Sociology department welcomes new faculty

The sociology department is pleased to welcome new faculty members:

Shirin Montazer, assistant professor, is a quantitative researcher in the area of mental health and immigration. She received her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Toronto. Her dissertation won the Best Dissertation Award from the Mental Health section of the American Sociological Association for 2012-2013. She is a co-investigator on a Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grant titled "The Intergenerational Transmission of Gender Egalitarian Family Environments: A Follow Up Study" (Dr. Blair Wheaton, PI; $242,697).

Michelle R. Jacobs, visiting assistant professor, was an assistant professor at SUNY Plattsburgh in New York from 2012-2014. Her current research interests are race and ethnicity, identity, social inequalities, urban sociology, and social movements. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Kent State University writing a dissertation entitled "Negotiating American Indian Identity in the Land of 'Wahoo.'" Her recent publications focus on multiracial antiracist activism, gender and power in an urban Indian community, and American Indian Perspectives on Indian mascots.

Jessica Penwell Barnett, lecturer, received her Ph.D. from the University of Windsor in 2014. Her dissertation was entitled, "Sexual Citizenship on the Autism Spectrum." She specializes in the area of social justice and has published articles on the topics of polyamory, sexual exchange scripts among Nigerian youths, and peer-led health interventions for youth. She is the recipient of the Fundamentals of University Teaching Certificate from the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Windsor.

Also, newly joining the sociology department are graduate teaching assistants, Christian E. Genesky, Jenny Lendrum, Amanda Levitt, Dennis Savard and Michael Sabbagh.