My research interests include family demography, the relationships of family structure and personal identity, and the impact of changing family structures on how people understand the role of family in their lives. I'm currently beginning work on a dissertation that hopes to explore how people understand their own personal identities through the lens of their place within their family, and how that may change as family structures change around them.
I'm currently working on a project with Joan Kahn on sandwich generations, updating previous research on the number of people likely to be sandwiched between care burdens from multiple generations, as well as investigating how various psychosocial factors may shape that experience of burden. The first work from this project will be presented at PAA in May 2014.
In addition to my interests in how family structure and identity may inform one another, I'm more broadly interested in cultural sociology and the role of media in identity formation and expression, particularly as it pertains to romantic unions and families. I'm involved in a large research project, housed primarily at the University of Michigan, that examines the romantic expectations of young women who are heavily involved in online media fandom. The first work from this project will be presented at MSS in April 2014.
Although I'm busy with research at the moment, I do enjoy teaching, and have previously taught courses in English, Linguistics, and Anthropology departments, as well as acted as a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Sociology here at Maryland. In 2013, I received a Distinguished Teaching Assistant award from the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Maryland.
Areas of Interest
- family demography
- family identity
- regional identity
- cultural sociology
Degrees
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MALinguistics, University of Texas
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BSPhysics, University of Houston
