Degrees

Ph.D., M.A., Boston College
B.A., Clark University

Research Interests

My research interests focus on understanding and responding to inequality.  I am currently exploring how families at-risk of losing their homes to foreclosure redefine the meaning of home and strategize to protect themselves and their families from the negative impact of home loss.  My earlier work explored the relationship between public discourse on welfare programs and the identity negotiation of women receiving public assistance.

Teaching Interests

I regularly teach:

SOC175: Media & Society

SOC190:  Self & Society

SOC230: Race & Ethnicity

SOC290: Sociology of Sexualities

SOC302: Research Methods

SOC320: Race, Gender & Poverty

SOC362: Sociology Practicum

SOC402: Senior Seminar

Publications

2009. "The Place of Resistance", in Studies in Law, Politics, and Society.

2006. "Resisting the Welfare Mother" with updated afterward. In Culture, Power, and History: Studies in Critical Sociology, edited by Stephen Pfohl, et. al. Brill Publishing, pages 261-291.

2005. "Stratified Reproduction and Poor Women's Resistance." Gender & Society 19: 660-679.

2004. "Resisting the Welfare Mother: The Power of Welfare Discourse and Tactics of Resistance." Critical Sociology, volume 30(4): 354-383.