Department of Sociology

Dr. David Russell is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Appalachian State University. He earned his PhD in sociology from Florida State University and completed a National Institute of Mental Health Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mental Health Services and Systems at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research at Rutgers University. His teaching and research interests include medical sociology, aging and the life-course, stress and mental health. Some of the courses he has recently taught include Senior Capstone, Social Statistics & Data Analysis, and Medical Sociology. His current research cuts across these areas and explores several topics, including factors impacting family caregiving for older adults with needs for functional assistance, the role of state capacity in shaping vaccination uptake across distinct phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, and identification of social and cultural forces underlying rampage school shootings.

 Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective
• SOC 2600: Medical Sociology
• SOC 3895: Social Statistics and Data Analysis
• SOC 4450: Senior Capstone

Research Interests

• Medical Sociology
• Aging & the Life Course
• Sociology of Stress and Mental Health 
• Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods

Recent Publications

Friesen, Phoebe, Christina Wusinich, Katherine Lynch, and David Russell. 2024. “‘A Light at the End of the Tunnel’: Experiences With Peer Specialists in the Open Dialogue Model.” Psychiatric Services 75(3):283–86.

Miyawaki, Christina E., Angela McClellan, David Russell, and Erin D. Bouldin. 2024. “Comparing Unmet Service Needs between Rural and Urban Family Caregivers of People Living with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias: A Multi-Site Study.” The Gerontologist.

Russell, David, Naomi J. Spence, Jo-Ana D. Chase, Tatum Schwartz, Christa M. Tumminello, and Erin Bouldin. 2022. “Support amid Uncertainty: Long COVID Illness Experiences and the Role of Online Communities.” SSM - Qualitative Research in Health 2:100177.

Spence, Naomi J., David Russell, Erin D. Bouldin, Christa M. Tumminello, and Tatum Schwartz. 2023. “Getting back to Normal? Identity and Role Disruptions among Adults with Long COVID.” Sociology of Health & Illness 45(4):914–34.

Dr. Matthew Wright joined the faculty of Appalachian State University in 2020 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology. He earned his Ph.D in Sociology in 2017 from Bowling Green State University. His teaching interests center on families, intimate relationships, aging, demography, and statistics. Dr. Wright’s research, which has appeared in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Journals of Gerontology, Demography, and Journal of Health and Social Behavior, examines the implications of family change in later life, emphasizing marriage, divorce, and cohabitation. His current projects examine cohabitors' relationship quality, well-being, and social relationships, with particular attention to those aged 50 and older. Another line of research investigates family attitudes in the U.S. and internationally and how they have changed over time. He also serves on department and university committees focused on faculty development, mentoring, policy, and tuition appeals.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1110: Sociology of Intimate Relationships
• SOC 3100: Gerontology
• SOC 3895: Social Statistics and Data Analysis
• SOC 4800: Sociology of Families

Research Interests

• Marriage, Cohabitation, and Divorce in Later Life
• Nonmarital Relationships
• Family Attitudes
• Family change

Recent Publications

Wright, Matthew R., Tatum A. Schwartz, Susan L. Brown, and Wendy D. Manning. 2023. “Income Pooling in Midlife: A Comparison of Remarried and Cohabiting Relationships.” Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 78: 1402-1411.

Wright, Matthew R., Susan L. Brown, and Wendy D. Manning. 2023. “A Cohort Comparison of Midlife Marital Quality: A Quarter Century of Change.” Journal of Family Issues 44: 538-559.

Wright, Matthew R. 2021. “Cohabitation.” Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Edited by Danan Gu and Matthew R. Dupre. Springer.

Wright, Matthew R. 2020. “Relationship Quality among Older Cohabitors: A Comparison to Remarrieds.” Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 75: 1808-1817.

