see also: School of Public Policy Faculty and Student News
In addition to her work in the Middle East, Professor Gallagher’s research explores the real workings of gender ideals within conservative Protestant families in a series of articles and the book, Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life.
The federally funded college access and success program GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) aims to increase enrollment of low-income students. Currently, it serves ca. 700,000 low-income students across 43 states and 3 territories. Within Oregon, this means more than 5,300 students in 36 schools.
Elizabeth hopes that her studies in sociology "can help me improve my understanding of how to work with others in achieving my goal of working with the public".
The award recipient this year is Lauren Morgenthaler for her involvement in community service and outreach as a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council since 2009, a volunteer at Community Outreach in Corvallis and the Blaine County School District in Idaho, and through her work organizing the OSU 40th Anniversary Celebration of Title IX. Lauren is graduating Summa Cum Laude this spring with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Spanish. Lauren was nominated for this award by her Sociology Honors Thesis Advisor, Professor Steven Ortiz who wrote, "Lauren has devoted a great deal of her time and selfless effort to university service and altruistic involvement in the community…[and] in doing this, Lauren has taken to heart the sociological imagination and put it into action in her community service."?
The award recipient for this year is Julie VanBlokland for a research paper she wrote on how factors such as gender and race contribute to unemployment, while controlling for marital status. Julie plans to graduate Magna Cum Laude this coming fall term with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Political Science. Julie’s professors in the Sociology Program faculty had the following to say about her, "She comes to class not only having read and considered the readings in great detail, but she brings with her a depth of knowledge about so many other academic fields that she can readily put the reading into a larger intellectual and historical context. She is a rare bird and everyone in my…class, including me, has been the beneficiary of her presence."? And, “In class, she was always well prepared…and showed that extra level of insight that made me think that her peers would sometimes [wonder], "why didn't I think of that?"
The award recipient for this year is Megan Dearden. Megan is graduating Magna Cum Laude this spring with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, with an option in Crime & Justice, and a minor in Business & Entrepreneurship. She spent the summer of 2010 in Cambodia teaching English in an orphanage. Over the past two years, Megan worked as a Case Aide for a Guardian Ad Litems and then as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Washington State. Megan has displayed an ability to relate her work in the classroom to her work and experiences outside of the classroom, and had shown an exceptional ability to write about all of it. Megan has secured a job which starts in the fall; she will be teaching English to elementary and middle school children in Thailand