Current Graduate Students
Sociology Graduate Students and Areas of Interest
Sandra P. Arevalo is a first year doctorate student. She received her BA in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and her MA in Sociology in April 2005 from Northeastern University. Sandra is currently working full-time at the Institute on Urban Health Research as a Project Evaluator of three federal funded grants aimed to improve treatment among women with substance abuse disorders.
Areas of Interest: Her main research is focused on social determinants of health and how social disparities affect health; especially socioeconomic, race/ethnicity, and gender disparities. Sandra is particulary interested on how racial/ethnic and socioeconomic discrimination affects the health of minority populations. | Curriculum Vitae
Tammi Arford is a second year graduate student and TA in the Sociology and Anthropology Department. She has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Florida.
Areas of Interest: Tammi is interested in theories and practices of punishment; mass incarceration in the U.S., including its social effects; cross-cultural comparative studies; and ethnography.
Christina Briadotti, Holocaust Education, Jewish-Christian Relations, Violence and Conflict
Sean Brown is a 1st year Ph.D. student. He received his B.S. from Texas Christian University in December of 1997 in Radio-Television-Film, and completed his A.M. in Social Science at the University of Chicago in August of 2004. Sean's work thus far has sought to shed light on the nature of sports fans, especially with regards to soccer in the United States. As a Ph.D. student, I hope to continue asking questions about sports fans by using other theoretical approaches, including globalization and nationalism, social movements, and notions of community and cultural identification amongst sports fans. Additionally, I am excited about gaining valuable teaching experience within the department, and am currently assisting Professor Alan Klein in his Peoples and Cultures of the World course.
Areas of Interest: Sociology of Sport, Globalization, Political Economy, and Qualitative Methods. | Curriculum Vitae
Peter Cassino is a Ph.D. candidate who is currently researching his dissertation. His dissertation is focusing on the evolutionary process of local community level programs that were implemented in response to high crime rates during the late 1980s and early 1990s. These programs range from loosely organized neighborhood watches, to midnight basketball, to highly organized police actions. As his C.V. indicates these are the primary areas he has gained teaching experience in over the last several years. Prior to Northeastern, Peter earned his B.A. in Sociology from Plymouth State College, where he wrote a senior thesis on college campus crime andthe perception of fear. Subsequently he received his M.A. in criminal justice from UMASS-Lowell, where he wrote his master's thesis on aggressive sexual behavior on college campuses. Peter has also acquired valuable work experience working with at risk males youth at a residential treatment program.
Areas of Interest: Criminology, Violence, and Stratification. | Curriculum Vitae | American Society Syllabus | Crime Class Police Syllabus
Linda Christen is a Ph.D. student interested in the intersection of gender, race and class in suburbia. Currently she is working on a qualitative study of working class mothers in higher education. Linda teaches "Social Thought" at the Boston Conservatory. She is also interested in the sociology of art. Linda graduated Magna Cum Laude from Framingham State College with a B.A. in Sociology. She received her MA from Northeastern University's Department of Sociology and Anthropology in 2005. In addition to parenting teenagers, Linda is an active volunteer in her home community. She is a member of the Violence Prevention Coalition/No Place for Hate committee and is the Director of A New Song Coffeehouse, which she was instrumental in founding and has volunteered at for twenty years. A potter for the past thirteen years, Linda has participated in numerous gallery exhibits and sales. | CV_Linda Christen.pdf
Sarah Cope is a second year PhD student. Sarah completed her Master's at Northeastern's Sociology department in May 2006. Originally from Charleston, SC, she received her B.S. in Sociology at the College of Charleston. Sarah's first years in graduate school led her into projects on both lesbian intimate partner violence and sexual assault. Along with studying violence against women, Sarah is committed to providing direct service as a medical advocate for the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center.
She taught her first course in the summer of 2006, "Class, Power, and Social Change." Recently, she has passed her first comprehensive examination, Violence Against Women, and is currently working on her second, Violence at Colleges and Universities. She hopes to begin work on her dissertation proposal this spring.
Areas of Interest: Sarah is interested in violence, both interpersonal and collective. She is also interested in social psychology and definitional issues surround social phenomenon such as sexual assault, intimate partner violence, cults, hate groups, and militias.