Natalie Sheets joined the faculty of Appalachian State University in 2024 and serves as a Lecturer of Sociology. As a high school student, she started her academic journey at Wilkes Community College. She finished her A.A. degree and transferred to East Tennessee State University as a history major and sociology minor. She graduated with her Bachelor of Social Science degree and started working on her Master of Arts in Sociology at ETSU. Her graduate research and thesis focused on single mothers and religion, looking at many different ways single mothers use religion in their lives. After graduation, she became a Sociology Instructor at Wilkes Community College. While teaching for WCC, she earned a graduate certificate equivalent in Psychology and became the Lead Instructor of Sociology and Psychology. She was an instructor at WCC for ten years and lead instructor for two. Natalie also serves as the Western Representative of Sociology for the NCCCSPA.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 2050: Social Diversity and Inequalities

Dr. Amy Dellinger Page joined the faculty of Appalachian State in 2004. During her tenure, she has served as Undergraduate Programs Director, Internship Supervisor, and Department Chair. She was a member of the inaugural Interpersonal Violence Task Force, and later served as a member and co-chair of the Interpersonal Violence Council. Her research interests involve attitudes about women and rape, pornography and its role in promoting rape culture, prevention programming related to interpersonal violence, sex offender policy, and toxic masculinity and its relationship to violence. For the past five years, she expanded her research interests by studying end-of-life doulas (EOLDs). She has been an invited speaker for Chalk Talks, the NC Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging, and the End-of-Life Doula International Research Group Symposium. She is currently conducting research assessing the experiences of dying persons and their circles of care with utilizing EOLDs.

In March 2020, she became Executive Director of Appalachian Senior Programs, which houses two federally-funded AmeriCorps Seniors programs that assist children and the local senior population; the Foster Grandparent and the Senior Companion programs. The goal of these programs is to enhance the social-emotional and academic skills of children who need one-on-one assistance, and provide companionship and assistance for older adults who do not qualify for other services and wish to remain independent in their homes. Appalachian Senior Programs serves five rural counties (Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, and Wilkes) in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Dr. Page works with OASIS, the local domestic violence and sexual assault crisis center on sexual assault prevention programming with alcohol-serving establishments and faith-based communities as well as with the Office of Access and Equity at Appalachian State on Title IX and sex-based misconduct cases. She serves as Vice Chair of the Board of the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge and serves on the Grants Committee for the organization as well.

She is a recipient of the College of Arts and Sciences Jimmy Smith Outstanding Service Award (2013), the W.H. Plemmons Leadership Medallion (2015-2016), and the College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Engagement Award (2021).

Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective 
• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 2001: Sociological Pathways
• SOC 2020: Social Deviance
• SOC 3370: Sexual Violence
• SOC 3530  Death and Dying
• SOC 4250: Constructing Bodies and Sexualities

Research Interests

• Interpersonal Violence
• End-of-Life Doulas
• Sexual Violence Policy
• Pornography

Recent Publications

Page, Amy Dellinger, Jonelle H. Husain, and Jack H. Glascock. 2024. “Demystifying Death: Reflections on End-of-Life Doula Work.” OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying.  https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228241305479.

 Galphin, Elisabeth Grace, Adam Hege, and Amy Dellinger Page.  2024. “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Intimate Partner Violence and Child Maltreatment Services in Rural Northwest North Carolina.”  Journal of Appalachian Health 6 (3), 87-92.

Schwartz, Tatum A. and Amy Dellinger Page. 2023. “The Body in Space: Trauma-Informed Frameworks for Dance in Non-Clinical Settings.” Journal of Dance Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2023.2183503.

Page, Amy Dellinger and Jonelle H. Husain. 2023. “End-of-Life Doulas: Documenting their Backgrounds and Services.” Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 88(2), 505-524. Published online 2021.

Page, Amy Dellinger, Jonelle H. Husain, and Ashely M. Kvanvig. 2022. “Dying a ‘Good’ Death: The Work, Care, and Support of End-of-Life Doulas.” Omega: Journal of Death and Dying. (https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228221145798).

