Department of Sociology

Biography

I am a public sociologist, interested in two broad focus areas: self-improvement and family formation.

My doctoral research explored the increasing popularity of the self-help industry and the rise of popular psychology and my current project picks up this thread: I am exploring the benefits of character- and virtue-based self-improvement literature, and asking whether young adults can learn from the best of advice of previous generations. Part of this study includes examinations of self-control, character and morality, affluence and the intersections between religion and psychology. These are issues I raise in the Sociology of Everyday Life and Social Change courses I teach at Pitt. 

In addition, an equally important research area of mine is family formation and dissolution. I study the impact of women's education and career success on marriage choices, gender roles and opportunities. In my previous books, I have shattered the long-standing myth that men are intimidated by smart, successful women. I am particularly interested in the study of wellbeing, affluence and the economic and social history of marriage and family decisions, and some of my current projects explore diverging demographics of marriage and family. These are issues I raise in classes on the Sociology of Gender, Marriage and classes on Social Change.