About Me

Jay Sorensen, 2019

My name is Jay Sorensen and I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iowa. I have a strong qualitative research background, expertise in gender and cultural studies, and an established teaching portfolio with extensive experience in curriculum development. I am interested in how and why cultural concepts emerge, how identities form and evolve, and how people maintain and move boundaries between one another in our social world. My primary goal as a sociologist is to conduct and disseminate research that illuminates processes of inequality and contributes to tangible social change. I have additional expertise in medical sociology, cultural studies, and mixed-methods research design focused on integrating qualitative data to enrich quantitative findings for a public audience.

Originally from Denver, CO, I relocated to Iowa City, IA in 2017 after some time away from academia in the “real world.” I earned my B.A. in sociology and anthropology from Warren Wilson College in May of 2012. Located outside of Asheville, NC, Warren Wilson College is a part of the Work Colleges Consortium and integrates both work and service into the academic environment. During my time as an undergraduate student, I worked on campus in the student activities office, the women’s resource center, the admissions office, and helped establish the college’s first LGBTQ+ resource center. I devoted the majority of my service to Our VOICE, Inc., a non-profit crisis intervention program serving victims of sexual violence in Buncombe County, North Carolina.

I have a passion for teaching and believe that sociology and the study of gender can be relevant to students of all disciplines. Examining our social world through the critical lenses of gender, race, and class is essential to the further progress of women, trans identified folks, as well as those living outside of established binaries of gender. We live in a time of uncertainty and fear surrounding social issues and I believe that academics and researchers have an integral role to play in the creation of a more just society.