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, PhD Student

Email: namin@siu.edu, cv

Currently teaches Soc 223: Women & Men in Contemporary Society

Lubna Asif, PhD Student

Email: lubnaasi@gmail.com, cv

Second year PhD student

Shon Atkins, MA Student

Email: shon@siu.edu, cv

Shon is a 1st 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, PhD Student

Email: macooper@siu.edu

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

Stacia Creek, PhD Student

Email: staciacr@siu.edu, cv

Stacia is a second year doctoral student. She focuses upon religion, social movements, gender and sexuality.

Kylan Mattias de Vries, PhD Student

Email: kylan33@siu.edu, cv

Kylan completed his MA at SIUC and is now a first 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 is the VP of AKD, and is teaching Soc 215: Race and Ethnic Relations in the U.S.

Kristina Dzara, Ph.D. Student

Email: kdzara@siu.edu, cv

I am a third 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 currently teach Women and Men in Contemporary Society (SOC 223).

Danielle Estes, MA Student

Email: destes@siu.edu

Hello, I am a second year M.A. 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

Nicole Gilmore, MA Student

Email: ItsaDeal@rocketmail.com, cv

Nicole is a second year M.A. student from Central Illinois. She received her Bachelor's in Psychology and Sociology from S.I.U.C in 2005. Her current research focuses on juvenile sex offenders who are preparing to discharge from a residential treatment program and how they are accounting for their time in treatment. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys riding and showinghorses.

Catherine Gould, MA Student

Email: cmgould@siu.edu, cv

First 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

Holly Haywood, MA Student

Email: hhaywood@siu.edu, cv

I am a second year Master’s student in Sociology here at SIUC and will graduate this May!  I earned my Bachelors in Sociology with a minor in Women’s Studies at Morehead State University.  I proudly come from a working poor background and am drawn to research areas which allow me to explore lives lived at the intersections of inequalities.  Particularly, I am interested in the area of Education, and Race, Class, and Gender Inequalities, as well as Sexual Violence. I plan to finish my Master’s degree this May and continue on to earn my PhD with the goal of becoming an engaging, reflective, and transformative teacher and researcher.  Currently I am finishing up my Master’s thesis which quantitatively looks at the experiences of women graduate students in advanced education and compares their journeys by class backgrounds and intersections of inequalities.  When I had spare time I enjoyed reading feminist fiction, playing with my dog outside, camping, peace activism, and being with family and friends.

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.

Melissa Hicks, Ph.D. Student

Email: mjhicks@siu.edu, cv

Hello!  I am a 3rd 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.  Currently, I am teaching Women and Men in Contemporary Society (SOC 223).

Wanda Hunter, Ph.D. Student

Email: wanda5@siu.edu, cv

Wanda Hunter is a fourth year 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, PhD 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

First year MA student.

Melencia Johnson, MA Student

Email: johnsonm@siu.edu, cv

Hello, I’m Melencia Johnson hailing from the “Hill City”, Lynchburg, Virginia. I am a 2nd semester PhD student, and AKD president. My academic interests include criminology, gender, and female offenders. I love to play tennis, so get in touch with me if you are game!

Advice/Quote: Just get the paper done!!

Matthew Lees, MA Student

Email: matt.lees@sic.edu, cv

First year MA student.

Kristie Lipford, MA Student

Email: misskristie24@hotmail.com, cv

Kristie Lipford is a 3rd 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.

Greg Maddox, Ph.D. Student

Email: grmaddox@siu.edu, cv

Teaching Soc 397: Sexuality in Society

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.

Luke Andrew Norris, MA Student

Email: lukes76@siu.edu

First year MA student

Kristie Perry, Ph.D. Student

Email: kristieyp@yahoo.com, cv

Teaching Soc 304: Global Perspectives on the Family

Melissa Powell-Williams, Ph.D. Student

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

Melissa is a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at Southern Illinois University. Her research interests are social psychology, social movements, domestic violence victim advocacy, religious tolerance, and Deaf Culture. Currently she is undergoing dissertation research, which is a qualitative analysis of identity in the Deaf Culture movement. Her primary teaching interests are social psychology, qualitative research, statistics, methodology, social movements, victimization, and social problems. Melissa is currently on the job market for Fall of 2008.

Todd Powell-Williams, Ph.D. Student

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

Under construction, information coming soon.

Marcie Sheumaker, PhD Student

Email: marciej@siu.edu, cv

Marcie is a Ph.D. student in Sociology. She received an M.A. in Sociology from The New School for Social Research and a B.A. in Sociology from Saint Louis University. Her research interests include social psychology, social movements, sociological theory, art and culture, race, social stratification and education. Her current research involves a cross cultural analysis of African-American, Latina and Euro-American women’s resilience strategies in the United States.

Suzanne Stoelting, PhD Student

Email: suzannestoelting@hotmail.com, cv

Hello, my name is Suzanne Stoelting and I am a doctoral student in the sociology department here at Southern Illinois University.   I began my instructional career as a graduate student instructor a little over two years ago.  I have had the opportunity to teach Introduction to Sociology, Race and Ethnic Relations, and Men and Women in Contemporary society.  Before becoming a graduate student instructor, I was a teaching assistant for two years.  Over the course of my graduate career teaching college students has become my love and my passion.  With that, I applied and was accepted as one of the first peer teaching mentors in the sociology department.  Being a peer teaching mentor to other fellow graduate student instructors has given me the opportunity to converse and discuss teaching issues and most importantly enabled me to focus on and enhance my teaching.   In addition to my love and interest in teaching, I also have many research interest.  My primary area of research interest is gender and sport.  Past research I have conducted concerning gender and/or sport has included, Native American mascots, homophobia in sport, gender dynamics in sport media, and sport empowerment for women athletes.  I am currently working on my dissertation which involves out lesbian athletes in organized sports.

Tadashi Suzuki, PhD Student

Email: tadashi@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, PhD Student

Email: hamhis4@siu.edu, cv

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