Recent Graduates & Alumni
Celine Ayala - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "The "Afro in Afrolatinidad": Examining Afrolatinx Experiences of Blackness Through an Afrolatin Critical Theory of Race"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez, Georgiann Davis, Tanya Kateri Hernandez, Ranita Ray
Florence Emily Castillo - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Disrupting Whiteness in Education Organizations: Community Testimonios of Strategy, Resistance, and Perseverance in Educational Justice Organizing"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez, Nolan Cabrera, Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Ranita Ray
Ryeora Choe - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Mental Health in Transnational Contexts: Reconsidering Conceptualizations, Coping Strategies, and Racism through the Narratives of Refugees Resettled in the United States"
Dissertation Committee: Jessica Goodkind, Julia Hess, Nancy Lopez, Kamilla Venner, Owen Whooley
Erin Coleman - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Title: The longitudinal relationship between social mobilization, crime, and police behavior."
Dissertation Committee: Christopher Lyons, Steven Barkan, Sharon Nepstad, Reuben Thomas
Yuka K. Doherty - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Boundaries of Citizenship: Gendered and Racialized Reproduction and Motherhood in Contemporary Japan"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez, Amy Brandzel, Lisa Park, Owen Whooley
Kasim Ortiz - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "The Gayborhood Was Never Here For Some of Us! Health Consequences of Racialized Exclusion Among Sexual Minorities Across the Lifecourse"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez, Jessica Goodkind, Rhonda Belue, Nina Wallerstein
Katherine Rickers - MA
2023 Spring
Thesis Title: "Thesis Title: Racial disparities among juveniles formally referred to authorities for drug related incidents in the United States."
Thesis Committee: Lisa Broidy (Chair), Christopher Lyons, Noah Painter-Davis
Abigail Thompson - MA
2023 Spring
Thesis Title: ""It’s more than just an upset stomach”: A Systematic Review of Patient Experiences with Chronic Gastrointestinal Disease and Comorbid Mental Distress. "
Thesis Committee: Kristin Barker, Georgiann Davis, Owen Whooley
Korey Tillman - PhD
2023 Spring
Dissertation Title: "The (im)mobility of being: The anti-black and colonial roots of contemporary policing"
Dissertation Committee: Ranita Ray (Chair), Vilna Bashi, Georgiann Davis, Susila Gurusami
Jon Williams - PhD
2022 Fall
Richard Neil Greene - PhD
2022 Spring
Dissertation Title: "(In) visible in the field and in the data: Uncertain, hidden, and homeless. Essays on the conceptualization of homelessness, elements of social exclusion, and integrity of social relationships, places, and resources. "
Dissertation Committee: Jessica Goodkind (Chair), Kristin Barker, Annette Crisanti, Noah Painter-Davis
Lacey Hites - MA
2022 Spring
Thesis Title: "Understanding the First-Generation College Student: A Systematic Review of Sociological Discourse on First-Generation College Students"
Thesis Committee: Nancy Lopez (Chair), Ranita Ray, Eli WIlson
Callie Dorsey - MA
2021 Fall
Preston Lowe - MA
2021 Fall
Thesis Title: "Thesis Title: Changes in Support for U.S. Black Movements, 1966-2016: From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter"
Thesis Committee: Kristin Barker (Chair), Georgiann Davis, Owen Whooley
Alena Kuhlemeier - PhD
2021 Spring
Sofia Locklear - PhD
2021 Spring
Carmela Roybal - PhD
2021 Spring
Jimmy Valdes - PhD
2021 Spring
Marian Azab - PhD
2020 Spring
Samuel Torres - MA
2017 Fall
Thesis Title: "Thesis Title: Racial Socioeconomic Inequality, Structural Disadvantage, and Neighborhood Crime: Testing the Absolute and Relative Deprivation Perspectives"
Thesis Committee: Christohper Lyons (Chair), Noah Painter-Davis, Maria Velez
Elise Ferguson - MA
2017 Spring
