Department of Sociology

Jessica Abbott, PhD Student

Email: ab1227@siu.edu, cv

My major research interests are globalization and tourism, gender, and race/ethnicity. I am a first year PhD student.

Jeanie Akamanti, Ph.D. Student

Email: akamanti@siu.edu, cv, on the Job Market

Research Interests: Constructs of Disability, Social Control of Marginal Populations

Nadia Amin, Ph.D. Student

Email: namin@siu.edu, cv

Currently teaches Soc 223: Women & Men in Contemporary Society

Mohammed Asadi, Ph.D. Student

Email: Masadi@siu.edu, cv

Lubna Asif, Ph.D. Student

Email: lubnaasi@gmail.com, cv

My name is Ms. Lubna Ayub Asif and I am a third year Ph.D. student at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the Sociology department. I'm a Fulbright doctoral scholar from Pakistan, and hold a M.A.in Economics from University of Karachi and a M.Sc. in Development Studies from London School of Economics, U.K. My research interests are globalization and the political economy of outsourcing and off-shoring trends.

Shon Atkins, MA Student

Email: shon@siu.edu, cv

Shon is a 2nd year MA student researching the social aspect of disasters, particularly in the areas of crime/deviance, stratification, race, and social psychology. His previous ethnographic research examined pre-disaster planning/evacuation strategies of mobile home communities in SW Florida. Currently, Shon is interested in evaluating society's post-disaster perceptions of crime/deviance versus actual reported incidences.  

Kristi Brownfield, MA Student

Email: kabrownf@siu.edu, cv

Kristi's research interests include criminology, deviance (especially positive deviance), stratification, media and popular culture, and technology's effects on society. Her thesis research is on adult female video game players. She has Bachelor degrees in English and Sociology. Kristi is a Graduate Assistant Union steward.

Margaret Cooper, Ph.D. Student

Email: macooper@siu.edu

From Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green. Third year PhD student. Currently teaching Soc 215: Race and Ethnic Relations in the US.

Stacia Creek, Ph.D. Student

Email: stacia.creek@gmail.com, cv

Stacia is a third year doctoral student. She focuses upon religion, social movements, gender and sexuality. Her dissertation will consider the ex-gay movement in the United States. She currently teaches Women and Men in Contemporary Society. Stacia is also the graduate advisor for the Saluki Rainbow Network and the vice-chair of the SIUC GLBT Resource Center Board.

Kylan Mattias de Vries, Ph.D. Student

Email: kylan33@siu.edu, cv

Kylan completed his MA at SIUC and is now a second year PhD student. His research interests are in the areas of identity, and gender, race, sexuality, and class; particularly, how this is experienced in the transgender communities, and how this affects perceptions of self. Kylan's Master's Paper was entitled: Exclusion/Inclusion Processes in Collective Identity: the Experience of Black Transgenders. His other area of research is comparing evangelical halloween alternatives.

Kylan has taught Soc 215: Race and Ethnic Relations in the U.S. and is teaching Statistics in Fall 2008.

Kristina Dzara, Ph.D. Student

Email: kdzara@siu.edu, cv

I am a fourth year Ph.D. student with an M.A. in Applied Sociology from the University of Central Florida. My research areas are family, gender, and sexuality.  I am most interested in how relationship status and sexual behavior influence subjective quality of life, such as happiness or health, and life, sexual, or marital satisfaction.  I recently presented my paper, “Exploring Marital Status and Gender Differences in the Effect of Sexual Behavior on Subjective Quality of Life" at the 2007 American Sociological Association annual meeting.  My parents and 4 of my 5 younger siblings still reside in Central Florida. My hobbies include scouring yard sales and thrift stores and watching premium channel original television shows on DVD.  I received the Disseration Research Award for 2008/2009.

Danielle Estes, Ph.D. Student

Email: destes@siu.edu

Hello, I am a first year PhD. student. My primary research interests are social psychology (identity, social construction, and symbolic interaction in particular), and education.  In my master’s thesis, which extends upon my undergraduate thesis, I look at the ways in which student parents construct their childcare choices, more specifically, the way that culture and identity both shape and are shaped by parents’ childcare choices.  I am also interested in exploring the factors that shape students’ educational aspirations and future goals and how these change over time.  I will be graduating in May of 08 and looking for a PhD program. 

Cathy Field, Ph.D. Student

Email: catherine@fieldhughes.net, cv

Catherine Gould, MA Student

Email: cmgould@siu.edu, cv

Second year MA student.

