Degree and Year in Program
2nd year Masters Student
Areas of Specialization
Transgender Studies, Critical Theory, Race and Ethnicity, Sociology of Medicine, Social Psychology
About Me
I am a master’s student with a multi-disciplinary background. I hail from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (UM) where I received the Michigan Competitive Scholarship and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelors of Arts in Sociology in 2019 concentrating in Law, Justice and Social Change. In 2019, I received the Patricia Gurin Certificate of Merit for excellence in social justice instruction with the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor (UM) for my performance co-instructing ALA/PSYCH/SOC 122 WRID (White Racial Identity) under the Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR).
I have mixed methodological Research Assistant experience spanning four research appointments in social demography, social psychology, and sociology. At the UM Spring Symposium of 2018 and the Midwest Sociological Society Conference of 2023, I presented findings on the positive association between whites’ socio -economic status and perceived meritocratic threat from racial privilege. In the realm of applied sociology, I have been featured on several panels at UM and Northwestern Michigan College for transgender and queer inclusivity and awareness, featured on a disability awareness and activism podcast to discuss marginalized ability statuses, and led two workshops for college students on privilege and power structures with a UM affiliate organization.
As an autistic transgender individual, working full-time from 2020-2022 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in an Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) clinic solidified my commitment to intersectional social justice. During this experience, I called on my clinic’s director to address the hidden curriculum of heteronormativity and incorporate queer inclusivity into applicable ABA treatments. Due to my time in behavioral healthcare and proudly embodying my own identities, when applicable I inhabit a disability justice framework in my pedagogy and research.
Recently, I have had the honor of embarking on a professional writing retreat, attending multiple teaching workshops, and receiving the Sociology Department’s Graduate Student Research Award. Currently, I am completing my mixed-methodological master’s thesis under the advisement of Drs. Kelsy Burke, Philip Schwadel and Emily Kazyak. This is a public opinion project quantitatively exploring which Nebraskan and American social identities are most likely to reject the validity of transgender existence, and qualitatively describing how Nebraskans specifically (N=1042) use notions of biological essentialism and religious fundamentalism to excuse their discrimination against the transgender community.
Courses Taught
Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) for:
SOCI 101 Recitation (2022)
SOCI 209 (online) Sociology of Crime (2023)
SOCI 206 Social Statistics (2023)
Select Publications
Thesis manuscript in progress: American Perspectives on the Legitimacy of Transgender Identities (Advisors: Drs. Kelsy Burke, Emily Kazyak, Philip Schwadel)