Amanda M. Crabb, is a 1st year PH.D. student. She received her B.A. in Women's Studies from the University at Buffalo in December 1998, Master's in Women's Studies from The University of Alabama in August 2004. Amanda has focused past research on sexual harassment and workplace policies and abortion issues.
Areas of Interest: Race, Class and Gender.
Jenifer Dobruck, Urban Sociology, Social Policy, Stratification
Meghan Doran received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Planning in 2005 from the University of Massachusetts/Boston. She has worked in the Adult Basic Education field for the past six years, teaching ESOL and literacy. Most recently, she taught adult basic literacy to inmates at the Suffolk County House of Correction. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for WE LEARN, an organization which promotes women's literacy resources and opportunities.
Areas of Interest: Her research interests include education, inequality, and social justice.
Jill Eshelman did her undergraduate work at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI. She graduated in May 2004 with a B.A. in Sociology, Spanish, and Secondary Education.
Areas of Interest: Policy, Urban Sociology, and Spain/Latin America Studies.
Meghan K. Finley | Curriculum Vitae
Areas of Interest: Family Violence, Violence Against Women, Social Movements, and Latin America.
Janese Free, is a Ph.D. student working on her dissertation regarding juvenile delinquency, criminology and education. Two of my professors at Northeastern introduced me to a principal of an alternative school and I have just finished my research for my dissertation at that school. Last year, I taught Violence in the Family and Deviant Behaviors and Social Controls classes as a SGA in the Department. Teaching these classes gave me invaluable teaching experience that I hope to continue to us in the future.
Areas of Interest: Family Violence, Juvenile Delinquency, Criminology, Deviance, Education
Marci Gerulis, International Environmental Policy, Latin American/Mexico, Rising Inequality
Francesca Gilkey is a Ph.D. student. She received her undergraduate degree with a double major in Sociology and Women's Studies from the University of Southern Maine in 2001. Francesca completed her Master's degree at Northeastern in 2004 and is continuing towards here Ph.D. at Northeastern University. She has begun the comprehensive exam process and hopes to complete both exams by Fall 2006: (1) Race, Class, and Gender and Reproductive Health, and (2) Social Movements and The Women's Health Movement. Francesca is currently a Graduate Research Fellow at the Institute on Urban Health Research in the Bouve College of Health Sciences at Northeastern. She is working on Mothers Hope, Mind, Spirit Project, in which they are helping in the evaluation of a residential substance abuse treatment program for Latina women and their children at four Boston city locations. Francesca has also been working on Pregnant and Post-Partum Women and Infants Study (PPWI)in which psychoeducational groups are offered to PPW in substance abuse treatment to teach them about the importance of getting prenatal care, about basic pregnancy care, and infant care so that their pregnancy outcomes, their babies' health, and their own health might improve. Along with her work for her comprehensive exams and research fellowship, she is excited to make final plans and decisions for her wedding in December 2005 and a honeymoon in Italy following.
Areas of Interest: Inquality-Gender/Race/Class/Sexuality, Women's Reproductive Health-Disparities in Health Care Access and Health Outcomes, Grassroots Organizing, and Social Policy, and the U.S. Women's Movement-The Women's Health and Reproductive Rights Movements.
Allison Grossman-Varga, Globalization, Third World Development, Environment
Yodeline Guillaume received her B.A. in Sociology with a double major in Psychology from Emmanuel College in 2007. She is a Research Intern in the Policy and Advocacy for Women's Health Department at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Areas of Interest: Her research interests include issues related to social conflict, inequality, and stratification. Witnessing the impact of poverty and inequality in her native country has, to a large extent, continued to shape her areas of study and career choices.
Andrea Hill graduated in May 2005 with a B.S. in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Southern Indiana.
Areas of Interest: Combining these fields, her research interests include political sociology, social movements, political socialization, and international issues.
Christopher Hovey received his B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Philosophy from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2005. He went on to work for the Alliance for Technology, Learning, and Society (ATLAS) at the University of Colorado as the research coordinator in the Assessment and Research Center studying the issues in social and communication informatics, education, and gender. Studying abroad in Egypt, working with an NGO in Liberia, and travel experiences throughout the Middle East, Europe, India, and West Africa have inspired him to pursue his current interests in studying the application of innovative technologies to address issues in globalization and international development.
Areas of Interest: His areas of interest are globalization and international development, social cohesion, the global economy, international politics, social informatics, terrorism, and the Middle East.
