IN ONE SENTENCE:
I teach - through both formal classes and public engagement - and I research how bodies are assigned value and controlled through state policy and social practices.
I teach - through both formal classes and public engagement - and I research how bodies are assigned value and controlled through state policy and social practices.
IN SEVERAL SENTENCES:
I am a full time researcher and award winning college instructor. At Purdue, I taught eight original courses including Introduction to Sociology Through Science Fiction, Marriage and Family, and Deviance and Social Control. My courses have been online, in-person, and hybrid. I also taught Intro to Women and Gender Studies at the University of Delaware. I tailor each course based on the format and interests/majors/career goals of my students. See my teaching page for in class activities, project ideas, and writing prompts.
I received my PhD in Sociology from Purdue University in 2022. My research interests include social movements, racial inequality, gender, digital sociology, violence prevention, and the law. In high school I became interested in food insecurity - why it happened and how to solve it. I dedicated my college career to studying sociology and activist art. Studying food insecurity led me to studying economic inequality and ultimately gender and racial inequalities in the U.S. In graduate school, I shifted my focus to structural inequalities, policy evaluation, and the sociology of law.
I am a full time researcher and award winning college instructor. At Purdue, I taught eight original courses including Introduction to Sociology Through Science Fiction, Marriage and Family, and Deviance and Social Control. My courses have been online, in-person, and hybrid. I also taught Intro to Women and Gender Studies at the University of Delaware. I tailor each course based on the format and interests/majors/career goals of my students. See my teaching page for in class activities, project ideas, and writing prompts.
I received my PhD in Sociology from Purdue University in 2022. My research interests include social movements, racial inequality, gender, digital sociology, violence prevention, and the law. In high school I became interested in food insecurity - why it happened and how to solve it. I dedicated my college career to studying sociology and activist art. Studying food insecurity led me to studying economic inequality and ultimately gender and racial inequalities in the U.S. In graduate school, I shifted my focus to structural inequalities, policy evaluation, and the sociology of law.
The Library of Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland 2016.
After defending my dissertation, I began work as a researcher and postdoc at the Center for the Study and Prevention of Gender-Based Violence. I currently split my time between research projects, project management, and public sociology/science literacy.
My public sociology includes producing op-eds, blogging, and podcasting. Academic research is essential to good policy-making but too often valuable information is paywalled, filled with jargon, or hidden in specialty academic publications. I believe making research accessible to the general public is a necessary public service.
Rochford exploring underground space in Indiana, 2019. Academic research involves a lot of sleuthing.
Dissertation Work |
Research Projects |
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My dissertation project explores legal frames, intersectional solidarity, and social media use in movements related to reproductive health. Using data from Instagram I follow six reproductive health organizations' messaging and relationship to the law over time.
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In addition to my dissertation, I am currently working on several projects including decision-making in intercountry and transracial adoptions, gender and community on TikTok, political performances on Instagram, and the legal system's impact on intimate partner violence.
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