10 for trying to check out inappropriate books. As an adult,
I was still reading books on sexuality, but they were located in the sociology
section of bookstores instead of biology. One day it finally occurred
to me that this was something I could and should pursue as a career. My
current research interests focus on feminism, motherhood and reproductive
control. Furthermore, my personal experience with reproductive medical
professionals had resulted in “Childfree, a website for people who
don't plan to have children (http://www.missouri.edu/~cak307/).
Kathleen Krueger kekgf3@mizzou.edu
I'm a first year PhD student who received my undergraduate degree at
Matthew Lammers: mtlf83@mizzou.edu
My interests revolve around issues of culture, constructions of identity and social control. I am motivated by how individuals identify with geographical space and social groups by developing a discourse that often promotes solidarity through the exclusion of others; for example, through the promotion of specific memories, practices, and traditions. My dissertation is an historical examination on the role of class, ethnicity, gender and religion in shaping an immigrant identity within a mid nineteenth German colony in east central Missouri. The project illuminates the contradictions of approaching immigrant identities in a monolithic fashion.
I have taken comprehensive exams in the areas of Culture & Identity and Social Control. In my five years as a graduate instructor I have taught courses in Deviance, Sociology of Work, Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Family, Social Inequality, and Social Change. In the future I would like to develop classes in Historical Methods, Sociology of Culture, and Media and Society.
Amy Lane: aml705@mizzou.edu
My focus is on integrating my interests in the sociology of religion and
social movements into a project that explores the way religion and religious
organizations are utilized in the labor movement both currently and historically.
I am exploring religion’s impact during the sit-down strikes that
occurred in the early part of the 20th century in Flint, Michigan, as
well as designing an ethnographic study of interfaith groups that currently
work on labor issues in the State of Missouri.
Lisa Martino-Taylor:
lmvd3@mizzou.edu
I am a completing my PhD with specializations in Political Sociology and
Criminology. My research areas include the health and social effects of
industrial toxins on communities, environmental corporate crime,
chemical and biological weapons, state-corporate crime, globalization,
and political sociology. In April, 2007, I presented a paper, "In the
Shadow of Agent Orange The Broad Impact of the Times Beach Legacy" at
the Midwest Sociological Society in Chicago. I recently appeared in an
international documentary, "Auslandsreporter", regarding chemical
weapons and the Monsanto Company, that aired on German Public
Television. A recent manuscript, "The Military-Industrial-Academic
Complex and a New Social Autism" was accepted for publication in the
Journal of Political and Military Sociology; that article is
forthcoming.
Jeffrey McCully: jcmbv9@mizzou.edu
I am currently studying the rhetorical content of anti-drug public service
announcements on television. I recently presented an early draft of this
research at the Midwest Sociological Society meeting in Chicago.
Kevin McElmurry: klm143@mizzou.edu
My dissertation examines the intersections of gender, emotion, and media in the production of religious culture within an evangelical Protestant congregation. I bring theoretical contributions from cultural studies, sociology of religion, and recent work on masculinity to show how faith and practice combine in churches weaving traditional and contemporary cultural forms to reach the unchurched. My project details the specific and sometimes contradictory experiences of men and women who draw on a range of resources: institutional, traditional, and mass mediated to live out their faith commitments. My research is supported by the Louisville Institute’s Dissertation Fellowship Program.
McElmurry, Kevin. [Revise and Re-submit.] "Alone Together: Gendered Worship in the
Veronica
Medina: vemm93@mizzou.edu
I received my BA in sociology and English from the
Broadly, my areas of interest include social inequalities and culture and identity. My projects include reconceptualizing the definition of the immigrant second generation to account for parents with differing nativity statuses, push and pull factors of immigration with regard specifically to Missouri’s Latino immigrant population (Cambio Center), and children’s popular culture.
I am co-author, along with Olivia Hetzler and David Overfelt, of two articles published by Sociation Today which examine racialized aspects of gentrification. The articles are “Race, Immigration and Economic Restructuring in New Urbanism:
Gudmundur Oddsson: gfoqpd@missouri.edu
I am a first year masters student from
David Overfelt: dlo6d9@mizzou.edu
Most importantly, I am a public sociologist fundamentally interested
in the liberation of all people from oppression. My current research is
interested in the (re)construction of space. I renew the call for sociologists
to give attention to space as a variable that plays a determining as well
as determined role in the sociohistorical shape of our culture. In this,
I argue that we cannot fully understand inequalities and therefore cannot
fully understand how to repair these broken social relations without understanding
the role of space and place in (re)creating and reinforcing these inequalities.
