Curriculum Vitae

Website

Degree & Year in Program 

5th year PhD

Advisors

Lisa A. Kort Butler; Kimberly A. Tyler; Dennis McChargue

Areas of Specialization

Health/ Criminology, Qualitative/Quantitative, & Mixed Methods; specifically, individual differences produced by institutional response to mental health, problematic/illicit substance use, and their recoveries; Inequalities within the intersection of public health and criminal justice.

Comprehensive Exam

Health

About me

I am PhD candidate here at University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), after completing an MBA with an emphasis in Leadership from Doane University in Crete, Nebraska. Previous employment with the federal government and communal non-profits, in both rural and urban areas, developed my deep interest in approaches treating mental health/substance use needs. The University of Nebraska Lincoln’s top methodological foundation in Sociology will assist my desire to improve systemic responses to public health crises. 

My work as a teaching assistant and instructor of record, at UNL, has received multiple awards and nominations: Department of Sociology Teaching Award (2021), College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant (2021, nominee), Parents Association & Teaching Council Recognition for Contributions to Students (2020). While I attended UNL to study research methods, and their applications to move policy, teaching has become where I’ve felt my impact the most. My pedological approach permits critical discussions connecting theory to our everyday social observations. 

From 2020-2024 I have worked as a Research Assistant (RA) for various project leaders and primary investigators through the Rural Drug Addiction Research Center (RDAR). As an RA, I’ve contributed in an variety of ways. First, my contribution to Dr. Roberto Abadie’s Project “Investigating the Barriers to Rural Opioid Assisted Treatment”, included sample recruitment, qualitative interviewing, budgeting, compensation distribution, MaxQDA qualitative data management. 2021 and 2022, my contributions expanded into qualitative methods. Drs. Jefferey Smith and Robin Gauthier’s investigation of “Family conflict and psychological distress before and after the COVID19 pandemic”, provided me the experience with qualitative data management, statistical analyses, and writings for publication. Following conference presentations and publication submission, I was involved in two more RDAR projects, furthering my training as a social scientist studying substance use. First, I recruited and administered qualitative surveys for Dr. Kimberly Tyler’s investigation in the use of cell-phone crisis intervention for homeless youth. Finally, 2022-23, I assisted Dr. Dennis McChargue and Anna Henson’s exploration of stigmatized attitudes and reductions in the drinking culture on a college campus via somatic avatar creation, addiction recovery narratives, and social media. I am grateful to have been a key contributor to the message framing, participant centered research designed, and statewide recruitment for the project. 

My work explores stigmatizing beliefs, feelings, and attitudes of problematic and illicit substance use. Specifically, how such consequential stigma is addressed and the responsive public policy’s impact on those suffering from addiction. This work has received multiple awards in my time here at the UNL. Currently, I am writing my dissertation work, which explores the contextual factors influencing 12-step participants, mandated drug-court attendees, at the intersections of rural medicine and justice. My experience with qualitative, ethnographic, and mixed methods designs attempts to center the voices of illicit and/or complex substance use, describing individuals and judicial influence of stigmatization and coercion. Additionally in this project, I am attempting to contextualize the actualities of identity, support, resource diffusion, and belonging in a time of rising fatalities in overuse and/or illicit substance users at an epidemic proportion.

Courses Taught

SOCI 101 Introduction to Sociology, Graduate Teaching Assistant & Recitation Instructor
SOCI 252 Health, Medicine, & Society, Instructor of Record
SOCI 320 The Sociology of Sports, Instructor of Record

Select Publications

Wenyue Wang, Anna Henson, Ashlin R. Ondrusek, Margherita Tisato, Ryan Kaufman, Alexa Barrett, Jamie Elowsky, & Dennis McChargue. (2024) “Effect of a novel somatic avatar training on distress

 Works in Progress

 Preparation for Conference and Manuscript

 Kaufman, Ryan. “Coercion, stigmatization, and the 12-Steps: An Exploration of substance use recovery at the intersection of legal and medical surveillance within 12-Step Facilitated Groups”. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Oct. 2024 Submission.

 Kaufman, Ryan. “Spirited Numbness: Examining Esteem, Adult Victimization, and Problematic Drinking”. Journal TBD. Nov. 2024 Submission.

 Kaufman, Ryan. “Stigmatizing attitudes, beliefs, and policy: Exploring how rurality, religiosity, and proximity to scholarship blur lines between medical and judicial policy”.; Journal TBD. Mar. 2025 Submission

Other Department/Program Affiliations

Rural Drug Addiction Research Center (RDAR)

UNL Alcohol and Safety Council – A JED Campus Initiative

Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts