Faculty, Staff & Students
Tenure-Track Faculty
Littisha Bates
Associate Professor (PhD, Arizona State University), Sociology
150 ARTSCI
Littisha Bates CV
Danielle Bessett
Professor (PhD, New York University), Sociology
1022 Crosley Tower
Bessett's current research projects examine patient experiences of abortion care and disparities in contraceptive access, prenatal care, and infant mortality. Bessett co-leads OPEN, the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network, which conducts rigorous, interdisciplinary research to assess the reproductive health and well-being of Ohioans in the context of federal and state laws, regulations, and policies. Her research has also been supported by the National Science Foundation, among other funders, and has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as Social Science & Medicine, Sociology of Health & Illness, and Women's Health Issues. Bessett's monograph on women's pregnancy experiences, Pregnant with Possibilities: Constructing Normality in Stratified Reproduction, is under contract with New York University Press, and her co-edited volume, Ohio Under Covid, is forthcoming with University of Michigan Press.
Bessett is a past board member of the academic Society of Family Planning, where she led the Junior Fellows Committee, and recently concluded her term as Secretary-Treasurer of the American Sociological Association's Medical Sociology section. She received the 2004 Dr. Mary P. Dole Medical Fellowship from the Mount Holyoke College Alumnae Association; the 2007 Rose Laub Coser Best Dissertation Proposal in Family or Gender Studies from the Eastern Sociological Society; the Cincinnati Women’s Political Caucus’s 2017 Outstanding Achievement Award; the 2021 Society of Family Planning's Mentor Award; and UC's 2021 Faculty Excellence Award from Office of the Provost and Office of Research. She is most proud of her student-initiated honors, including the 2012 “Professor Funnybone” award for funniest Sociology professor and the 2017 UC Women's Center Woman of the Year award for mentoring.
When Bessett is not working, you may find her hiking, knitting, traveling, reading, and/or spending time with friends. An ice cream aficionado, Bessett enthusiastically dances to 80's music and tries to prevent her three mischievous cats from burning through all of their nine lives.
Danielle Bessett CV
Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown
Asst Professor, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Steve L Carlton-Ford
Professor (PhD, University of Minnesota), Sociology
1009 Crosley Tower
Steve Carlton-Ford CV
Erynn Masi de Casanova
Professor of Sociology & Head of the Sociology Department, (PhD, City University of New York Graduate Center) , Sociology
1017 Crosley Tower
Erynn Masi de Casanova CV
Annulla Linders
Associate Professor, Sociology
1001 Crosley Tower
Annulla Linders CV
Oneya Fennell Okuwobi
Asst Professor, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Jeffrey M. Timberlake
Professor & Director of Graduate Studies (PhD, University of Chicago), Sociology
1004 Crosley Tower
Jeff Timberlake CV
Educator Faculty
Katherine Castiello Jones
Undergraduate Program Director (PhD, University of Massachusetts-Amherst), Sociology , Sociology
1003 Crosley Tower
In addition to their research, they been writing table-top and live-action role-playing games (larps) for over a decade. Dr. Castiello Jones' games have been featured at festivals such as Indiecade and BlackBox Copenhagen, and she was an invited guest at The Smoke festival in London in 2020.
Visiting Faculty
Adjunct Faculty
Amy Cassedy
Research Associate, Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Assistant Professor-Adjunct, Sociology, Sociology
1023 Crosley Tower
Harold F Dawson
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Harold has presented his work at gatherings of the North Central Sociological Association. His current research interests include media, popular culture, social movements, sociological theory, and social stratification.
C. James Park
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Marcus Christopher Vines
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Affiliate Faculty
Michael L. Benson
Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Associate, Sociology
660P Teachers College
Francis T. Cullen
Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus , Sociology
660-O Teachers College
Ashley M Currier
Professor, Department Head of , Sociology
3428E French Hall
Ashley Currier is a sociologist who studies lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) organizing in Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, and South Africa.
Ben H. Feldmeyer
Director of Graduate Studies, Sociology
660-R Teachers College
Jan Marie Fritz
Professor, Sociology
6213 DAA Addition
Amy C Lind
Taft Research Center Director & Faculty Chair / Mary Ellen Heintz Professor, Sociology
1100 EDWARDS 1 Edwards Center
Dr. Lind's areas of scholarship and teaching include urban studies, global political economy, development and postcolonial studies, Global South/transnational social movements, feminist and queer theory, and studies of neoliberal governance. A qualitative researcher with great interest in people's stories of survival and resistance, she has lived, worked and conducted research in Latin America for over four years, including in Euador, Peru, Bolivia, and Venezuela. She is the author of Gendered Paradoxes: Women’s Movements, State Restructuring, and Global Development in Ecuador (Penn State University Press, 2005), and editor of four volumes, including Development, Sexual Rights and Global Governance (Routledge, 2010) and Feminist (Im)mobilities in Fortress(ing) North America: Rights, Citizenships and Identities in Transnational Perspective (Ashgate Publishing, 2013, co-edited with Anne Sisson Runyan, Patricia McDermott and Marianne Marchand). Her new book, Constituting the Left Turn: Resignifying Nation, Economy and Family in Postneoliberal Ecuador (with Christine Keating), addresses the cultural, economic, and affective politics of Ecuador's postneoliberal Citizen Revolution. She has held distinguished visiting professor positions in Ecuador, Bolivia and Switzerland and has delivered over fifty invited lectures at institutions around the world.
See her UC Taft Research Center Foreign Correspondent interview here.
Hexuan Liu
Assoc Professor, Sociology
650E Teachers College
Holly Y McGee
Associate Professor, Sociology
ARTSCI
Presently, Dr. McGee is conducting research for her book, a biographical oral history of South African activist Elizabeth Mafeking. Mafeking was one of four women featured in Dr. McGee's dissertation, “When the Window Closed: Gender, Race, and (Inter)Nationalism, the United States and South Africa, 1920s-1960s,” which put into conversation existent and new scholarship regarding black radical women of the Left in the United States and South Africa during the twentieth century and was primarily concerned with the evolution of women’s protest from localized issues of race-based discrimination to international, anti-colonial protests of the era.
Dr. McGee’s most recent publication credit, “‘It was the wrong time and they just weren’t ready’: Direct-action protest at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College (AM&N),” appeared as a reprint in Arsnick: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Arkansas, an edited collection on SNCC’s pivotal role in transforming the status of racial discrimination in Arkansas in the 1960s. Additionally, she has forthcoming articles in the fields of local Arkansas history, and South African women's history.
Peter Rehberg
Assoc Professor - Visiting, Sociology
741 Old Chemistry Building
Leila Rodriguez
Senior Research Associate, Sociology
450 Braunstein Hall
Senior Associate Researcher
I am former Professor of Anthropology who maintains an affiliate Senior Associate Researcher position. Broadly, my research questions how societies manage cultural diversity. One line of research studies the local-level integration of migrants and the sociocultural construction of (il)legality. The second line of research investigates how judicial systems in the U.S. and Latin America use culture as evidence in legal conflicts involving migrants and asylum-seekers.
Olga Sanmiguel-Valderrama
Associate Professor in Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, Sociology
3314 French Hall
Born and raised in Colombia, South America, Dr. Sanmiguel-Valderrama practiced law in Colombia for five years before migrating to Canada in her late 20s. Dr. Sanmiguel-Valderrama earned her LLM in international human rights law at the University of Ottawa, where she also worked at the Human Rights Research and Education Center co-directing a women's project with CEMUJER in El Salvador (Central America) funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 2004, she graduated with her Ph.D. in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto, where she was also affiliated to CERLAC, The Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean at York University.
On the basis of extensive fieldwork in Colombia, her research and publications examine the contradictions between neoliberal international trade and military aid on the one hand, and respect for individual and collective human rights –in particular labor, environmental, and equality rights for women and racial minorities—on the other hand. These relationships and contradictions are examined through case studies where both trade and human rights laws and practices are in operation: first, the Colombian export-led flower industry. Her upcoming book (2012) is provisionally titled “No Roses Without Thorns: Trade, Militarization, and Human Rights in the Production and Export of Colombian Flowers” (click here to see book prospectus). Second, though the case of NAFTA and undocumented migration of Mexican and Central American into the USA.
Dr. Sanmiguel -Valderrama have published various articles in prestigious international academic journals presenting her research findings on the interrelationship between globalization, international trade, militarism, social reproduction, and human rights from multidisciplinary and transnational anti-racist feminist approaches. Her research have been supported by competitive grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Charles Phelps Taft Research Center, and the University of Cincinnati Research Council. Professor's Sanmiguel-Valderrama current areas of research and teaching are family-work conflict under globalization, the relationships between military aid, trade, and human rights in Colombia, feminist mothering, women, gender and law, international women's rights, and women's labor rights.
Emeriti Faculty
Jan L. Bending
Professor Emerita, Sociology
Paula J Dubeck
Professor Emeritus, Sociology
T. David Evans
Professor Emeritus, Sociology
David J Maume
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Sociology
Dave Maume CV
Daisy Quarm
Professor Emerita, Sociology, Sociology
Gerald S Reid
Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Sociology
Phillip Neal Ritchey
Professor Emeritus, Sociology
I am a Sociologist with an extensive background in basic research and policy analysis. I have extensive research and consulting experience and have taught methodology and statistics for over 3 decades. I am very knowledge about programming and data management. I am knowledgeable about methodology (e.g., research designs, sampling, weighting of data with complex designs, and questionnaire construction); structural equation modeling (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, and combined structural equation measurement models); measurement (e.g., modeling based on classical measurement theory and item response theory); and specialized analytical procedures, including simulations, negative binomial and Poisson regression for skewed and truncated distributions, hazard or event history models, random effects modeling, hierarchical linear modeling, individual growth modeling, and path analysis combining OLS and regression coefficients based on non-OLS regression equations. Additionally, I have an extensive background in research reporting and writing.
Staff
Amanda Rose Hogeland
Business Manager A&S Staffing Unit 5, Sociology
3420 French Hall
Nicole Marie Kaffenberger
Program Manager, Sociology
3428D French Hall
Graduate Students
Cynthia Lynn Beavin
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Their current research interests include medical sociology, sociology of reproduction, and sociology of science, knowledge, and technology, with focuses in abortion and unintended pregnancy. Cynthia has published in the Lancet Global Health, BMJ Global Health, BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, Contraception: X, Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Undeserved, and Qualitative Resarch in Health.
Aalap Bommaraju
Instructor - Adj, Sociology
BA MUNTZ
- A nationally recognized researcher studying US abortion and contraception policy, Aalap Ooha Bommaraju (they/them) examines how activists challenge race, gender, and class-based inequalities in access to reproductive healthcare within healthcare organizations, health policy institutions, and the broader culture.
- web: www.aalapbommaraju.com
- email: bommarap@ucmail.uc.edu
- twitter: @aalapooha
- insta/threads: @aalwaysbdoing2muchkindness
- Policy prioritization dynamics after the implementation of Illinois’ Public Act 100-0538. Funded by the Society of Family Planning Emerging Scholars Grant ($7,416/1 year). Role: Principal Investigator.
- The meaning of victory in the politics of stratified reproduction: A social history of HB40. Funded by an anonymous foundation, ($191,675/4 years). Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Faculty Advisors: Danielle Bessett, PhD and Annulla Linders, PhD.
- Ohio’s Safety-Net Contraceptive Providers. Funded by the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network (~$100,000/3 years). Role: Project Lead. Faculty Advisors: Danielle Bessett, PhD and Sarah Hayford, PhD
- Evaluating Interactional Dynamics in Reproductive Life Planning. Funded with multiple University of Cincinnati intramural grants ($3,500/2 years). Role: Co-Principal Investigator. Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Malat, PhD
Recent Journal Articles:
- Jeyifo, Megan, Aalap Ooha Bommaraju, and Qudsiyyah Shariyf. 2023. “Chicago Abortion Fund: Shaping Change: 99 Steps Towards Justice.” Portable Gray 6 (1): 70–95. https://doi.org/10.1086/725616
- Zuniga, Carmela, Aalap Bommaraju, Lee Hasselbacher, Debra Stulberg, and Terri-Ann Thompson. 2022. “Provider and Community Stakeholder Perspectives of Expanding Medicaid Coverage of Abortion in Illinois.” BMC Health Services Research 22 (March): 413. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8960679/
- Hasselbacher, Lee, Carmela Zuniga, Aalap Bommaraju, Terri-Ann Thompson, and Debra Stulberg. 2021. “Lessons Learned: Illinois Providers’ Perspectives on Implementation of Medicaid Coverage for Abortion.” Contraception 103 (6): 414–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.contraception.2021.02.008
- Kim, Emily*, Sachika Singh*, Aalap Bommaraju, Alison H. Norris, and Danielle Bessett. 2021. “‘We Have to Respect That Option’: The Abortion Aversion Complex in Safety-Net Healthcare Organizations.” Social Science & Medicine 291 (December): 114468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114468 *graduate student mentees at time of publication
Sarah Elizabeth Bostic
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
I do qualitative research primarily in the realm of medical sociology and the body. Specifically, I seek to better understand the experiences of people with chronic illness, their interactions with medical providers, and how they navigate accessing the care they need. I am interested in their diagnostic journeys, development of cultural health capital, and how stigmas related to mental illness and body-size might shape these experiences.