Thesis Title: "Race, Socioeconomics, Intelligence, and Criminal Offending: Accounting for Variation in Criminal Justice Outcomes"
Thesis Committee: Brian Soller (chair), Christopher Lyons and Paul Guerin
Gillian Joyce - MA
2017 Summer
Thesis Title: "Agricultural and Community Issues in Taos and Local Mobilization Efforts"
Thesis Committee: Sharon Nepsted (chair), Jessica Goodkind, and Jeffrey Mitchell
Eric Turner - PhD
2017 Summer
Dissertation Title: "Mobilization and Repression in the Occupy Movement"
Dissertation Committee: Sharon Erickson Nepstad (chair), Christopher Lyons, Michael Rocca and Wayne Santoro
Cirila Estela Vasquez Guzman - PhD
2017 Summer
Dissertation Title: "A Sociological Analysis of the Cultural Competence Movement: Essays on the Conceptualization, Operationalization, and Implementation of Cultural Competence in the U.S. Medical Profession"
Dissertation Committee: Kristin Barker (chair), Jessica Goodkind, Nancy López, and Andrew Sussman
Billy Ulibarri - PhD
2015 Fall
Dissertation Title: "Human trafficking victims are everywhere and nowhere: A qualitative content analysis of the anti-human trafficking campaign in the United States, 2000-2012"
Dissertation Committee: Susan Tiano (chair); Crandall, Cameron (Dept. of Emergency Medicine) ; Lyons, Christopher; Santoro, Wayne
Danielle Albright - PhD
2015 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Public Frames and Message Cooptation in Policy Oriented Social Movements"
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Richard L. Wood (Chair), Dr. Lisa Broidy, Dr. Wayne Santoro, and Dr. Michael Rocca (Political Science)
Thomas Maestas - MA
2015 Spring
Thesis Title: "On the Widening Transfer Aspiration-Achievement Gap: Contextualizing the Transfer Intentions of Community College Students in New Mexico"
Thesis Committee: Roberto Ibarra (Chair), Bob Fiala, Nancy Lopez, and Meriah Heredia-Griego
Kelly McCarthy - MA
2015 Spring
Thesis Title: "Racialized Sexuality: The Sexualization and Racialization of Female Video Game Characters, 1981-2012"
Thesis Committee: Nancy Lopez (Chair), Roberto Ibarra, Wayne Santoro
Elena Windsong - PhD
2015 Spring
Dissertation Title: "Neighborhood Experiences and the Co-Construction of Neighborhood, Race, and Gender: A Qualitative Study of a Middle-Class Latino-White Albuquerque Neighborhood"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez (chair), Christopher Lyons, Sharon Nepstad, and Gabriel Sanchez (PoliSci, RWJ)
Michael Muhammad - PhD
2014 Summer
Current Position: Post-Doc/University of Michigan
Dissertation Title: "Stigmatization and the Re-Articulation of Eugenic Ideology: A Study of Coded Racism in Family Planning Policy from the 1920's to the 1990's"
Dissertation Committee: Howard Waitzkin (Co-Chair), Nancy Lopez (Co-Chair), Felipe Gonzales, Tassy Parker
Jeffrey Nowacki - PhD
2014 Summer
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Southern Illinois University
Dissertation Title: "United States v Booker and Federal Sentencing Outcomes: General, Extra-Legal, and Contextual Policy Effects"
Dissertation Committee: Lisa Broidy (Chair) Christopher Lyons, Maria Velez, Dawinder Sidhu
Christin Moreland - MA
2013 Fall
Thesis Title: "Harold Camping and May 21st, 2011: Consequences of a Failed Prophecy"
Thesis Committee: Sharon Nepstad (Chair), Richard Wood, Daniel Wolne
Sonia Bettez - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Post Doc, UNM RWJF Center for Health Policy
Dissertation Title: "The Social Transformation of Health Inequities: Understanding the Discourse on Health Disparities in the United States"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez (Co-Chair), Howard Waitzkin (Co-Chair), Lisa Cacari-Stone, Laura Gomez, Jason Beckfield
Beau Thomas Hunsaker - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Thunderbird School of Global Management
Dissertation Title: "Developing Degrees: An Exploratory Analysis of Laureate International Universities, 21st Century Entry in Mexico and Ecuador"
Dissertation Committee: Robert Ibarra (Chair), Robert Fiala, Susan Tiano, Douglas Thomas
