About Me

Currently I live and work in Hastings, Nebraska. I was born in a small town in Nebraska and raised in California, Illinois, and Texas. I've also lived in Alabama and Mississippi. I started college at Houston Community College. Years later I moved to Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK), where I discovered my love of Sociology. In 2006, I graduated from UNK with honors  - majoring in Sociology, minoring in Women's Studies and English. That same year I moved to Manhattan, Kansas to attend graduate school at Kansas State University and work for the journal, Gender & Society. I was a managing editor for the journal from 2006-2011. I earned a Master's Degree in Sociology in 2008, a Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies in 2009, and a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2013.

Prior to becoming an academic, I worked in the field of social services, primarily in the areas of violence prevention, domestic violence victim services, and intervention and strengths-based team-oriented advocacy for children and families in the mental health system. My research, teaching, and service benefit from my life experiences.

I have lived in rural, suburban and urban environments and am at home in all three kinds of communities. Outside the academy, I spend time with family and friends and enjoy reading, cooking, music, movies, getting involved in my community, and advocating for social justice. I like coffee and dark chocolate, book and movies, feminist literature, good poetry, and almost every genre of music but especially bluegrass.  I like to explore new places, meet new people, learn new things, and experience music, food, and cultures that are new to me. I am driven, personally and professionally, by a relentless curiosity and a desire to help foster positive social change.

 

October 2015

April 2012

This is me in 2007, holding a 1987 issue of the journal Gender & Society, open to West and Zimmerman's article Doing Gender. The authors autographed it for me at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association. Geeky, but I was thrilled.