Dawna Goens

DawnaGoens2014@u.northwestern.edu
Advisor: Pattillo

Areas of Interest

Urban Sociology, Sociology of Education, Social Stratification and Inequality, the "Middle-Class," and Ethnography

Current Research

My research lies at the intersection of class and culture focusing on identity formation through encounters with organizations and institutions. From 2008-2010, I conducted field work in a Chicago neighborhood on two parent organizations. Using ethnographic and archival sources, this paper examines how working- and middle-class parent organizations shape the way parents relate to schools in the Chicago education market. The paper is titled: What Can Parent Organizations do? Parent-School Relationships and Education Markets. Currently, I conduct ethnographic research to examine the detailed instructional strategies used by an organization to prepare high school graduates for the middle-class professional world. I am also doing a meta-analysis of existing literature on the "middle-class." I ask: what does it mean to be middle-class? What factors historically constituted the boundaries of its social membership and how have those changed over time? What does studying the changing boundaries of the middle-class tell us about inequality? The working-paper is titled: The American Middle-Class: Its Formation, Fragmentation, and Frustration.

Awards/Honors

National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship Recipient

Diversifying Faculty in Higher Education Fellowship Recipient (declined)

MacArthur Summer Grant Recipient

William Henry Exum Award

The intent of this prize is to honor the memory of William Henry Exum, a member of the Department of Sociology and the African American Studies Department, who died in 1986 at the age of 37. Exum was concerned with the quality of writing and research analysis in student papers. He was also interested in racial problems facing minority youths in higher education. This award was established as a means of continuing his goals of breaking barriers for all minorities.

The award submission deadline is April 27, 2012. All interested students should submit a 15-20 page paper, typed and double-spaced, on a topic dealing with race and ethnicity. Students are not limited to a sociological approach in preparing their submissions, nor is the award limited to sociology or social science majors.

The paper should include a cover sheet with the student's name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, year in school, and major.

Three copies of the essay must be submitted by the announced deadline to the Exum Award - Department of Sociology, 1810 Chicago Ave., Evanston Campus or one copy by email to sociol@northwestern.edu.

This award is open to all undergraduate students from all disciplines.

Upcoming Events

COLLOQUIUM: Myra Marx Ferree, Sociology, University of WI-Madison
May 17, 2012 • 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM

Culture and Society Workshop
May 17, 2012 • 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM