RSS 1.0Sociology electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Sociology. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Recent Submissions
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Gendered racism : the lived experiences of black undergraduate women at an HPWI: microaggressions, space and culture
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This current study examined how Black undergraduate women experience gendered racism at a historically, predominately white university in the South. With a lack of studies on Black women’s college experiences, I took a ... -
Pregnant in prison the narrative intersection of motherhood and incarceration
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This research study explores the ways in which women who were pregnant and incarcerated discuss how their pregnancy experiences unfolded behind bars. This research is necessary both because this group has not received ... -
The lost cause of Southern Country Club : an ethnographic study
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This ethnographic study features a non-profit member owned country club in the Southern United States, Southern Country Club (SCC). SCC is an old guard club from the 1920s that continues to whether economic, political, and ... -
Structural foundations, triggering events, and facilitative contingency : the social origins of California’s Compassionate Use Act of 1996
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Currently in the United States there is a nationwide legislative movement to legalize marijuana for persons with certain diagnosable diseases. Despite representing a dramatic departure from the war on drugs approach which ... -
The new imagined communities : the case of Hidroituango in Columbia
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] The main objective of the dissertation was to understand the relationship between three different phenomena: extractive economy, governance and ... -
My year pooping in a bucket : lifestyle, cultural, and social movements in the “node” at Dancing Rabbit ecovillage
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)What happens between the most visible aspects of social movements? When protestors put down their signs, petitioners hang up their clipboards, and movement organizations contract, there are several theories about what ... -
Martial citizenship : firearms, identity, and masculinity in a public militia group
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This project is a study of the ways in the participants in a public militia group organize and present positive identities in everyday talk and storytelling. This study situates their activities within a larger historical ... -
Resistance to the dominant economic discourses : making sense of the economy from a working-class neighborhood
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This study explores the way that working-class people contest dominant economic discourses and how they develop alternative explanations for their economic situation. Based on qualitative interviews, participant observation, ... -
Living and dying Lakota : an ethnography of a tribal nursing home
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This ethnographic research looks at people who reside, visit, and work at a Native American tribal nursing home. Using grounded theory to sort through ... -
Retail work lives : precarity and belonging in Queens
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation is an ethnographic study of retail work in Queens, New York. Through 10 months of fieldwork and 52 interview with retail workers, I ... -
Parents' perspectives on sex education : nuanced accommodation in a bilaterally constructed world
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Research on sex education regularly presents a polarized depiction of debate, which often puts parents on the defensive and condenses their viewpoints ... -
Liminal lives : presentation of self among Muslim immigrants in a small Midwestern city
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] -
Strange and familiar : narratives of embodiment and objects after breast cancer
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)Pink ribbon culture has, for better or worse, helped to transform survivors' experiences with breast cancer. Scholars argue that pink ribbon culture has shaped the types of narratives shared, informs normative depictions ... -
Distilling whiteness : prohibition of alcohol and Americanization of German-Americans in Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] In the field of sociology, Joseph Gusfield (1963) is considered the leading authority on the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in 1919. ... -
Feeding others' children : a comparative ethnography of school food service employees and how they make meaning
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Utilizing 18 months of participant observation, 25 in-depth interviews and numerous textual sources, this research is an ethnography at an elementary, ... -
Selling wellness : the cultural politics of holistic health in the U.S.
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)Currently, holistic health and lifestyle medicine are growing sectors of the U.S. health care market (Fadlon 2005). The term "holistic" entered the U.S. medical discourse in the 1970s and refers to the treatment of the ... -
Remaking lives and community in the gooseless goose capital of the world
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2016)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Climate change is disrupting and will continue to disrupt peoples' lives and communities all over the world. Nevertheless, a vast majority of research ... -
Suspicion, competence, and coping in preschool teachers’ identity work
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)The purpose of this research is to explore and analyze the everyday complexities of being a preschool teacher. I spent two years doing ethnographic research in a Montessori preschool and collected twenty-three interviews ... -
Social Organization of Authenticity in Mexican Restaurants
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)This dissertation analyzes the social worlds of the Mexican restaurant industry. First, the topic of organizational constructions and presentations of authenticity is investigated. In examining the relation between discourses ... -
A Case Study of Organizational Culture Change in a Hospital
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2015)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This dissertation presents a case study that describes and analyzes the organizational culture change that occurred at a hospital over a period of time ...