I am greatly inspired by Paulo Friere's, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and my work in the future will reflect my desire to create a fully accessible education and do my part to bring the university out of the ivory tower. I see education of all kinds as the most empowering tool available to all people. I intend to spread this tool as far and wide as possible by making sociology into an accessible and understandable field of research.
In all this I take
a few general sociological perspectives. My overall areas of interest
are in globalization, urban growth, political economy, the inequalities
that are created through these processes, and, most importantly, how to
rid the world of these inequalities.
Todd Platts: tkp97b@mizzou.edu
James
Polk: jtpkt2@mizzou.edu
Adam Rendall: ajrzv6@mizzou.edu
Jenny Schlosser:
jasqk7@mizzou.edu
I completed my M.A. at Mizzou in 2006 which included in-depth interviews with “victimless” drug-dealers in prison in an attempt to understand how their loci of control and attributions for incarceration along with institutional rhetoric influence the identities they construct (and are constructed for them) in prison. I am interested primarily in symbolic interactionism, narrative construction, criminology and aspects of identity negotiation among the institutionalized
My first article “Issues in Interviewing Inmates: Navigating the Methodological Landmines of Prison Research” will appear in Qualitative Inquiry volume 15, number 3.
As much as I enjoy doing research, I have an equal love for teaching. I have taught social deviance, criminology, introduction to sociology and sociology of the family. Although, it is hard to say which aspect of academia has impacted me the most, a good balance of research and teaching makes an ideal semester for me.
Brent Steiner: bmsw65@mizzou.edu
Paul Sturgis: pwsvdc@mizzou.edu
I decided to make the long journey to Columbia after obtaining an undergraduate
and masters degree from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.
My academic interests include: criminology, deviance, social control,
and the sociology of religion. My dissertation examines the effectiveness
of religiosity as a form of social control within the penal system.
Colin Suchland:
ces6df@mizzou.edu
I recently returned to school after 5 years working as a small-town journalist.
Besides an obvious interest in all things media, I'm very interested in
inequality and agency. Right now, I'm looking into presentations of poverty
on prime-time television. I am also seeking ways of incorporating audio
and visual elements into my work, including photos and Internet media.
On a personal note, photography remains a passion of mine.
Check out http://www.colinesuchlandphotos.com
to see some of my favorite work.
Jennifer Sukanek:
jasgx6@mizzou.edu
Kuo-Yang Tang: kt46a@mizzou.edu
James Thomas: jmt552@mizzou.edu
Whitley Vale: wwva43@mizzou.edu
My general areas of interest are political sociology, theory and methodology,
and social gerontology.
Jesse VanGerven: jpvxb6@mizzou.edu
I am a second
year masters student here at the University of Missouri. I completed my
undergraduate degree in sociology at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.
My research interests include environmental sociology, political sociology,
and social inequalities. Specifically, I am conducting research on Western
Shoshone and Southern Paiute resistance to the high-level nuclear waste
repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. This research will advance current
understandings of Native American political organization, social movements,
and collective action. I am presenting a paper at the Midwest Sociological
Society's annual meeting in 2007 on symbolic land conquest in the courts,
involving the Western Shoshone Nation.
Tara Wildhagen: tbw8r4@mizzou.edu
Brad Wing: bww3db@mizzou.edu
I am interested in social inequalities, political sociology, and cultural sociology. I am committed to materialist feminist, interactionist, and narrative approaches to sociology. I am currently working on a paper that examines the social organization of the intertwined redevelopment and commemoration processes at the World Trade Center. I combine an analysis of practice with a dialogic analysis of discourse to account for what has been done in the name of that which was lost and to account for what has been done despite the fact of that loss. I am also working on my dissertation. It aims to explore some of the terrain opened up around crisis tendencies in the U.S. gender order. I am interested to understand how it is possible for men to produce progressive or anti-patriarchal masculinity projects. What material and social conditions make practicing such alternative masculinity projects possible (and/or necessary)? What kind of institutional, cultural, and interpersonal support is available to the men who engage in them? What challenges do they face? What forms do alternative masculinity projects take in different contexts (an unbounded group of men engaged in personal projects v. bounded groups of men engaged in collective projects)? Overall, my dissertation is intended to inquire about the cultural and political possibilities such alternative masculinity projects could open up for challenging a gender order organized around Western, white, affluent, heterosexual male domination.
JoVanna Woodward: jswk6b@mizzou.edu
Kendra Yoder: klyd29@mizzou.edu
Samuel (Mark) Youngblood: smy4zc@mizzou.edu
Shudong Zhang: sztf8@mizzou.edu
Interest areas: criminology and historical & comparative research
and study
312 Middlebush Hall
University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211-6100
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