Department of Sociology

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

Florida Atlantic University Departmental Dashboard Indicators. Department program reviews for Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Florida Atlantic University.

This thesis is a historical comprehensive case study on masculinity that explores stereotypes of masculinity in professional wrestling. Working from theories about gender roles, hegemonic masculinity, misogyny (with its disdain for femininity) and heteronormativity, this study utilizes a content analysis of American professional wrestling to look at the gendered basis of how and why wrestling characters are created and how they are successful. Professional wrestlers historically have created characters based in American popular cultures and specifically American gender ideologies of masculinity that are based in hetero-patriarchal cultural ideals. By looking through the history of masculinity and gender stereotypes in professional wrestling, I uncover how contemporary wrestlers are reworking these stereotypes to create new characters with changing gender inflections based on global cultural ideals, rather than American culture, demonstrating the influence global culture and the globalized wrestling community has on contemporary American wrestling.

This thesis aims to understand how en-wheeled women engaged in hyperfemininity as a stigma management technique in order to diminish asexualization. Grounding my work in the tradition of Goffman and symbolic interaction, I argue that women who do hyperfemininity as a stigma management technique do so in an attempt to make their identity as a woman more salient then their identity as someone who is disabled. As most of the research surrounding disability focuses on masculinity and disabled women‘s heterosexuality it is imperative to continue the expansion of scholarship at the intersection of disability and gender.

Southeast Florida is a region of the U.S. that is predicted to incur severe damage due to climate change (CC). As a result, one particular grassroots organization created a CC workshop to educate, advocate, and build resiliency locally. Social movement’s literature reveals processes of framing, resource mobilization, and organizational structure that have had successful outcomes locally while climate action literature argues that civil society has been ineffective at creating significant impacts on the global scale of climate policy. In order to expand this literature further, I conducted a research project to examine how different frames presented in CC education influence climate actions in the Southeast Florida region. Using qualitative research methods of participant observations and interviews, my analysis of the data collected suggests that organizers of the workshop used an environmental and climate justice narrative along with a collective action framework, relying on three master frames of place, justice, and power to educate members on CC. Amongst the prognoses presented to members during the education were climate action solutions primarily within the meso (community/civic engagement) level to create structural change within the region. I found that participants interpreted CC to be an issue of 2 places in Southeast Florida, one on the coast and one inland and, thus, depending on which region participants lived, their level of climate action was affected, whether at the individual or community/civic level. Therefore, some participants focused on individual behavioral and household consumer tactics, while other participants worked on community building and creating structural change. Given the unsuccessful nature of local organizations at impacting global climate negotiations and the goal of social movement processes to create change within societal structures, this case study contributes to the growing body of knowledge regarding the influence of climate education on climate actions.

In this study I analyze how college students transition to adulthood. Based on 38
semi-structured interviews with young adults, I found that two groups appeared: emerging
adults and accelerated adults. Emerging adults were more likely to come from
economically privileged families and had the social and economic resources to focus on
education, pursue a fulfilling career, and have fun while in college. In contrast, accelerated
adults had adopted adult responsibilities during their childhood or teenage years and
struggled to succeed in college due to inadequate guidance, lingering emotional anguish
over childhood events, and lack of financial support. Although enrolled in the same
university, these groups transitioned to adulthood very differently. I discuss the
implications for each type of transition, as well as the implications of my findings for public
policy and for future sociological research.