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Introduction I am a PhD Candidate in the Sociology Department at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. My research addresses the creation and perpetuation of inequalities in health and in the law. I examine how social identities shape individuals' beliefs, reasoning, and behaviors, and how these individual variations then exacerbate social inequalities using both quantitative and qualitative methods. My dissertation, “Surviving Suicide,” examines how social identities affect cultural narratives about suicide experiences. Using in-depth interviews with 102 suicide survivors, I am investigating (a) how individuals' cultural narratives about suicide differ across social identities, (b) how these cultural narratives relate to individuals' suicide experiences and post-suicide lives--i.e. their relationships, work, health, and housing, and (c) how these narratives can inform suicide prevention and post-vention strategies. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, American Sociological Association Culture Section, UMass Graduate School, and UMass Sociology Department. My research is published in Social Science & Medicine, Law & Society Review, Sociological Perspectives, and The Utah Law Review. I also served as the Editorial Assistant for the Law & Society Review from 2019–2023 and a Graduate Fellow for the UMass Center for Justice, Law, & Societies in 2020–2021. |