Graduate Teaching Assistants and Fellows

Solomon Amoatey

Solomon is a third-year PhD student and will serve as a research assistant in the fall semester for Dr. Melanie Gast and Dr. Kushan Dasgupta.  Solomon holds a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from the University of Ghana and a master of arts degree in sociology from the University of Toledo, Ohio. His research explores the experiences of people with disabilities in the Global South. Solomon is deeply committed to defending the rights, freedoms and opportunities experienced by people with disabilities and by people in the Global South more broadly. He is also interested in health, social policy and social inequalities. His master’s thesis research involved the qualitative data collection and analysis of interviews with persons with disability in Ghana. 

  |   (502) 852-8044   |   113 Lutz Hall

Sasha Belinova

Sasha is a second-year MA-PhD student and will serve as a research assistant for Dr. Lauren Heberle and the Center for Environmental Policy and Management.  She recently graduated with her BA in sociology from Bellarmine University. During her time as an undergraduate student, she participated in local organizations such as the Coalition for the Homeless. These experiences would inform her current research focus in poverty and homelessness, and she is currently working on her thesis exploring the relationship between local housing policy and eviction rates in Louisville

      |   (502) 852-8046   |   116 Lutz Hall 

Freddie Belle

Freddie is a first-year PhD student who received their BA in sociology and communications from Indiana University Southeast.and their MA in sociology from the University of Louisville. Their research interests include gender, sexuality, and popular culture. Their Master's thesis explored how gender is represented in the TikToks of nonbinary content creators. Freddie's hobbies include watching anime, reading fantasy novels, and listening to the British rock band Queen. They live with their dog Oscar who is their best friend and closest companion.

   |   (502) 852-8023   |   111 Lutz Hall

Joseph Brewer

Joey is a third-year PhD student and will be teaching SOC 201 Introduction to Sociology in the fall and spring.  He earned his BA and MA in sociology from UofL and is interested in the sociology of leisure as it pertains to card games, board games, tabletop RPGS, and the Local Game Store environment, and is currently studying e-sports.

  |   (502) 852-8010   |   107 Lutz Hall

Jon Ellis

Jon is a second-year MA-PhD. student who will serve as a teaching assistant for Dr. Michal Kofman's SOC 301 Social Statistics course in the fall. Jon graduated from the University of North Florida with a BA in sociology, a minor in psychology, and a concentration in social welfare policy. At the University of Louisville, he is currently researching homelessness and poverty, focusing on how unhoused Black men navigate urban spaces and how masculinity manifests when traditional forms have been stripped.  When he has free time, Jon enjoys spending time with his newlywed wife traveling and hiking. He also loves spending time with his two dogs Indie and Kobe.

   |   (502) 852-3869   | 106 Lutz Hall

Zohal Ghoura

Zohal is a first-year MA student and research assistant for Dr. Michal Kofman and the Department of Sociology’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Committee.  Zohal graduated from American University of Central Asia with a major in sociology and a minor in international and comparative politics and has research interests in gender and wellbeing, as well as the dynamics of identity and migration.  She is passionate about these subjects and eager to explore them further in her academic pursuits.

 |   (502) 852-8023   | 111 Lutz Hall

Debbie Godfrey

Debbie is a first-year MA-PhD student who will serve as a teaching assistant for Dr. Roberto Morales's Soc 323 Diversity and Inequality class in the fall. Debbie received her BA in Sociology with honors from California State University at Northridge in 2003. Her areas of interest are broadly in parenting and domestic violence.  Returning to academia after a long absence, Debbie hopes to both learn from and then contribute to the body of work involving family dynamics.  In her free time, she rides her horse, plays pickleball and enjoys time with her 3 grandsons.

   |   (502) 852-8045   | 115 Lutz Hall

Anna Kelecy

Anna is a second-year MA-PhD student who will serve as a teaching assistant for Dr. Roberto Morales's SOC 323 Diversity and Inequality course in the fall. She has a BA in psychology from the University of Louisville. Anna's research interests include medical sociology, mental health care, mental illness, and quantitative methods. Her research focuses on disparities and quality of care for individuals seeking help for psychiatric concerns in medical emergency departments.

   |   (502) 852-3869   | 106 Lutz Hall

Autumn Martin

Autumn is a second-year PhD student and will teach SOC 202 Social Problems this fall. She received her MA in sociology and BS in psychology from Middle Tennessee State University. Her thesis looked at the effects that COVID-19 had on working mothers in the nursing profession. At the doctoral level, she is interested in sexuality, gender, and medical sociology, specifically overturning of Roe V Wade, how it is affecting women's experiences with receiving healthcare, and how it affects medical providers who provide care in states with strict abortion bans. When she has free time she enjoys training in martial arts.

     |   (502) 852-8044   |   113 Lutz Hall 

Haley Metcalf Wade

Haley is a fifth-year PhD student who whose dissertation research examines how the EPA defines success in Superfund Site cleanups. She works for Dr. Heberle as part of the University of Louisville Superfund Research Center's Community Engagement Core. There she supports transdisciplinary research incorporating community engagement while building upon her capacity to apply sociological concepts and theories to address environmental justice issues and expand sociology's disciplinary boundaries for academic and non-academic audiences. 

   |   (502) 852-8046   | 116 Lutz Hall

Julian Miller

Julian is a first-year PhD student who will serve as a teaching assistant for Dr. Michal Kofman's SOC 301 Social Statistics course this fall. Julian holds an MA in sociology from New Mexico State University and a BA in philosophy from Duquesne University. He is primarily interested in the disparities between development organizations’ interpretations of a region’s socioeconomic needs and the reality of day-to-day life in these areas. Drawing from methodologies such as phenomenological interviewing to Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Julian’s goal has been to portray these communities as authentic sources of local knowledge and traditions instead of corporate economic “projects”. While the majority of his work has focused on Central Appalachia, Julian is looking forward to engaging with urban communities as well regarding issues such as environmental racism and internal displacement.

   |   (502) 852-8045   | 115 Lutz Hall

Kristin Heck Sajadi

Kristin is a second-year Ph student who is a Rieger Fellow and will work with Dr. Melanie Gast and the Athena/COACHE team this fall.  Kristin earned a BA in sociology and business administration from Vanderbilt University, and her MA from the University of Memphis. Sajadi is the founder of Shyft Strategies, LLC. Shyft was born from the desire to inspire organizational leaders to embrace their capacity to drive positive sustainable change and create environments where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. In addition to running Shyft, Sajadi has held instructor and adjunct faculty positions at the University of Memphis and at Eastern Kentucky University, respectively. In her free time, Kristin enjoys spending time with her family and dogs, hiking, and scuba diving.

   |   (502) 852-8010   | 107 Lutz Hall