Aleta Top Gustavson, Ph.D. Student

Email: atgustavson@hotmail.com, cv

Stephen Hagan, Ph.D. Student

Email: sphagan@siu.edu, cv, job market information

Research Interests: Social Movements, Deviance, Social Problems, Culture, Leisure, Technology, Media Analysis, Religion

Geraldine M. Hendrix-Sloan, Ph.D. Student

Email: gera133@siu.edu, cv

Geri is a fourth-year PhD candidate, with her MA from Western Illinois University, and BA from Knox College. She focuses on criminology, deviance, culture, and gender...Geri.currently is teaching SOC 372: Criminology.

Michelle Henton, MA Student

Email: mdhenton@siu.edu, cv

Melissa Hicks, Ph.D. Student

Email: mjhicks@siu.edu, cv

Hello!  I am a 4th year PhD student in the Department of Sociology.  I received my master’s degree from the Department of Kinesiology with a focus in sport studies also here at SIUC.  Before that, I was at Gannon University in Erie, PA earning my B.S. in Sport and Exercise Science.  In addition to completing my PhD in Sociology, I am also nearing completion of a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies.  My research interests include care giving for former boxers with a mental illness, gender, sociology of emotions, and the subculture of boxing in general.  I received the Disseration Research Award for 2008/2009.

Wanda Hunter, Ph.D. Student

Email: wanda5@siu.edu, cv

Wanda Hunter is a PhD student in the Sociology department seeking a concentration in Administration of Justice.  She received her BBA in Business with a minor in Marketing from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas and received a Masters in Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  Her areas of interest include Race and Crime, specializing in Delinquency, African American male experiences and corrections.  She currently has two encyclopedia articles published in Mary Bosworth’s Encyclopedia of Prison and Correctional Facilities.

Jake Jantzer, Ph.D. Student

Email: jjantzer@siu.edu, cv

I am in the process of completing my doctoral work, focusing on the areas of race, social psychology, deviance, and the family.  In my dissertation, I will be exploring aspects of nontraditional relationships using the Add Health data.  My CV summarizes my professional accomplishments thus far.  On a personal level, I enjoy science fiction, martial arts, and cooking.

Duretta Johnson, MA Student

Email: djohns73@siu.edu, cv

Second year MA student.

Melencia Johnson, Ph.D. Student

Email: johnsonm@siu.edu, cv

Melencia completed her MA at SIUC and is now a 2nd year PhD student in Sociology with an emphasis in Administration of Justice and Women’s Studies. Her research interests area in the area of gender and crime, more specifically women’s perpetration of crime.

Current Research: Using the NIBRS data to compare women’s and men’s perpetration of non-violent crime.

Current Position: Graduate Assistant in the University Women’s Professional Advancement (UWPA) office.

Lenzy Jones , MA Student

Email: ljones22 @sic.edu, cv

Matthew Lees, MA Student

Email: matt.lees@sic.edu, cv

MA student.

Kristie Lipford, Ph.D. Student

Email: misskristie24@hotmail.com, cv

Kristie Lipford is a 4th year Graduate Student in the Department of Sociology at Southern Illinois University. Her research focuses on the attitudinal implications of the contemporary Black Nationalist ideology and its effect on African American political behavior. In addition to political sociology, her other research interests include social epidemiology, research methods, teaching sociology, and culture studies.

Shelly McGrath, Ph.D. Student

Email: smcgrath@siu.edu, cv

Fourth year phd student; areas of interest include rural sociology, crime and deviance; current research on juvenile delinquents and women bodybuilders.  Almost all of my free time is spent in the gym.

Minyoung Moon, MA Student

Email:

Luke Andrew Norris, MA Student

Email: lukes76@siu.edu

Kristie Perry, Ph.D. Student

Email: kristieyp@yahoo.com, cv

Teaching Soc 304: Global Perspectives on the Family

Mehrad Sayyar, Ph.D. Student

Email: bsayyar@siu.edu, cv

Jerald D Schrimsher, Ph,D, Student

Email: jdschrim@siu.edu, cv

Marcie Sheumaker, Ph.D. Student

Email: marciej@siu.edu, cv

Tadashi Suzuki, PhD Student

Email: tadashi@siu.edu, cv

Nishanth Visagaratnam, Ph.D. Student

Email: nvisagar@siu.edu, cv

Evonnia Woods, MA Student

Email: ewoods@siu.edu, cv

I’m a second year master’s student. I received my B.A. from S.I.U.C. in psychology, during which I decided to continue my education with a different approach to why people behave like they do, and thus, the transition began.  So, yes, I am a newbie to the field, but thus far my interests in the field of sociology are globalization and gender/race relations.  Currently my research is concerned with evaluating the rationales given for lynching around the world, which involves a historical analysis of every (available) lynching case in the state of Georgia from 1882-1930 via newspaper articles.  Interested in knowing more…feel free to e-mail me anytime.

Mohammed Zanoun, Ph.D. Student

Email: hamhis4@siu.edu, cv

From University of Arkansas. Third year PhD student. Currently teaching Soc 108: Introduction to Sociology