Assistant Professor of Sociology Amanda Hernandez presented a virtual book talk to women and gender studies students at California State University, Northridge on November 18. The focus of her talk was on feminist interview methodologies and the chapter “Wife – Mother – Girl Boss” from her 2024 book Intersectional Identities of Christian Women in the United States: Faith, Race, and Feminism.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Amanda Hernandez served as an invited panelist on an “Author Meets Critics” panel at the Sociology for the Scientific Study of Religion annual meeting in Minneapolis on October 31. The book, “Faith & The Fragility of Justice: Responses to Gender-Based Violence in South Africa,” by Meredith Whitnah is an exploration of non-governmental organization responses to gender-based violence in post-apartheid South Africa. Amanda’s comments focused on the author’s call to use intersectional frameworks in the sociological study of religion and the use of creative and innovative methodologies to do this work.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Amanda Hernandez and environmental studies graduate Sarah Ventimiglia ’24 traveled to Chicago to present at the Association for the Sociology of Religion Annual Meeting. Sarah presented their faculty/student collaborative research “Hashtag ChristianGirl: The White Commodified Self on TikTok.” Amanda’s 2024 book, Intersectional Identities of Christian Women in the U.S.: Faith, Race, and Feminism, was the subject of an “Author Meets Critic” book panel.

Assistant Professor of Sociology Amanda Hernandez was interviewed on the “Classical Ideas” podcast about her 2024 book Intersectional Identities of Christian Women in the United States: Faith, Race, and Feminism. The episode can be streamed here. She also soft launched her forthcoming podcast “But Is It Feminist?,” which can be heard here.

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?”