Dr. Bethany Bryson

Assistant Professor of Sociology

Office Location: Sheldon 205
Phone: 568-7856
E-mail: brysonbp (at) jmu (dot) edu
Website: http://educ.jmu.edu/~brysonbp/

Teaching:

Sexuality
Sociology of Gender
Work and Society
Race and Ethnicity
Social Statistics
Naturalistic Analysis

Research:

I study culture and inequality in formal organizations and public opinion. My current research centers on the way notions of race structure political and cultural attitudes differently for different groups of people. Researchers often report that educated whites are better able to organize their thinking into a coherant political package than other folks. Together with coauthor Mathew Hughley, I am examining the possibility that this allegedly disorganized thinking on the part of non-whites may be the result of their dual perspective on the American status system. My next project will attempt to test some of the conclusions from my book about the best way to structure (or re-structure) an organization in order to achieve specific cultural outcomes.

Recent Publications:

2005. Making Multiculturalism: Boundaries and Meaning in US English Departments. Stanford University Press.

2001. " Opinion Polarization." with Paul DiMaggio and John Evans, American Journal of Sociology.

1999. "Multiculturalism as a Moving Moral Boundary: Literature Professors Redefine Racism." in Michèle Lamont's (ed.), The Cultural Territories of Race: Black and White Boundaries. University of Chicago Press. (in "the pink book")

1996."Anything but Heavy Metal": Symbolic Exclusion and Musical Dislikes." American Sociological Review.

1996. " Have Americans' Social Attitudes Become More Polarized?" with Paul DiMaggio and John Evans. American Journal of Sociology.