Our PhD students receive an excellent training in research and pedagogy, preparing them for careers in top research and teaching universities. While many also choose to pursue careers outside of the academy, on this page, we feature those students currently seeking positions in universities or colleges.
Martin Lukk
martin.lukk@mail.utoronto.ca
Website
Dissertation title: The Distributional Question in Contemporary Nationalism
Dissertation committee: Erik Schneiderhan, Geoffrey Wodtke (co-chair, U. Chicago), David Pettinicchio, Vanina Leschziner
Research and teaching areas: Political Sociology, Inequality and Stratification, Social Policy, Health and Illness, Race and Ethnicity
Statement on teaching and research interests: I study the political consequences of economic inequality. The dramatic growth in income and wealth inequality in industrialized countries is among the major social and economic developments of the postwar era. My research examines the individual consequences of this and related transformations in three areas: political identity, voting behavior, and social welfare. I am particularly interested in how income inequality shapes conceptions about legitimate membership in the nation; how attitudes about the nation affect support for radical-right parties; and how novel digital solutions to financing individual health care needs reproduce economic inequality. I study these issues primarily using quantitative analyses of survey data and computational approaches to data collection and analysis. My scholarship contributes to research in multiple areas, including political sociology, inequality and stratification, social policy, health and illness, and race and ethnicity. At the core of my work is an effort to understand how long-term structural changes shape individuals’ political lives in today’s democratic societies, including decisions about how to identify, vote, and get help in times of need. I am author of the forthcoming book GoFailMe: Digital Philanthropy and the Politics of Social Welfare (Stanford University Press, 2023), written with Erik Schneiderhan.
Sol W. Underwood
Dissertation title: Daddy and Papa: Canadian Gay Men Becoming Parents, Caring for their Families, and Constructing Fatherhood
Dissertation committee: Rania Salem and Bonnie Fox (co-supervisors), Barry Adam (Windsor)
Research and teaching areas: Sociology of Gender; Sociology of Families; Sexualities; Qualitative Methods; Political Economy of Race, Class, and Gender
Statement on teaching and research interests: I study 2SLGBTQI+ parenthood, families, and communities in Canada. Specifically, my research examines the social construction and organization of families headed by two fathers. Thanks to the broader 2SLGBTQI+ movements of the last century that won same-gender couples’ rights to marry and parent together, gay fathers are forming families that represent an historically novel social unit. Yet, gay fathers must navigate many barriers to their full participation in the world of parents. They lack easy access to the means of reproduction and become primary caregivers to children in a society that is organized around straight parents and heteronormativity. My research shows that the many paths gay men navigate are often dizzying, complicated bureaucratic paths, over which they may experience little control. Then, once they achieve fatherhood, their intentions as male parents are often called into question. They must contend with suspicions ascribed to male primary caregivers, on the one hand, and stigma ascribed to gay male sexuality, on the other. Despite the many advances that 2SLGBTQI+ people have enjoyed in Canada over the last century, my research highlights the many barriers and inequalities that persist among 2SLGBTQI+ families. At the heart of my research focus, I highlight the profound commitment that Canadian gay men bring to their roles and jobs as fathers as they pave the way for future generations of primary caregiving co-fathers.
Publications:
- Underwood, S. W. (2024). Gay Dads to Be: Reflections on Gender, Sexuality, Family, and Race in Adoption and Surrogacy. LGBTQ+ Family: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 1-16.
- Underwood, S. W. (2020). Dahlia among Orchids: Neither a Boy Nor Girl ‘on The Inside’, but Gender-Chaotic ‘on The Outside’. In Twist, J., Vincent, B., Barker, M., & Gupta, K. (Eds.), Non-Binary Lives: An Anthology of Intersecting Identities. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Man Xu (Angela)
Dissertation Title: : Brokering transnational exchange: examining Chinese Muslim’s identity formation and relational labor in the global trade economy
Dissertation Committee: : Patricia Landolt (co-chair), Ping-Chun Hsiung (co-chair), Laura Doering
Research and Teaching Areas: Globalization, Migration, Race and Ethnicity, Economic Sociology, Qualitative Methodology, China Studies
Statement on Teaching and Research Interests: I study globalization and migration as forces of change that shape social identity, ethnic relations, economic processes, and state governance. My research interprets recent shifts in the global political economy, such as the rise of Global China and the expanding ties within the Global South. My dissertation delves into the experiences of Hui Muslims who work as brokers facilitating trade between China and the Middle East. This project theorizes how the growing trade economy within Asia produces new segment of relational labor, and how ethnic minority people’s brokerage work contributes to shifts in the structure of the global economy. The dissertation brings into dialogue economic sociology, race, ethnicity, and migration studies, to advance the sociology of brokerage.