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Candidates and Career Outcomes

2022-2023 Job Market Candidates 

Alannah Caisey

Basak Gemici 

Mitch Kiefer

Hillary Lazar 

George Weddington

Ayşe Alnıaçık Birelma

Career Outcomes and Trajectories of Recent Graduates

2021-2022

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Ayşe Alnıaçık Birelma The Politics of Discourse on Gendered Violence in Turkey, 1980-2005: From Family Disaster to Honor Killings Lisa Brush Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Gender Studies at Koç University
Sebastian Cuellar Sarmiento Mohammed Bamyeh Assistant Professor of Sociology at Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Tenure track)
Brittany Duncan A Cross-National Study of Women's Legislative Committee Leadership Melanie Hughes  
Basak Gemici Three Essays on Authoritarian Populism in Everyday Life: Turkey 2017-2019 Lisa Brush Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Mitch Kiefer  Studies on the Cultures and Politics of Environmental Knowledge Waverly Duck Lecturer, with possible conversion to the tenure track, Maastricht University
Hillary Lazar On Love and Revolution: Towards a Loving Turn in Social Movement Studies John Markoff Visiting Lecturer, University of Pittsburgh Department of Sociology
Joshua McDermott Understanding West Africa's Informal Workers as Working Class Mohammed Bamyeh Assistant Professor Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Southeastern Louisiana University (Tenure track)
George Weddington Becoming Black Lives Matter: Racial Change and the Emergence of Black Movements Suzanne Staggenborg Postdoctoral Fellow with potential for conversion to tenure track, University of New Mexico 

 

2020-2021

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Suzanne Petrusic Srebrenica as Discourse: An Ethnography of Power Mohammed Bamyeh Director - Research, Gartner
Candice Robinson For the Movement: An Ethnography of the National Urban League, the Black Middle Class, and Black Movement Communities Suzanne Staggenborg Assistant Professor Of Sociology, University of North Carolina Wilmington (Tenure track)
Caitlin Schroering The Global Economy, Resource Conflicts, and Transnational Social Movements: Dimensions of Resistance to Water Privatization Jackie Smith, Suzanne Staggenborg Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Tenure track)

2019-2020

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Benjamin Case When Yelling Isn't Good Enough: Riots and Non-Nonviolent Civil Resistance John Markoff Resistance Studies Affiliate, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Alana Fields “Coaching Boys Into Men”: Exploring Implementation, Evaluation, and Content of a Gender-Transformative Violence Prevention Program Lisa Brush Post-Doctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh
Corinne Ogrodnik Contentious Coalitions, Movement Divisions, and Strategic Action Fields. Factors Motivating and Unlikely Alliance of Environmental Organizations and Gas Companies. Suzanne Staggenborg Managing Director, Maitri Holdings, LLC

2018-2019

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Hatem Hassan Discipline, Criminality, and Post-Revolutionary Governance in Contemporary Cairo: The Social Construction of the Thug Mohammed Bamyeh Education Researcher for BloomBoard
Samantha Plummer Three Essays on Poverty, Social Services, and Advice-Giving Lisa Brush Post-Doctoral Reseacher at Columbia University 

2017-2018

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position 
Gabriel Chouhy Education Experts, Intellectual Movements, Left Parties: Three Essays on Neoliberal Politics in Chile and Beyond Lisa Brush and John Markoff Zemurray-Stone Postdoctoral Fellow in Latin American Studies at Tulane University
Elizabeth Yates Institutionalization Without Deradicalization: Political Culture and the Evolution of the Tea Party Movement Kathleen Blee Junior Researcher at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland
Suzanna Eddyono Re-Envisioning Kinship and the State in Pakistan Mohammed Bamyeh  Faculty of Social and Political Sciences in the Department of Social Development and Welfare at Gadjah Mada University 
John Cuda Re-Enchanting Culture: Identity Transformation, Embodiment, and Prefigurative Religious Practices within Contemporary Spiritualities Mohammed Bamyeh Assistant Professor at Nova Southeastern University

2016-2017

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Mehr Latif Re-Envisioning Kinship and the State in Pakistan Kathleen Blee and Mohammed Bamyeh Postdoctoral Associate at University of Pittsburgh
Mohammad Golam Nabi Mozumder The Body, Subjectivity, and Sociality: Fakir Lalon Shah and His Followers in Contemporary Bangladesh Mohammed Bamyeh Research Associate at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies
Jeffrey Tienes Keeping it "Real": Making a Career in Pittsburgh's Rap Music Scene Lisa Brush Visiting Instructor at Clarion University of Pennsylvania

2015-2016

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Sharon Quinsaat Mobilizations for Homeland Regime Change and the Making of the Filipino Diaspora Suzanne Staggenborg Assistant Professor at Grinnell College
Ervin Dyer Two Paths Forward: An Ethnographic Study of Somali Bantu Refugees Living in a Northeastern City Public Housing Community  Waverly Duck and Akiko Hashimoto Senior editor, Pitt Magazine
Marie Skoczylas Anarchism and Prefigurative Politics in the Occupy Movement: A Study of Occupied Space, Horizontal Structure, and Anarchist Theory in Practice Kathleen Blee Data Scientist at Highmark Health
Carolyn Zook Military Experience and the Shaping of Nationalism in the US Armed Forces Mohammed Bamyeh and Rachel Kutz-Flamenbaum Associate Director, Center for Community and Global Health at Lewis & Clark College
Yven Destin Immigrant Coverage in the American Diaspora: Representing Haitians in the Miami Media, 1979-2010 Kathleen Blee and Akiko Hashimoto Upper School History Teacher at Charlotte Country Day School
DaShanne Stokes How an Entity Becomes a State: Tibet, Taiwan, Palestine, and the Quest for Recognition Mohammed Bamyeh Visiting Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh

2014-2015

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Daniel Nunez Violence and the State in Postwar Guatemala John Markoff Researcher at Dialogos
Maria Dillard Measuring the Social-Ecological Resilience of Coastal and Small Island Communities to Inform Policy, Planning, and Practice John Marx and Suzanne Staggenborg Acting Director of Disaster and Failure Studies at National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Xi Zhang The Effects of Internal Migration on Regional Inequality in China: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis Vijai Singh Assistant Director of Data Science, Institutional Research and Decision Support at the University of California
Nichole Bayliss Where You Live Does Matter: The Impact of Racial Residential Segregation on Racial Disparities in Cancer Incidence and Morality in Northeastern and Southern US Counties, 2005-2009 John Marx and Suzanne Staggenborg Associate Professor and Program Coordinator for Psychology at Chatham University

2013-2014

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Kimberly Creasap Sweden Ends Here? Social Movement Scenes and the Right to the City Kathleen Blee Director in the Office of Gender and Sexuality at Denison University
Jane Walsh Our Struggles Are Not the Same, but They Converge: Farmworkers, Allies, and the Fair Food Movement John Markoff Assistant Professor of Sociology at Clarion University of Pennsylvania
Amy McDowell Rebellious Religion: Christian Hardcore and Muslim 'Taqwacore' Punk Rock Kathleen Blee Assistant Professor of Sociology at University of Mississippi

2012-2013

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Selman Yilmaz State, Politics, and Religion: Effects of Political and Social Change on the Relationship between State and Religion in Turkey, 2002-2012 Mohammed Bamyeh Assistant Professor at Ankara University
Kelsy Burke God, Sex, and the Internet: The Faithful, Virtual, and Sexual Lives of Contemporary Evangelicial Christians Kathleen Blee Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

2011-2012

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Piotr Konieczny The Impact of Modern Information and Communication Technologies on Social Movements John Markoff Associate Professor of Informational Sociology at the University of Hanyang
Veronica Szabo Youth and Politics in Communist Romania, 1980-1989 John Markoff Licensed Realtor at RE/MAX Select Realty
Yolanda Hernandez Narratives of Identity and Motherhood among Latin American Migrant Women Mohammed Bamyeh Professor at Universidad Loyola Andalucia
Kathleen Bulger Gray Negotiating Race Talk: How Whites Hide Racial Privilege and Structural Inequality Kathleen Blee Assistant Academic Dean at St. Francis College
Jared Coopersmith Scientific Controversies, Boundary Disputes, and Mobilization: The Intelligent Design Movement Network Pat Doriean and Akiko Hashimoto Senior Statistician at Mathematica Policy Research

2010-2011

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Amy Kubichek The Effects of Economic Development, Urbanization, Women’s Rights Programs, Women’s Microcredit Programs, and Women’s Market-Oriented Programs on Gender Inequality in India Lisa Brush Research Associate at the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary
Kai Heidemann Giving Voice to Language: Basque Language Activism and the Politics of Education Reform in France, 1969-1994 Akiko Hashimoto Assistant Professor at Maastricht University

2009-2010

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Sambriddhi Kharel The Dialectics of Identity and Resistance among Dalits in Nepal Cecilia Green Board of Directors, Samarpan Academy, Institute of Crisis Management Studies (Nepal)

2008-2009

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Margaret Kerr Autism Spectrum Disorders and Vaccines: The Making of a Health Social Movement John Marx and John Markoff Author and Instructor, Robert Morris University
Maria Jose Alvarez-Rivadulla Contentious Urbanization from Below: Land Squatting in Montevideo, Uruguay John Markoff Associate Professor of Sociology at Universidad de los Andes
Melissa Swauger Whatever Her Little Heart Desires: How Class and Race Influence Adolescent Girls Perceptions of the Future Kathleen Blee Associate Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

2007-2008

Name Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position
Monica Solinas Saunders Adolescent Antisocial Behavior and Adult Intimate Partner Violence Phyllis Coontz Associate Professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Adjunct Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Indiana University Northwest
Lisa Huebner-Ruchti Professional Intimacy: An Ethnography of Care in Hospital Nursing  Kathleen Blee Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at West Chester University

2006-2007

Name  Dissertation Title Dissertation Advisor Current Position 
Christine Anthou Alex 21st Century Participation in Two US Greek Orthodox Churches Kathleen Blee  
Ashley Currier The Visibility of Sexual Minority Movement Organizations in South Africa and Namibia Kathleen Blee Associate Professor and Department Head of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Cincinnati 
Hyung Sam Park A Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Movement Sector's Litigation Network in the United States 1970-2001 Patrick Doriean Associate Lecturer in the Sociology Department at the University of Central Florida
Dana Reinke Willmer Assessing Place Character in Response to Wal-Mart Kathleen Blee Human Factors Branch Chief at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Connie Oxford Gender-Based Persecution in Asylum Law and Policy in the United States Kathleen Blee Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the State University of New York Plattsburgh