Media Appearances

Invited Featured Guest with Jonelle Husain for AppTV’s Religion in Life.  Season 13, Episode 7. April 29, 2021. https://youtu.be/q59WJdqNLPA

Invited Featured Guest with Jonelle Husain for AppTV’s Religion in Life. Season 13, Episode 6.  April 9, 2021. https://youtu.be/5Z52BCmpeZQ

Invited Featured Panelist for National Public Radio’s 1A.  “Boys to Men: Masculinity and the Next Mass Shooting”.  February 28, 2018. https://the1a.org/audio/#/shows/2018-02-28/boys-to-men-how-masculinity-is-made/113680/@00:00

Dr. Bradley Nash Jr. joined the faculty at Appalachian State University in 2002. Currently a full Professor in the Department of Sociology, he served as Undergraduate Sociology Director from 2005 to 2010 and Graduate Sociology Director from 2017 to 2020. Teaching interests include sociological theory, environmental sociology, and social problems. One of his long-standing areas of research has been the historical-comparative analysis of labor law policy and its impact on trade unions and related labor organizations. More recently, he has also begun research in the area of the sociology of science, specifically looking at the social construction of and public attitudes toward scientific knowledge. He currently serves on the editorial board of Sociation and the American Sociological Association’s Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology.

 Courses Taught

• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 3150: Environmental Sociology 
• SOC 3710: Sociology of Appalachian Communities 
• SOC 3950: Classical Sociological Theory

Research Interests

• Comparative Labor Law Policies 
• Sociology of Science 
• Sociology and Anthropocene

Recent Publications

Nash, Bradley Jr.  “Labor Law Reform and Organized Labor: A Comparative-Historical Sociology of Unanticipated Outcomes”.  Humanity and Society.  Volume 43, Number 2.  2019. 

 Kleitsch, David, Ed Rosenberg and Bradley Nash, Jr.  “Community in a Virtual Environment: Can YouTube Build Community for LGBT Youth?”  Sociation Today.  Volume 13, Number 2.  2015.

Dr. Ellen Lamont is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from New York University, an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research examines how gender and sexuality shape intimate relationships in a variety of contexts. She is the author of The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date with University of California Press. Her work has been published in Gender & Society, Men & Masculinities, and Sociological Forum and covered by news outlets such as The Atlantic, BBC, Cosmopolitan, and The New York Times. She is currently working on a project on gender, work, and family in Appalachia funded by grants from the American Sociological Association and the University Research Council, as well as conducting an ethnography on gender and parenthood in family court. Ellen teaches courses on gender, family, and intimate relationships, as well as interdisciplinary seminars in the Honors College. She was inducted into the College of Arts and Sciences Academy of Outstanding Teachers in 2018 and awarded Teacher of the Year in 2019. In 2024, she won the Board of Governors Appalachian State University Excellence in Teaching Award. She currently serves as a council member for the Sex & Gender section of the American Sociological Association, as well as on the editorial boards for Sociological Forum and Social Currents.

 Courses Taught

• SOC 1110: Sociology of Intimate Relationships
• SOC 2850: Constructions of Gender
• SOC 4800: Sociology of Families
• SOC 4650: Women, Crime, and the Justice System

Research Interests

• Gender, Sexuality, and Intimate Relationships
• Dating and Courtship
• LGBTQ Hookup Culture
• Gendered Parenthood

Recent Publications

Lamont, Ellen, and Teresa Roach. Forthcoming. "Coming Out Queer: Sexual and Romantic Exploration and Identity Development of LGBQ+ College Students." Social Currents.

Lamont, Ellen. 2021. "The Persistence of Gendered Dating." Sociology Compass, 15(11), e12933. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12933

Lamont, Ellen.  2020. The Mating Game: How Gender Still Shapes How We Date. Oakland, CA: University of California Press.

Lamont, Ellen, Teresa Roach, and Sope Kahn. 2018. "Navigating Campus Hookup Culture: LGBTQ Students and College Hookups".  Sociological Forum 33(4): 1000-1022.

