Wayne State University

Faculty Research

Khari Brown’s research interests primarily involve the intersection between race, religion, and social activism.  The relationship between racial differences in congregational resources and political activism is addressed in his most recent article, Brown, R. Khari.  2006.  “Racial Differences in Congregation-based Political Activism.”  Social Forces 84 (3): 1579-1602.  He is currently conducting a study that assesses the willingness and actual involvement of metropolitan Detroit congregations in interracial/ethnic political coalitions with other congregations to reduce segregation, poverty, and racial inequality in metropolitan Detroit.

Krista Brumley’s research is focused on understanding social inequality and change in an urban context in and how these processes are shaped by gender and class.  She presented her current research at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems entitled “The High Command and the Humble People: Globalization and Accommodation in Monterrey, ,” as well as a paper entitled “Gendered Spaces, Contradictory Identities, and Organizational Transformation” at the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association.  These presentations stem from her research in one of the leading international companies in whereby she is particularly interested in understanding the origins and reproduction of a restrictive urban structural and cultural environment.  Her earlier research on addressed how community and civic-based organizations engage in political participation.  Her article “Civil Society and Politics: Some Reflections on Citizenship,” published in Citizens, Public Decisions, and Quality of Democracy, discusses the demands of community organizations in an effort to enact social change (: Noriega Editores, ).

Heather Dillaway's research primarily explores the various social contexts for women's menopause experiences. For instance, her article in Healthcare for Women International in Summer 2008, with sociology graduate students Mary Byrnes and Sara Miller Amberg, explores how racial-ethnic differences affect women's attitudes about menopause. Specifically, African American women may act more positively than European American women about menopausal symptoms because these groups have different types of access to quality medical care and different amounts of social support within their communities. Dillaway is currently working on articles that explore the effects of women’s past reproductive events (e.g., miscarriages, infertility, pregnancy) on menopausal meanings and experiences, as well as women's attitudes and experiences towards certain symptoms (e.g., hot flashes). A brand new research project looks at the differences between women with "natural" menopause and "surgical" menopause (hysterectomies) as well. Dillaway also researches and writes about African American men's views of prostate cancer, women's experiences of combining paid work and motherhood,  childbirth, women's experiences of receiving old age pensions during the Depression Era, midlife identity, and successful aging.  

David Fasenfest's current research is focused on the nature and impact of the recent economic crisis on local employment, and how changes in the automotive industry are transforming southeastern Michigan.  This is part of a larger project on the relationship between regional development and decline on the onhand and economic restructuring.  Most recently he is the author of "Scholarship from a Critical Perspective" in Graham Cassano and Richard Dello Buono (eds.) Crisis, Politics and Critical Sociology (2009).  In Addition, he has edited two collections of criditical sociology, Social Change, Resistance and Social Practice, due out in 2010 (Brill Press), and Engaging Social Justice; Critical Studies of 21st Centruy Social Transformation, published in 2009 (Brill Press).  He has organized recent all day conferences on Power and Resistance:  Critical Reflections, Possible Futures (Boston, 2008) and Rebuilding Society: A Progressive Vision (Sna Francisco, 2009).  Finally, he is the editor of the journal Critical Sociology, published by SAGE and the book series Studies in Critical Social Science published by Brill.

 Heidi Gottfried addressed her work on gender and work transformation in a book entitled, Gendering The Knowledge Economy: Comparative Perspective, co-edited with Sylvia Walby, Karin Gottschall, and Mari Osawa, published by Palgrave; and in a paper on “Pathways to Economic Security: Nonstandard Employment and Gender in Contemporary Japan” presented at an international workshop, the University of Northern British Columbia, September 14-16, 2006, forthcoming in the journal, Social Indicator’s Research. She co-edited with Mary Garrett and Sandra VanBurkleo, a volume commemorating the 10^th Anniversary of the Humanities Center at Wayne State University . The book, Remapping The Humanities: Identity, Community, Memory, (Post)Modernity, will be published in November 2007 by Wayne State University Press, 2007.

  Mary Cay Sengstock’s primary research interests are in the areas of ethnic diversity and family violence.  In the area of ethnic diversity, she recently published a book entitled, Voices of Diversity, which describes the experiences of persons who grew up in multi-cultural or multi-racial families.  She has also conducted extensive research on the Chaldean Community of Metropolitan Detroit, about which she has written 3 books, the most recent being Chaldeans in Michigan, published in 2005.  She has recently expanded this interest to include research on Iraqi immigrants with other religious preferences.  In the area of family violence, she has concentrated her research primarily in the area of elder abuse and mistreatment, currently co-authoring a chapter on elder mistreatment in a textbook on nursing care for victims of family violence.

 Nicole Trujillo-Pagán’s current research is on Latino incorporation in a recovering New Orleans . Her article “From ‘Gateway to the ’ to the ‘ Chocolate City ’: The Racialization of Latinos in New Orleans ” will appear in the forthcoming book Racing the Storm (Rowman & Littlefield). Her co-authored piece “Reconstructing New Orleans after Katrina: The Emergence of an Immigrant Labor Market” will appear in The Sociology of Katrina: Perspectives on a Modern Catastrophe (Rowman & Littlefield).