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Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Ripon College (2012-2014)

  • About

    I received my Ph.D. in sociology at the University of Michigan in 2012, and am currently a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Ripon College in Wisconsin (2012-2014).

    My research focuses on the intersection of health and appearance in social life.  In my dissertation, I explored the concept of “physical capital,” specifically as it is built up, exchanged, and used to negotiate status differences in personal trainer-client relationships.  Also in my dissertation, I investigated the increasing medicalization of exercise—how it is prescribed by doctors as a treatment for the obesity "epidemic,” and how personal trainers become “deputized” to carry out health work for their clients.  

    I have also written on the Sociology of Diagnosis and co-edited a volume in the Advances in Medical Sociology series.  My other research has included a qualitative study of how appearance choices (clothing, hair style, tattoos) are connected to "post-closet" gay and lesbian identities; as well as a collaborative content analysis researching contemporary advice books to parents of gay and lesbian children.

  • Education
    • Ph.D. University of Michigan, 2012
    • M.A. University of Michigan, 2009
    • B.A. San Francisco State University, 2004
    • B.A. (English) Indiana University, 1997
  • Research Areas of Interest
    • Medical Sociology, Health and Illness, Body/Embodiment, Cultural Sociology, Sexualities, Gender, Qualitative Methods
  • Dissertation Title
    • Training Bodies, Building Status: Health, Physical Capital, and the Negotiation of Difference in the U.S. Fitness Industry
  • Dissertation Chair(s)/Committee
    • Karin Martin (Chair), Howard Kimeldorf, Renee Anspach, Esther Newton