Lamont, Ellen. 2017. "'We Can Write the Script Ourselves':  Queer Challenges to Heteronormative Dating and Courtship Practices."  Gender & Society 31(5): 624-646.

 Lamont, Ellen. 2015. “The Limited Construction of an Egalitarian Masculinity: College- Educated Men’s Dating and Relationship Narratives.”Men & Masculinities 18(3): 271-292.   https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/epub/10.1177/1097184X14557495

Lamont, Ellen, 2014. "Negotiating Courtship: Reconciling Egalitarian Ideals with Traditional Gender Norms".  Gender & Society 28(2): 189-211.

Joyce Hill-Powers, M.A., and Senior Lecturer joined the faculty in the Department of Sociology at Appalachian State University in May 2000, right after completing her degree at Appalachian State University in the MASS Program: Master of Arts in Social Science Education. Joyce earned her master's degree in Sociology and History Education to teach at the post-secondary level. She also worked in College Awareness Programs, Conferences and Institutes, and Ashe County Middle and High schools while remaining a teacher in the department, which enabled Joyce to connect college students with the community and support first-generation college students through federal education grants. Joyce is excited to be a part of the Pathways to Resilience App State’s current Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). This five-year university effort seeks to grow students’ climate literacy and agency and build confidence in our capacity to respond to climate disruption in ways that reduce harm and improve local and global communities' well-being. She is also a Quality Matters Certified SOC 2020 web-based course instructor.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 1110: Social Deviance
• SOC 2020: Social Deviance
• SOC 3340: Criminology
• SOC 3360: Juvenile Delinquency
• SOC 3549: Climate Responses

 Research Interests

• Deviance and Social Control
• The Stigmatization Process
• Social Integration
• Socialization
• Rural Communities
• Culture and Identity

Dr. Pavel Osinsky joined the faculty of the Appalachian State University in 2008 and serves currently as Professor of the Department of Sociology. Dr. Osinsky specializes in social theory, sociology of globalization, political sociology, and comparative-historical sociology. He is a coauthor of War: Contemporary Perspectives on Military Conflicts Around the World (2018, with Cameron Lippard and Lon Strauss) and an author of articles in The Annual Review of Sociology, Political Power and Social Theory, Sociological Perspectives, Sociological Forum, Sociological Inquiry, Work & Occupations, and other journals. Currently, Dr. Osinsky is working on a monograph-length manuscript “The Pathways to Empire: Spain, Russia, and the Ottomans,” which explores the origins of the large territorial empires in the context of the frontier interactions between the settled agricultural civilizations and the militarized nomadic polities. Pavel Osinsky regularly teaches courses in Sociological Theory, Global Sociology, and Sociology of War. 

Areas of Expertise and Interest

•  Social Theory
• Globalization
• Comparative-Historical Sociology

Education

Ph.D., 2007, Sociology, Northwestern University
M.A., 1999, Sociology, University of Iowa
B.A., 1985, Philosophy, Moscow State University

Courses taught

• The Sociological Perspective (SOC 1000)
• Classical Sociological Theory (SOC 3950)
• Contemporary Sociological Theory (SOC 3960)
• Sociology of War (SOC 3800)
• Political Sociology (SOC 4600)
• Global Sociology (SOC 4850)

Recent Publications

Osinsky, Pavel. 2021. “Charisma, the Order of Succession, and Legitimacy of Authority in Nomadic Empires of Eurasia” // Zhytomyr Ivan Franco State University Journal. Philosophical Sciences 2 (90): 75-86

Osinsky, Pavel. 2020. “The Rise and Fall of the Nomad-Dominated Empires of Eurasia”  Sociological Inquiry 20 (10): 1-25.

Osinsky, Pavel. 2019. “The Nomadic Empires as State Formations.” Eurasia and the World 1: 42-57

Cameron Lippard, Pavel Osinsky and Lon Strauss. 2018. Contemporary Perspectives on Armed Conflicts around the World. New York: Routledge

Pavel Osinsky. 2017. "Democracy, Authoritarianism, and Values in Poland, Ukraine, and Russia".  Vestnik BGU (5): 91-102.