Sarah Bostic's CV
Jeremy Aaron Brenner-Levoy
Graduate Assistant , Sociology
My research generally focuses on what I call "nerd culture," by looking at how social structures influence our preferences and experiences within video games, table-top games, cosplay, and other associated activities. I am especially interested in using mixed methods research to understand how individuals' experiences are grounded in the experiences of larger communities.
My dissertation, which I am currently working on, looks at how identity may structure our preferences within video games. Through this project I hope to understand how social structure may shape the way we view games, the games we play, and the roles within games that we prefer. Drawing on 4,500 survey responses and 60 interviews, I hope to illustrate the importance of social identity in our goals for play.
My thesis used a survey and interviews to understand how queer men experience, understand, address, and cope with harassment in online video games. My most recent published work focused on gender, identity, and body in cosplay (a portmanteau of costume and play). I have previoiusly worked as part of the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network (OPEN), as well as individual research on queer identity formation and care work in video games. I am currently a Taft Dissertation Fellow.
In my spare time, I enjoy reading fantasy books, watching anime, playing video games, and caring for my many plants and cats.
Molly Rose Broscoe
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Mab Davoodifar
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Harold F Dawson
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Harold has presented his work at gatherings of the North Central Sociological Association. His current research interests include media, popular culture, social movements, sociological theory, and social stratification.
Kate Mary Durso
Asst Professor - Visiting, Sociology
130.1 University Pavilion
Kiki B. Higgins
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
His current research interests deal with race, gender, sexuality in connection with dating and nonconventional relationships.
Kiki Higgins CV
Annie Katherine McGhee
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Her broad research interests include gender and sexualities, race, and cultural/media studies. Her current projects focus on how audiences negotiate racialized and gendered representations of flapperhood in early Hollywood cinema and archival research on racial exclusion in predominantly White organizations.
Her Master's Thesis examined how those who identify as LGBTQ negotiated their identities in sex education classes in private religiously-affiliated schools.
In her spare time, Annie enjoys reading, writing fiction and poetry, and running.
Annie McGhee CV
Zoe Muzyczka
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
C. James Park
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower
Michael Lawrence Parrish
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
CV Michael Parrish
https://mailuc-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/parrisml_mail_uc_edu/EUuBoG2AqwpBmS5cHXSRMdwBmf-CsIrdeKzLDSTkWzXBqw?email=parrisml%40mail.uc.edu&e=4%3ATaq2Gy&fromShare=true&at=9&CID=368381aa-43d5-38e2-7044-605ddd3be89c
John William Roth
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Arti Sandhu
Associate Professor, Sociology
Aronoff Center
Her research is centered on contemporary Indian fashion and related design culture. She is the author of Indian Fashion: Tradition, Innovation, Style (Bloomsbury Academic, 2014). She has also published articles on dress and the Indian Diaspora in New Zealand, Indian Streetstyle, the contemporary Indian catwalk, and Indian drag queens. Arti is currently working on research projects relating to the growing discourse around decolonizing fashion studies, the role craft can play in fashioning sustainable design practices and overall well being, and a digital ethnography on social media saree groups.
In addition to her academic research, Arti's artworks, which explore identity and migration, have been exhibited in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, the Netherlands, and India. In 2011 she curated the exhibition ZER0-Waste: Fashion Re-Patterned for the Averill and Bernard Leviton Gallery in Chicago featuring the groundbreaking work of designers and creatives working with sustainable fashion design strategies. Arti has also been the fashion contributor for Arts Illustrated magazine (Chennai) and occasionally writes for an online column for the digital fashion publication the Voice of Fashion.
Kyle Neal Shupe
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
I study queer men's sexual identities, communities, and practices as well as the social organization of desire. In my current work, I explore queer men's cruising strategies and the surveillance and regulation of public sex.
In my free time, I enjoy reading good books and watching bad TV.
Anthony Jerome Stone
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
Kierra Nicole Toney
Graduate Assistant, Sociology
You can learn more about Kierra by visiting her website, KierraNToney.com .
Marcus Christopher Vines
Instructor - Adjunct, Sociology
Crosley Tower