See Brandi’s extended profile on the Graduate Students on the Market page.
I am a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a specialization in Women’s and Gender Studies. My research interests include sexuality, gender, health, religion, and social psychology.
My research seeks to understand how social factors interact to create and reinforce inequality. Specifically, my research examines the disparities between sexual minorities and heterosexuals within social contexts like religion, family, and health. I use multiple methodologies and have a publication record that includes peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. My dissertation, “Health in Rural Communities: Variation in Resource Utilization by Sexual Orientation and Gender,” addresses inequalities in access to resources within rural areas, by gender and by sexual orientation. Current collaborative projects address how religion impacts the health disparities between sexual minorities and heterosexuals and how identifying as a sexual minority impacts your religiosity over time due to many religions maintaining unwelcoming stances on sexual minorities in the United States.
At UNL, I have taught several courses for both Sociology and Women’s and Gender Studies. These include Social Problems, Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, Introduction to LGBTQ Studies, and Gender in Contemporary Society.
More information can be found at my website.
Publications:
Swendener, Alexis and Brandi Woodell. “Predictors of Family Support and Well-Being Among Black and Latina/o Sexual Minorities.” Forthcoming in the Journal of GLBT Family Studies.
* Winner of the 2016 Outstanding Student Paper Award by the LGBTQ Research Symposium: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on LGBT Research in the Social Sciences.
* Winner of the 2016 Karen Dunning Scholarly Paper Award through the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
* Winner of the 2016 Graduate Student Course Research Paper Award through the Sociology Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Kazyak, Emily and Brandi Woodell. 2016. “Law and GLBQ-Parent Families.” Sexuality & Culture 20(3): 749-768.
Woodell, Brandi, Emily Kazyak, and D’Lane Compton. 2015. “Reconciling LGB and Christian Identities in the Rural South.” Social Sciences 4:859-878 (Special Issue on LGBTQ Lives in Context: The Role of Place).
Woodell, Brandi. 2014. “Negotiating Gay Male Christian Identities in Rural Places.” Pp. 29-42 in Illuminating How Identities, Stereotypes and Inequalities Matter through Gender Studies, edited by D. N. Farris, M. Davis, and D. R. Compton. New York, NY: Springer Press.
M.A.: University of New Orleans
Email: bwoodell@huskers.unl.edu