Stacy Keogh - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Whitworth University
Dissertation Title: "3 Simple Words: We the People: Culture, Identity, and the Contentious Politics of the Contemporary Tea Party Movement in Montana"
Dissertation Committee: Robert Fiala (Chair), Sharon Nepstad, Philip Gonzales, Bill Borrie
Tennille Marley - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Dissertation Title: "Indigenous Knowledge, Land History and Health: The Construction of Diabetes on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation"
Dissertation Committee: Robert Ibarra (Co-Chair), Howard Waitzkin (Co-Chair), Sharon Nepstad, Angela Gonzales
Anwar Ouassini - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Purdue University
Dissertation Title: "Between Islamaphobia and the Ummah: How Spanish Moroccans are Negotiating their Identities in Post 3/11 Madrid"
Dissertation Committee: Nancy Lopez (Chair), Phillip Gonzales, Richard Wood, Alex Lubin
Benjamin Waddell - PhD
2013 Spring
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Fort Lewis College
Dissertation Title: "The Political Economy of Remittance-Led Development in Guanajuato, Mexico"
Dissertation Committee: Richard Wood (Chair), Robert Fiala, Garcia y Griego, Fontenla, Matias
Mozafar Banihashemi - PhD
2012 Fall
Current Position: Part-Time Instructor, University of New Mexico
Dissertation Title: "Shi'ite reformism versus shi'ite fundamentalism: A comparative study of shi'ite discursive practices in 20th century Iran: The cases of Khomeini and Hakamizadeh"
Dissertation Committee: Rich Wood (Chair), Patricia Risso, Andrew Schrank, Abbas Milani
Jessica Garrick - MA
2012 Fall
Thesis Title: "Transforming the Labor Movement: Immigrant Workers and the Repurposing of the National Labor Relations Act"
Thesis Committee: Andrew Schrank (Chair), Peter Evans, Wayne Santoro
Kathryn Overton - MA
2012 Fall
Thesis Title: "Whither the World Polity? A Contribution to the Study of International Organizations through Survival Analysis of OECD Accession Rates"
Thesis Committee: Robert Fiala (Chair), Susan Tiano, Richard Coughlin
Ryan Goodman - PhD
2012 Spring
Current Position: Lecturer III, UNM West
Dissertation Title: "How We Fight: Strategies at Emergence among Animal Rights and LGBTQ Rights Organizations"
Dissertation Committee: Richard Wood (Chair), John Roberts, Susan Tiano, Bert Useem
Warren Thompson - MA
2012 Spring
Thesis Title: "Evangelizing the State"
Thesis Committee: Andrew Schrank (Chair), Richard Wood, Les Field
Rebeca Jasso-Aguilar - PhD
2012 Summer
Current Position: Part-Time Instructor, University of New Mexico
Dissertation Title: "How Common Citizens Transform Politics: The Cases of Mexico and Bolivia"
Dissertation Committee: Richard Wood (Chair), Susan Tiano, Felipe Gonzales, Howard Waitzkin, Lorenzo Francisco Cosio Meyer
Dale Willits - PhD
2012 Summer
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University-Bakersfield
Dissertation Title: "Situational and Individual Predictors of Violent Intentions: A Factorial Survey Approach"
Dissertation Committee: Lisa Broidy (Chair), Christopher Lyons, John Roberts, Maria Velez, Jacob Vigil
Peter Catron - MA
2011 Fall
Thesis Title: "NO SE PUEDE!: The Decline of Immigrant Unionization Through the Great Recession of 2008"
Thesis Committee: Andrew Schrank (Chair), Melissa Binder, John Roberts
Nancy Halbgewachs - PhD
2011 Fall
Dissertation Title: "Censorship and Holocaust Film in the Hollywood Studio System"
Dissertation Committee: George Huaco (Chair), Richard Coughlin, Susan Tiano, James Stone
Lynzie Rowland - MA
2011 Fall
Thesis Title: "The Influence of Women's Status on Economic Development: A Pooled Time Series Cross-Sectionl Analysis of 126 Countries, 1980-2005"
Thesis Committee: Susan Tiano (Chair), Aki Roberts, Wayne Santoro
Saundra Trujillo - MA
2011 Fall
Thesis Title: "Jail Incarceration and Violent Crime Rates: A cross-sectional exploratory analysis in Albuquerque, New Mexico"
Thesis Committee: Maria Velez (Chair), Christopher Lyons, Lisa Broidy
