People often ask me why I became a sociologist. Before pursuing a Ph.D. in sociology, I worked in domestic violence shelters and volunteered at a rape crisis center. I describe my decision to return to school with “the parable of the river.” In the parable, a town organizes to rescue children floating down a nearby river. Each day the number of children increases, as do the villagers’ efforts, until one day someone goes upstream to find out why the children are being thrown into the water. My intent as a social worker was to help women in need. My intent as a sociologist is to look upstream, ask important questions, and create empirical knowledge that promotes the equity and well-being of women and members of other disenfranchised groups.
Currently, I am a postdoctoral research fellow at the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research. My research and teaching interests are in social psychology, gender, sexuality, social inequality and stratification, family, violence, and research methods. Broadly, I am interested in how gender identity and cultural constructions of gender influence a range of social behaviors. To read more about my particular research projects, please visit my research page. I earned my Ph.D. from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY in 2012.
An interesting and fun facet of my job is that I get to talk with the press about scientific research. For example, in 2010, my research on masculinity and infidelity sparked much media interest. To see an interview of me on the Canada A.M. show click on the top video on the right hand side of the screen. To see coverage of my research on CNN’s Newsroom, including commentary by psychologist Wendy Walsh, click on the bottom video. Visit my Media/Press Kit page to view additional coverage of my research.
Please browse my research page for descriptions of the projects that I am currently working on.
To follow me on Twitter, click here. I only send messages related to academia or the social sciences.
