Education

2003-Present   Ph.D. Sociology, University of California-Davis (Degree Expected September, 2008)

2003   M.A. Sociology, University of California-Davis

2000   B.A. Sociology, University of Colorado, Boulder

Research and Teaching Interests

Social Psychology, Gender and Family, Deviance and Medicalization, Mental Health and Emotion, Qualitative Methods

Current Research

My dissertation research is a study of fifty-five middle-class parents whose children have a range of ailments, such as physical and intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses, and substance addictions.  Drawing from in-depth interviews, I examine parents' interpretations of children's troubles, their efforts to find effective treatments, and the sweeping impacts of children's problems on parents' lives.  I argue that these mothers and fathers provide insight into a common human experience, that of trouble.  Building upon research on the social psychological ramifications of divorce, death, illness, unemployment, and large-scale disasters, I explore the deeply social nature of personal upheaval.  By considering the social patterns that are commonly disrupted in times of trouble, I articulate a distinctly sociological view of rupture and reorganization in personal life.

Teaching Experience

Associate Instructor/Lecturer, 2005-present.

        Self and Society
        Deviance
        Social Relationships
        The Sociology of the Family
        Internship/Field Methods Workshop*

        *Although I was the acting instructor of this course, my official designation was "Teaching Assistant."

Teaching Assistant, January 2002-present. 

        Introduction to Sociology
        Self and Society
        Immigration and Opportunity
        Global Social Change
        Introduction to Social Research
        Popular Culture

Works in Progress

(Book Length Manuscript).

"Mothering Children with Disabilities" in The Encyclopedia of Motherhood, edited by Andrea O'Reilly.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.  (Forthcoming, anticipated 2009).

"The Business of Mothering: Women's Use of Workplace Practices When Securing Help for Troubled Children."  Journal of Contemporary Ethnography.
(Revise and resubmit).

Selected Presentations

Toward a More Nuanced Account of Intensive Mothering: The Case of Caring for "Problem Children."  To be presented at the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems.  July, 2008.  Boston, MA. 

Signs of Trouble: How Parents Come to View Their Children as Having  Significant Problems.  Presented at the annual meetings of the Pacific Sociological Association.  April,  2008.  Portland, OR. 

Understanding the Gendered Nature of Intensive Parenting: The Importance of Action and Interaction.  Presented at "Monitoring Parents: Childrearing in the Age of Intensive Parenting."  May, 2007.  The University of Kent, Canterbury.