Faculty

Michael Sauder

Michael Sauder, Ph.D.

Department Chair
Professor

Michael Sauder is Chair and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iowa, specializing in the sociology of organizations, theory, culture, and inequality.

Mark Berg

Mark Berg, Ph.D.

Professor and Collegiate Scholar
Interim Director, Public Policy Center

Professor Mark Berg’s primary research and teaching interests include criminology and the social determinants of health. His recent research examines interpersonal disputes, the developmental pathways of antisocial behavior, and the life-course determinants of physical health and well-being.

Andrea Bianci

Alison Bianchi , Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director of the Center for the Study of Group Processes

Alison Bianchi is a structural social psychologist who specializes in group processes and in nomothetic theory construction and its concomitant quantitative methodology.

Stephanie DiPietro

Stephanie DiPietro, Ph.D.

Dr. DiPietro has been engaged in an ethnographic study of Bosnian refugees and nationals who experienced the Bosnian war and genocide (1992-1995) in early childhood.

Jennifer Glanville

Jennifer Glanville, Ph.D.

Jennifer Glanville’s recent and ongoing research contributes to two main lines of inquiry: (1) the consequences of social capital (social connections that enhance the capacity of individuals and communities to achieve goals) and (2) the sources of generalized trust (trust in strangers).

Sarah Harkness

Sarah Harkness, Ph.D.

Sarah Harkness's work centers on the social psychology of inequality, specifically related to the study of status, morality, health stigma, and intersectionality.

Jennifer Haylett

Jennifer Haylett, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Instruction
Director of Undergraduate Studies - Sociology

Jennifer Haylett conducts research and teaches in the areas of gender, family, medical sociology, sociology of reproduction, economic sociology, and qualitative research methods.

Karen Heimer

Karen Heimer, Ph.D.

Professor
Collegiate Fellow

Karen Heimer is Professor of Sociology & Criminology, Collegiate Fellow in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Distinguished Research Fellow of the Public Policy Center at the University of Iowa. She also holds a courtesy appointment in the Boyd College of Law.

Steve Hitlin

Steve Hitlin, Ph.D.

Steve Hitlin's interests include social psychology, self and identity, values, morality, social theory, and gender.

Michael Lovaglia

Michael Lovaglia, Ph.D.

Michael Lovaglia's interests include social psychology, especially power and status processes, the reciprocal effects of evolution and physiology on social behavior, social factors that affect academic performance, theory construction, and the sociology of science.

Freda Lynn

Freda Lynn, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies

Freda B. Lynn is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Iowa and a faculty affiliate of Iowa’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Informatics.

Mary Noonan

Mary Noonan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Mary Noonan's research interests include gender, work, family, and quantitative research methods.

Amber Powell

Amber Powell, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Amber Joy Powell received her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Minnesota in 2022. Her research examines the intersections of gendered racialized violence, law, and the carceral state.

Victor Ray

Victor Ray, Ph.D.

F. Wendell Miller Associate Professor

Victor Ray’s research applies critical race theory to classic sociological questions. He is currently working on two book manuscripts: a project focused on race and organizational theory and an edited volume (co-edited with Jennifer Mueller) on race and sociological theory writ large.

Meghan Rogers

Meghan Rogers, Ph.D.

Meghan Rogers is an Assistant Professor in the Sociology and Criminology Department at the University of Iowa.

Michaela Ruppert

Michaela Ruppert, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Instruction
Director of Undergraduate Studies - Criminology

Michaela Ruppert is a criminologist whose teaching and research interests include delinquency, justice, and criminal punishment.

Louise Seamster

Louise Seamster, Ph.D.

Louise Seamster is an Assistant Professor in Sociology and Criminology and African American Studies at the University of Iowa.

Yongren Shi

Yongren Shi, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Yongren Shi is a computational sociologist working in the areas of social networks, organizations, social psychology, and culture. He is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Iowa.

Bodi Vasi

Ion "Bodi" Vasi, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Bogdan Vasi's research focuses primarily on how social movements contribute to the diffusion of technological innovations, organizational change, and policymaking.

James Wo

James Wo, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

James Wo’s research and teaching interests are in criminology, collective mobilization and social action, research methods and statistics, and urban sociology with an emphasis on neighborhoods and crime.

Marina Zaloznaya

Marina Zaloznaya, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Director of the European Studies Group

Marina Zaloznaya joined the Sociology faculty at the University of Iowa in 2012, after she received a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University.

Adjunct Faculty

 

Malinda Lamb

Adjunct Assistant Professor
 

Affiliated Faculty

Brian An

Brian An, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Brian An, affiliated faculty member with the Department of Sociology and Criminology, is an Associate Professor with the College of Education at the University of Iowa.

Graduate Students

Kaylin Burgess

Kaylin Burgess

Graduate Student

Kaylin is a doctoral student who earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of North Florida and her Master of Arts from the University of Iowa.

Hyunsik Chun

Hyunsik Chun

Graduate Student

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iowa. I use both qualitative and computational methods to examine the causes and consequences of organizational and social change, and, in particular, the role that technology and collective action play in this change.

