Degree & Year in the Program
1st year PhD student
Advisors
Kelsy Burke
Areas of Specialization
Sex and gender, LGBT issues, Social Movements, Media, Qualitative Methods
About me
Hello! My name is Cadyn Williamson. I use they/them or he/him pronouns, and I am a first-year PhD student in Sociology (3rd year at UNL). My research interests include sex and gender focusing on LGBT issues, social movements, media, and qualitative methods. I am primarily interested in the intersections between LGBT issues and social movements as well as LGBT issues and media. As for qualitative methods, I find importance of looking into words and images as data and discovering narratives that would not be discovered in surveys or other quantitative research methods.
Before coming to UNL, I grew up in central Illinois and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-Writing and a minor in Sociology from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2018. During that time, I took on leadership roles for several organizations focusing on LGBT issues, secularism, interfaith, and mental health. Through those organizations, I helped lead discussions and events on topics such as religious freedom laws, women in the atheist movement, secular identities and how they intersect with other identities, and LGBT identities and religion. I was also a Behavior Therapist for four years working with kids and adults with autism and other similar disabilities.
Since moving to Nebraska, I taught multiple recitations and graded assignments for SOCI 101: Introduction to Sociology, attended the Sociologists for Women in Society winter meeting twice, acted as the Social Media Coordinator for the National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals (NOGLSTP) at UNL, presented as part of the Midwest Sociological Society’s 21st annual meeting, and finished my master’s thesis on Twitch’s “LGBTQIA+” tag and how LGBTQIA+-affirming video game streamers and viewers interact and build LGBTQIA+ spaces online. As of Fall 2021, I am also a member of the Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Gender and Sexual Identities at UNL.
My plans for post-graduation include doing research, teaching, and working with LGBT non-profit organizations.
In my free time, I like to write poetry, take photos with my DSLR camera, create playlists on Spotify, play Animal Crossing with my mother once a week, and take care of my baby succulents.
Courses Taught
SOCI 101: Introduction to Sociology - Recitation Instructor: Fall 2019 (in-person) and Spring 2020 (in-person/online);
Teaching Assistant: Fall 2020 (hybrid), Spring 2021 (hybrid), and Fall 2021 (online)