Completed Theses and Dissertations — Department of Sociology

Following are the theses and dissertations or students have completed in recent years. (Theses and dissertations submitted prior to 2014 can be located at ThinkIR (the University’s Institutional Repository), and ThinkIR links to 2020 theses and dissertations will be posted once they are available later in the fall of 2020.)

Theses

Rebecca Halpryn (2020) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL in 2020. Her thesis was entitled "“Connecting Right-Wing Authoritarianism to Environmental Beliefs and Behaviors: A Pilot Study.”
Michael Daugherty (2020): "Gun Ownership as an Expression of Whiteness and Masculinity."
Brandon Schmidt (2019) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL in 2019. His thesis was entitled ""Monogamish" : constructing shared meaning of commitment and marriage in same-sex relationships."
Assel Kuzembayeva (2019) will enter the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL in 2021. Her thesis was entitled "Marriage Among U.S. International Students: Meanings and Aspirations."
Megan Robinson (2017): "The lose-lose situation : identity prioritization and gendered communication in co-recreational intramural basketball."
Elizabeth Roberts (2017): "Organizational collaboration and its impact on immigrants and refugees in Louisville."
Jack ("Trey") Allen (2017) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and plans to defend in the 20-21 academic year. His thesis was entitled "American Muslim men and stigma : the use of religious communities as mechanisms for stigma management."
Eileen Schuhmann (2017): "Framing bottled water : an analysis of the framing contest between the anti-bottled water movement and the bottled water industry."
Dan Martin (2016): "Casting calls on the hillbilly highway : a content analysis of Appalachian-based reality television programming."
Dan Delaney (2016): "Secular but not superficial : an overlooked nonreligious/nonspiritual identity."
Eric Jordan (2016) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and graduated with his PhD in 2020. His thesis was entitled "Reel racism, real consequences : a multiple case analysis of savior films as racial projects."
Jessica Newton (2015) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and currently works as an academic advisor at UofL. Her thesis was entitled "'If we don't talk about it, they'll never go away' : an examination of the experiences of and reactions to stigma by a diverse population of adoptive parents in the United States."
Jennifer Hall (2015) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and graduated with her PhD in 2020. Her thesis was entitled "Food safety : analyzing the connection between government and industrial influence."
Shawn Rolfe (2015): "Another collateral consequence? : Examining homeless shelters policies on sex offenders across four states."
James "Kent" Pugh (2014) entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and graduated with his PhD in 2017. His thesis was entitled "Down comes the mountain : coal mining and health in central Appalachia from 2000 to 2010."
Brandon McReynolds (2014): entered the PhD program in applied sociology at UofL and graduate with his PhD in 2017. His thesis was entitled "Informal college study groups : gender and group homophily."
Brittany Buttry-Watson (2014) works as a Research Associate, Sr. at the University of Pittsburgh. Her thesis was entitled "A case study of the early institutionalization process of a restorative justice social movement organization."

Dissertations

Jamar Wheeler (2020) is a consultant with Kiaspo and serves as the Chair for the West Jefferson County Community Task Force, a 501(c)3 community research and environmental advocacy organization. His dissertation was entitled "Black Middle-Class Neighborhoods in Louisville through Multiple Lenses."
Jonathon Holland (2020) is a Data Research Analyst for the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky. His dissertation was entitled “The Norms Are More Guidelines Than Actual Rules: Applying Isomorphism to Disability Accommodations in the Catholic Church.”
Jennifer Hall (2020) continues to work with the Louisville Metro Police Department. Her dissertation was entitled “The Sidewalk Less Traveled: Evaluating Change in Community and Police Perception."
Eric Jordan (2020). His dissertation was entitled “Exploring Black "Saviors": A Content Analysis of Black Characters, and Racial Discourses, in Obama Era Films.”
Theo Malone (2020). His dissertation was entitled “Getting Up: An Ethnography of Hip Hop Graffiti Writers, their Art, and Perceptions of Society’s Reactions.”
Tonya Laphier (2019) works as a instructor for the Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College. Her dissertation was entitled "Evaluation of a Learning Community Program for Developmental Reading Students at a Two-year College."
Telesphore Kagaba (2018) became a visiting assistant professor in Sociology at Hanover College in Fall, 2019. His dissertation was entitled "Gender boundary negotiation within the U.S. immigrant/refugee resettlement : how transnational bridge-building matters."
Jennifer Sinski (2018) works as a lecturer at Bellarmine University. Her dissertation was entitled "Gender and leadership in animal sheltering organizations."
Adam Sizemore (2018) became the Director of Sustainability at Miami University in Ohio in 2018. His dissertation was entitled "Killing Martin county : resiliency in a central Appalachian community."
Kathryn Adamchik (2018) works for the University of Louisville as the Director of Advising Services in the Student Success Center Her dissertation was entitled "“Why am I in school?”: a mixed methods investigation into stopping out of college."
Heidi Williams (2017) has been an instructor in sociology at Virginia Tech since Fall, 2017. Her dissertation was entitled, "Embeddedness and commitment : tracing patterns of family instability and child wellbeing over time."
Jelisa Clark (2017) is an adjunct assistant professor at Fayetteville State University. Her dissertation was entitled "This is a black-white conversation : navigating race, class, and gender at an urban school."
Brandon McReynolds (2017) works for the Colorado Department of Higher Education and the Colorado Workforce Development Council as a liaison between the two organizations. His dissertation was entitled "The knowledge economy : increasing human capital on the U.S. I-65 corridor."
Kent Pugh (2017) works for the U.S. Census Bureau in Washington, D.C. as a statistician/demographer in the Journey-To-Work/Migration Statistics Branch. His dissertation was entitled "Moving mountains : a study examining long-term impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining on mortality in the Appalachian region using geographic information sciences techniques."
Rob Shelby (2016) first served as an instructor at the University of Evansville and became an assistant professor of sociology in 2016 before taking the role of Chief Diversity Officer there in 2019. His dissertation was entitled "Modern megachurch organization in the United States (2005-2013) : an exploratory organizational study of the American megachurch phenomenon."
Christa Moore (2016) became an assistant professor of sociology at the University or Virginia-Wise campus in Fall, 2017. Her dissertation was entitled "Care, constraint, and collaboration : situating gender and power among multidisciplinary human service organizations."
Cheryl Crane (2016) has been working as a visiting professor of sociology at Franklin College and became an assistant professor in Fall, 2017. Her dissertation was entitled ""We weren't created to do it by ourselves" : good mothering and maternal support across race, class, and family structure.
Mike Littrell (2015) is an assistant professor of criminal justice at Kentucky Community and Technical College System and has been working in the Cyber Crimes Unit with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office for several years. His dissertation was entitled "The citizen police academy : rational myths, legitimization, and emotion work : the effects of emotion on acceptance of rational myths."
Maggie Stone (2014) was an assistant professor of sociology at Marshall University through 2017 and is now working at Home of the Innocents. Her dissertation was entitled "The whore paradox : "rational" condom use decisions among prostitutes in the context of stigma and patriarchal bargaining."