I study inequality, power, and the production of ideas.
I am currently working on two major research projects: digital information dissemination in the right-wing media ecosystem, and identity and belonging in Facebook beauty communities. My research falls into three areas of sociological inquiry: race and ethnicity; communication, information, technologies and media sociology; and inequality, poverty, and mobility. Click below for some examples of my work, and view my CV to learn more about my research experience.
From the Margins to the Center
Using the National Policy Institute (NPI) as a case study, I examined how far-right white identity groups mainstream their ideologies. I found that the organization uses specific strategies create legitimacy for extremist ideologies that are then sanitized through new hybrid networks of white supremacist ideology that include mainstream news coverage, research organizations, and digital scholarly databases. This research was presented at the 2021 annual meeting of the American Sociological Association.
Conflicting Realities: How Mothers Negotiate their Role as Student in a Financialized Higher Ed
The national graduation rate for undergraduate degrees is 59%, but only 33% of students with children obtain a degree or certificate within six years. I argue that the propensity of the university to cater to the unencumbered “ideal student” type serves to hinder the identity formation of non-traditional students, creating a feedback loop where these students are excluded from the traditional university experience and further classified as not ideal. This proposal was presented at the 2021 winter meeting of Sociologists for Women in Society.