Brandy Hubbard received her B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Sociology with a concentration in Social Work from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH in 2004. Before beginning her graduate studies, Brandy worked with victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence at crisis centers in New Hampshire.
Areas of Interest: Her areas of interest are violence against women, gender studies, inequality, and immigration.
Lora Karaoglu, is a third year Ph.D. student. Since environmental sociology is one of my interest areas, I'm very grateful that the department assigned me to teach Environment and Society under Sr. SGA grant. Teaching this course from a political economy perspective has been beneficial for me in many ways. I had the opportunity to share my experience and knowledge with my students while conducting research to keep myself up to date with current literature in this field. As I was upgrading the course material and preparing course readers, I further developed my ideas for my dissertation project. Furthermore, I believe having this teaching experience prepared me well for future full-time teaching positions that I might apply for after graduation.
Areas of Interest: Environmental Sociology, Political Economy, Cross-national Environmental Policy, Globalization, Environmental Justice and Sustainable Development. | KopruluKanyon_National_Park_by_Karaoglu_2004.pdf | Syllabus | Syllabus
Amie Levesque, is a first year Ph.D. student. I received my B.A. in Sociology and History from the University of Denver in 2003, and my M.A. in Sociology from Northeastern University in 2005. Currently, I am teaching Gender in a Changing Society here at Northeastern, while finishing my coursework for my Ph.D. As an instructor, my teaching goals have been to expose each of my students to a diverse collection of primary sources so that they may get a richer experience that a traditional text book does not provide. In my course, my students read and openly discuss historical documents, as well as qualitative and quantitative research which enables them to formulate their own thoughts on such an extensive topic as gender. This teaching experience has been a journey for myself and my students as we continue to learn from each other.
Areas of Interest: Sociology of Children, Public School Education, Social History, Gender and Masculinity, Childhood Obesity, and Russian History and Culture.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family and cats, traveling, yoga, and working with the children of Boston Public School. | Curriculum Vitae | Syllabus
Amy Lubitow received her B.A. in Sociology from Ithaca College in 2004 and has earned her M.A. in Sociology from Northeastern. As a research associate in the Northeastern Environmental Justice Research Collaborative, Amy is interested in research related to human health, environmental justice, and U.S. chemicals policy.
Areas of Interest: Her areas of interest are environmental sociology, social movements and gender.
Eric Madfis is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Sociology and Anthropology. Originally from the Boston area, Eric received both his B.A. Summa Cum Laude and M.A. from Northeastern University. Eric is a Research Associate in the Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict, and he is currently teaching Introduction to Sociology.
Areas of Interest: The History of Criminological Theory, Critical and Cultural Criminology, Informal Social Control, Qualitative Methods, Youth Subculture and Counterculture, Workplace and School Violence, Multiple Homicide and Behavioral Profiling Methodology.
Mark Melnik, is a 6th year graduate student. My interests are in urban sociology and community analysis. I have recently completed my 2nd (and final) comprehensive exam. I am currently working with Barry Bluestone and the Center for Urban and Regional Policy on my dissertation, which will be a labor market analysis examining human capital characteristics in communities and how they relate to the needs of industry. In addition, I also teach classes in the department. Over the last 3 years, I have taught Statistics, Research Methods, Senior Seminar in Urban Sociology, and Sport, Culture, and Society.
Areas of Interest: Urban Sociology, Political Economics, Community Analysis, Statistics, and Work-Class Studies. | Mark_Melnik_Vitae.pdf | Syllabus | Syllabus | Syllabus | Syllabus
Jaronda Miller, Race and Ethnicity, and Stratification
Katherine (Kate) Moloney, will be completing her M.A. in May 2006, after which she will begin to pursue her Ph.D. My primary interest within urban sociology is housing, specifically the effects of affordable/low-income/subsidized multi-family housing characteristics on its residents and the communities in which it exists, especially as related to social stratification and mobility. Building upon my five years of experience in the affordable housing field, the department has awarded me opportunities to be both a teaching assistant and research assistant. Currently, I am assisting Professor Samantha Friedman on her research examining minority homeownership and residential segregation. Outside of the department, I am a research assistant for the Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP) at Northeastern, having most recently worked on the Greater Boston Housing Report Card, 2004. My B.A. is in Sociology from the College of the Holy Cross (2000).
Areas of Interest: Urban Sociology, Housing, Community Analysis, Social Stratification, and Social Mobility.