Pavel Osinsky and Jari Eloranta. 2016. "Historicizing Divergence: A Comparative Analysis of the Revolutionary Crises in Russia and Finland." In Economic History of Warfare and State Formation, edited by Jari Eloranta, Eric Golson, Andrei Markevich, and Nikolaus Wolf. London: Springer.

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Kristin S. Ivey joined the faculty of Appalachian State University in 2010 and currently serves as a Senior Lecturer at App State Hickory Campus. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology and Social Control. She completed her Master of Arts in Higher Education with a concentration in Teaching Sociology and began teaching at Caldwell Community College and knew she wanted to invest more in her career! Kristin’s thirst for learning continued and while teaching part-time, she went back to Appalachian and completed her Education Specialist Degree in Higher Education with a concentration in Adult Learning. Kristin’s uses a variety of pedagogical practices to help students understand the relevance of Sociology in their lives and encourage them to be agents of social change. In addition to being a Senior Lecturer, Kristin serves as the Chapter Representative for AKD, The International Sociology Honor Society.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective
• SOC 1100: Social Problems in American Society
• SOC 1110: The Sociology of Intimate Relationships
• SOC 2020: Social Deviance

Research Interests

• Intimate Relationships
• Diversities in Families
• Gender
• Social Deviance
• Criminology

Dr. Juhee Woo is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Appalachian State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder and joined the department in 2020. Her research focuses on social inequalities, specifically examining health disparities, health behaviors, and tobacco use. Her work has been published in leading sociological and interdisciplinary journals, including Health & Place, Demographic Research, and Sociological Perspectives.

Dr. Woo teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Research Methods, Sociological Perspectives, Medical Sociology, and Health Inequalities. She is passionate about integrating research and teaching, and actively involves students in research projects and community-engaged learning.

Beyond the classroom, Dr. Woo coordinates the International Mountaineer Faculty (IMF) Peer-Mentoring Circle and the International Faculty-Student Pair (IFSP) Mentoring Program, supporting the success and engagement of international faculty and students at Appalachian State.

Courses Taught

• SOC 1000: The Sociological Perspective

• SOC 2600: Medical Sociology

• SOC 3885: Research Methods

• SOC 4055: Health Inequalities

• SOC 5110: Advanced Research Methods

Research Interests

• Social Inequalities

• Health Disparities

• Health Behaviors

• Tobacco Use

• Mixed Methods

Recent Publications

Lawrence, Elizabeth, Stefanie Mollborn, and Juhee Woo. Forthcoming. “A Social Approach to Gender and Health Behavior.” TheHandbook of Social Epidemiology, edited by Terrence Hill, Tarani Chandola, and Ginny Garcia-Alexander. De Gruyter. 

Truong-Vu, Kim-Phuong and Juhee Woo. 2025. “I trust the health care system, but I also do a little bit of research to understand more: Vaccine decision-making processes of Vietnamese American parents as acts of agency.” Social Science and Medicine - Qualitative Research in Health, 7:100514.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2024.100514

Jackson, Alexandra Malia, Juhee Woo, Marley Olson, Francis Dalisay, Pallav Pokhrel, Clemma J. Muller, and Scott K. Okamoto. 2023. “Methodological Challenges in Web-Based Qualitative Research with Medically Underserved Populations.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25: e44086.https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e44086/

Woo, Juhee. 2022. “An intersectional life-course perspective on Black women’s smoking trajectories.” Social Science & Medicine - Qualitative Research in Health, 2C: 100196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmqr.2022.100196

Woo, Juhee. 2022. "How place matters for smoking cessation: Barriers to smoking cessation among low-income Black women." Health & Place, 78: 102925. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102925

Woo, Juhee, Elizabeth Lawrence, and Stefanie Mollborn. 2022. “Racial/ethnic and gender differences in smoking in early middle adulthood.” Social Science & Medicine - Population Health, 18: 101119. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352827322000982