Hilary Douglas

Hillary Douglas

I graduated from Benedictine College in 2012 with my Bachelor of Arts. I majored in Economics, International Studies, and Foreign Language. After moving several times and trying my hand at various odd jobs, I started working with refugees and immigrants through AmeriCorps.

Mahdi Feyz Karimlou Picture

Mahdi Feyz Karimlou

Graduate Student

I'm Mahdi and I grew up in Tehran, Iran. My interest in sociology deals with the intersection of politics and economics.

Patrick Hardy

Patrick Hardy

Patrick is native of Vancouver, WA and graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's in Sociology.

Sean Kearney

Sean Kearney

Graduate Student

I received by B.S. in criminology from Penn State in May 2016, with minors in sociology and communications arts & sciences. Unlike many of my colleagues, I didn’t perform any research of note during my time at Penn State, as my desire to pursue academia as a profession didn’t arise until late in my junior year of undergrad.

Henry Kim

Donghyun "Henry" Kim

Graduate Student

My name is Donghyun "Henry" Kim (김동현; 金東鉉). I obtained B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Chung-Ang University, South Korea. During that period, I aimed to contribute to the understanding of social anxiety disorder by investigating how individuals with social anxiety are sensitive to non-verbal social cues and how this sensitivity affects their emotions and social functioning in negative ways. 

Daniel Knipp

Daniel Knipp

Graduate Student

After earning a 4-year Bachelors of Science degree in Sociology with a Psychology minor at Northeastern University, I came to the University of Iowa to pursue a PhD and gain expertise in teaching. In December of 2019, I successfully defended my MA thesis; and in 2021 I passed my comprehensive exams in Social Psychology (with distinctions) and Mental Health.

Madlynn Libao

Madlynn Libao

I received my B.A. in Sociology from Baldwin Wallace University in May 2020 with a minor in Sustainability. While at Baldwin Wallace, I had the opportunity to work on research regarding food insecurity amongst college students and the effectiveness of after school career preparatory programs, which sparked my interest in quantitative research and social inequalities.

Katherine Linder

Katherine Linder

Graduate Student

I’m a native of Illinois. I went to Illinois College in Jacksonville, IL, for my undergraduate studies, majoring in sociology with minors in Spanish and psychology.

Yujia Lyu

Yujia Lyu

Graduate Student

My name is Yujia Lyu (吕煜佳). I am a PhD candidate in Sociology, also the Graduate Manager for the Center of the Study of Group Processes.

 

Asa Madison

Graduate Student

Asa's primary research interests include social stratification and crime, specifically white-collar and corporate crime and corruption. He is interested in studying how environmental factors and geographical locations affect crime rates, as well as which demographic populations are affected the most. 

 

Sarah Malone

Graduate Student

My passion for sociology started at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse where I earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology along with a minor in Mathematics.

Kelci Mueller

Kelci Mueller

Graduate Student

I grew up in Northern Colorado near the Rocky Mountains and then I went on to graduate from Portland State University (Portland, Oregon) in 2019 with a B.A. in Criminology and Honors.

Mario Paez-Arellano

Mario Paez-Arellano

Hello. My name is Mario. I’m a Mexican-American from McAllen, TX who studies social psychology.

Alex Peralta Cornejo

Alex Peralta Cornejo

I earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Drake University, being recognized as both a recipient of academic and departmental honors for my work.

Chad Rhym

Chad Rhym

Graduate Student

Chad Rhym is a Graduate Student in the Department of Sociology from Athens, GA. He is a recent 2019 graduate from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.

Kendall Riley

Kendall Riley

Graduate Student

I graduated from Indiana University in 2020 with B.S. degrees in human biology and psychology. My research interests lie at the intersection of public health, sociology, and criminology.

Levi Sands

Levi Sands

Graduate Student

I graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Sociology and a minor in Biology. While there I worked primarily with West Nile Virus in a virology laboratory.

Andrea Smith

Andrea Smith

Graduate Student

In 2018 and 2019, I received my BS in Psychology and my BA in Sociology with a minor in LGBTQ+ studies from Louisiana State University. I then went on to get my MA in Sociology from the University of Central Florida.

Regan Smock

Regan Smock

Graduate Student

I graduated in May of 2022 from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, with a minor in Spanish. My undergraduate thesis examined the effectiveness of three sexual assault prevention education programs completed before or during attendance at the University of Iowa, by analyzing reported bystander intervention actions.

Jay Sorensen

Jay Sorensen

Graduate Student

I’m a post-comprehensive exam PhD student in the department of sociology and criminology. My primary research interests are gender, sexualities, masculinities, and the sociology of culture, especially media and popular culture.

 

Philip Tostado

I obtained an MA in Sociology at Portland State University and wrote my thesis on how racial heterogeneity in adolescent friendship networks impacts mental health outcomes.

KaLeigh White

KaLeigh White

Graduate Student

My name is KaLeigh White and I am a PhD candidate in sociology. I study social inequality, social policy, poverty alleviation, and equity in education.

Hanna Zadeh

Hannah Zadeh

Graduate Student

Hannah is a recent graduate from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in sociology. For their undergraduate thesis, they developed a case study of a racialized medical algorithm to study how ideas about race travel through citation networks.