Casey Albitz
EDUCATION
B.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University;
B.A., Psychology, Case Western Reserve University;
M.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University
ABOUT
Sociologist with a demonstrated history of working both in higher education and local government. I study formal eviction in Cleveland, Ohio and am interested in the relative autonomy of courts within civil forcible entry and detainer actions. My doctoral research systematically documents the occurrence of formalized eviction in Cleveland, Ohio by examination of cases that have passed through the Cleveland Municipal Housing Court in 2018 coupled with participant observation through 2019. My work identifies the characteristics of all parties involved in formal eviction actions, documents processes and experiences, and investigates how the court implements a problem-solving framework and in which ways observed practices reproduce, mitigate, and refute power imbalances between opposing parties. Additional research interests include urban sociology, race/class/gender, social inequality, Marxist sociology, law and society, health disparities, public policy, and research methods.
casey.albitz@case.edu
Dyanna Burnham
EDUCATION
B.A., Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
ABOUT
Research interests include: medical sociology; health care disparities; sociology of emotion; how chronic mental health issues effect identity; and the sociology of mental health, especially regarding children and adolescents without access to health care.
dlb187@case.edu
Amber Byrd
EDUCATION
B.A., Communication, Wheeling Jesuit University, M.A., Communication, University of Hartford, M.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University
ABOUT
Research interests include: Medical sociology (reproductive justice and women’s health), Social Inequalities (incarceration, race, human rights and criminology)
acb175@case.edu
Polina Ermoshkina
EDUCATION
LL.B., Jurisprudence, Bashkir State University Institute of Law;
M.S., Family and Child Studies, Miami University;
M.G.S. Gerontology, Miami University
M.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University
ABOUT
Research interests include: aging and the life course; intergenerational family relationships; aging in Eastern Europe (with a focus on Russia); medical sociology; and qualitative methods.
polina.ermoshkina@case.edu
Michelle Gotto
EDUCATION
B.A., Hotel/Restaurant Management, Mercyhurst University
M.A., Bioethics & Medical Humanities; MPH, Case Western Reserve University
ABOUT
Research interests include: social, cultural, medical, and political forces that drive reproductive choice and access, how society does or does not translate human rights into reproductive rights, asymmetrical application of rights, society's use of law enforcement and social policing, policy, and propaganda to affect reproductive decisions, influence of White and Christian nationalisms, medical sociology, health disparities, reproductive ethics, conceptions of motherhood and non-motherhood, and social control of the body and of the family unit
michelle.gotto@case.edu
Colette Ngana
EDUCATION
B.S., History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science, Michigan State University, 2012; M.A., Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University, 2012; M.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, 2018
ABOUT
My research focuses on the experiences of burn injury survivors and how it relates to larger patterns of social inequality and vulnerability. Additional research interests include medical sociology; social inequality; qualitative methods; reproductive ethics; and social vulnerability.
colette.ngana@case.edu
Abolade Oladimeji
EDUCATION
B.S., Geography, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria;
M.A., Geography and Planning, University of Toledo
ABOUT
My research interests include medical sociology, health policy, housing & homelessness, GIS, social inequality, aging and lifecourse, social gerontology, urban planning, and quantitative methods. My research interest is centered on neighborhood effects, how the effects of place, and how the physical and social environment shape later health outcomes. I examine how historical redlining is a fundamental cause of health disparities, especially in rust-belt cities. My dissertation is probing the effects of historical redlining on sleep outcomes in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County.
abolade.oladimeji@case.edu
Erin Phelps
EDUCATION
B.S., Sociology, Ball State University; M.A., Sociology, Case Western Reserve University
ABOUT
Research interests include historically minoritized graduate student's success; queer epistemologies and quantitative methodologies; operationalization of LGBT "categories"; navigating the medical industrial complex as a QTIPOC; problematizing widely used stress measures, black womxn and the preservation of self; femme bodies as political.
erin.phelps2@case.edu
Jacob Rivera
EDUCATION
B.A., Sociology and Criminology, Cleveland State University;
M.P.A., Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, Cleveland State University
ABOUT
Research interests include: social inequality; research methods; and urban sociology. More specifically, my work focuses on Puerto Rican inequalities.
jacob.rivera@case.edu
Ananya Sarker
EDUCATION
B.S., Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh; M.S.Sc, Economics, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh; M.A., Economics, West Virginia University
ABOUT
I am a health disparities scholar with a special interest in gender and workplace issues. My extensive training in Economics helps me employ quantitative methods and statistical analysis in my research work. I am currently working on the Wage gap in young physicians and self-rated health in older adults. I am also familiarizing myself with middle-aged population and Asian Americans’ health and social research. I am also involved in a project that enhances MCAT teaching in Behavioral Sciences.
ananya.sarker@case.edu
Reema Sen
EDUCATION
B.A. (Honors), English Literature, Presidency University, Kolkata; M.B.A., Human Resources Management, XLRI Xavier School of Management, India; M.Sc, Criminology & Human Rights, London School of Economics
ABOUT
My earlier degrees and work experience in nonprofit leadership and organizational behavior and human resources in different countries sparked my interest in diversity, human rights, gender inequalities and the sociology of work over the life course.
reema.sen@case.edu
Michael Slone
EDUCATION
B.S., Education, Bowling Green State University; M.A., Economics and Social Development of Regions, University of Massachusetts Lowell
ABOUT
Research interests include: organizations, occupations, and work; political economy; science and technology studies (STS); Marxist Sociology; sociological theory; and research methods.
michael.slone@case.edu
Adrianna Smell
EDUCATION
B.A., Sociology with an applied concentration and minors in Media Studies and Women Studies, University of Northern Colorado; M.A., Sociology, University of Northern Colorado
ABOUT
Research interests include: research methods; social inequality; and public policy.
adrianna.smell@case.edu