Sociology students and faculty members attended the Southern Sociological Society annual meeting in Charlotte, NC from April 9-12. Five sociology seniors presented their capstone research: Catherine Angell presented “Presidency or Penitentiary: Exploring Americans’ Attitudes Towards Felons’ Right to Vote;” Isabella Bahamon presented “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Choice: Predicting Americans’ Attitudes Towards Abortion Rights,” which won the 2025 Odum Award for Best Undergraduate Paper; Emily Dimiceli presented “‘Obama was voted president by white people’: Predictors of Americans’ Perceptions of Racism;” Mary Kate McAdams presented “‘It seems like the system has a few favorites’: Factors that Affect American Attitudes about Racial and Economic Bias in the Criminal Justice System;” and Chelsey Rocha presented “‘DEI is just racism against white people’: Americans Attitudes About Anti-DEI Bills in Higher Education.” In addition, faculty and students presented on their collaborative research projects. Assistant Professor of Sociology Amanda Hernandez and environmental studies major Sarah Ventimiglia ’25 presented their co-authored study titled, “Hashtag Blessed: Performances of White Femininity and Consumption on TikTok.” Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe presented her collaborative study (with co-authors Dr. Reginald Byron of the University of Denver, Brigit Reese ’24, and Carson Maxfield ’24) titled, “Residents of Color in non-Predominantly White Neighborhoods: Are They More Likely to Worry about Racialized Surveillance Than White Residents?”

Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe, sociology and business graduate ThuyMi Phung ’23, and sociology and art history graduate Katherine Holcomb ’23 presented their co-authored paper titled “The Interaction of Race and Racial Grievance: Predictors of American Attitudes about Critical Race Theory” at the Eastern Sociological Society annual meeting in Boston from March 6-9.

Isabella Bahamon ’25 was selected for the Southern Sociological Society’s 2025 Howard Odum Award for Best Undergraduate Paper for her capstone project titled, “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Choice: American Attitudes about Abortion Rights in the United States.” Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe supervised Isabella’s project during this year’s sociology capstone class.

Sociology and business alumna ThuyMi Phung ’23 has published an article with Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe titled “The Armed Home and Support for Trump: Predictors of Americans’ Attitudes Toward Gun Violence” in the Journal of Integrated Social Sciences. This work represents ThuyMi’s first peer-reviewed publication and stems from her Fall 2022 capstone project. The article can be found here. ThuyMi continues her research on attitudes about gun violence at the University of Washington where she is completing her Master’s in Public Health.

Sociology major Elena Clark ’24 was selected as the first place winner in the prestigious Alpha Kappa Delta national undergraduate paper competition for her capstone project titled “‘Freedom of the streets’ or ‘Barriers to success?’ Factors that Predict Attitudes About Homelessness In The United States.” Elena competed against sociology majors from R1s, liberal arts universities, and other schools across the country. Her award comes with a cash prize and travel money to the August 2024 American Sociological Association (ASA) meeting in Montreal, Quebec, where she will participate in the ASA Honors Program, present her paper, and receive her award at the AKD Awards Ceremony. Professor of Sociology Maria Lowe served as Elena’s faculty mentor for this project.