Patricia Morris, Methods (both Quantitative and Qualitative), Medical Sociology, Sociology of Professions: The Socialization of Veterinary Students, Study of Human/Animal Relationships, and Gender, Work, and Labor Relations, Curriculum Vitae | SOC_U101_Syllabus.pdf | Syllabus
Brett Nava-Coulter received his B.A. in Sociology from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005. He worked as an assistant researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, California. While there, he worked under Dr. Annette Aalborg on studies of public health ranging from physical activity and the built environment to alcohol and tobacco prevention. Additionally, he is an AKD Sociological Honors Society member.
Areas of Interest: His areas of interest are in social justice, conflict, and international studies.
Tamara Ochoa, Sociology of Gender, Family, Work, Unequal Divisions of Carework, Gender, Race, Class, Nation
Nelly Oliver, Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, Youth Violence and Sociology of Education
Justine Pang received her B.A. in Sociology from Wellesley College. She also served as a Health Economics Research Intern at MIT during 2004-2005, and as an Epidemiology Research Intern at the Harvard School of Public Health from 2000-2004.
Areas of Interest: Ms Pang's research interests center around economic sociology and public health.
Kat Rickenbacker received a B.A. from Smith College in 2004 (Sociology major, Environmental science and policy minor).
Areas of Interest: Methods (quantitative and qualitative), Environmental sociology, Demography, Immigration, Environmental policy and sustainable development.
Estye Ross Fenton received her B.A. from Middlebury College in 2004 and her M.A. in Anthropology and Women's Studies from Brandeis University in 2005. At Brandeis, she focused on subculture, media perceptions, and the performance of gender, race/ethnicity, nationality, and class, as well as on ethnographic and "feminist" research methods. Her master's thesis, "From Roseanne to Carrie Bradshaw: Working Class Women's Perceptions of Women on Television" was published in the Brandeis graduate student journal.
Areas of Interest: Having spent the last two years working in private education, her interests have shifted towards education, work, community formation, and the reproduction of privilege within the broader context of race and inequality.
Margaret Scarsdale returned to school after a long hiatus to work in the corporate world. She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Massachusetts/Lowell in the spring of 2007 with a B.A. in American Studies and a minor in both Peace and Conflict Studies and English. She received the Chancellor’s Medal for Academic Excellence and the Harold Bakkin award for outstanding scholarship. In August, she will present a paper entitled, “Untangling the Relationship between Economic Inequality and Democracy” to the Honors forum at the annual ASA meeting in New York City. Besides being a full-time mother and student, she works full time securing economic improvement grants for the town of Ayer, Massachusetts.
Areas of Interest: Her hobbies include reading, writing journal reviews, and finding ways to simplify her life.
Victoria R. Schow is a first year graduate student at Northeastern University. In May 2006 she received a B.A. in Sociology from Geneva College.
Areas of Interest: Race and Ethnicity, Stratification, and Urban Sociology.
Leandra Smollin is a second year Master's student. She received her B.A. in Gender Studies and English from Stonehill College in 2005. Throughout her time at Northeastern, she has had the opportunity to both develop and focus her interests in the field of Gender Studies. Leandra assisted instructors in several courses, including Gender in a Changing Society, Sociology of Hip-Hop, and Peoples and Cultures: Introduction in Cultural Anthropology and has also taught Introduction to Sociology at Newbury College in Brookline, MA. Leandra plans to continue working towards her Ph.D. at Northeastern and hopes to further develop her teaching strategies by serving as an instructor after she receives her M.A. degree in the Spring of 2007.
Areas of Interest: Women and Gender Studies, Sexuality, the Family, Methods (both quantitative and qualitative), and Popular Culture.
Stanislav Vysotsky, is a 6th year Ph.D. candidate. His current research focuses on the intersection of race, prejudice, and social movements as they manifest in white supremacist (and other extreme right) movements and the anti-racist countermovement. This research also involves the study of youth culture, especially counterculture, and its role in facilitating and shaping the development of these movements. His reaching interests include prejudice, violence, social theory, social psychology, and social problems.
Areas of Interest: Prejudice and Social Conflict, Inequality, Social Movements, Race and Ethnicity, Youth Culture (especially Counter Cultures), Social Theory. | Personnel Home Page
Mark Yorra, Medicine (Pharmacy), Work and Health Care