As a cultural sociologist who studies work, I use qualitative methods to understand the personal experience of economic participation. I am also a sexuality scholar with published research on sexual identities and communities.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where I joined an interdisciplinary team of scholars on an NSF-funded study of activist professionals. The project compares the experience of architects and civil engineers who bring social justice advocacy into their work, as well as the structural factors creating different environments in these fields.
I graduated in 2018 with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. My dissertation looks at early careers and training in creative fields, drawing from interviews with undergraduate art students, faculty, and graduates. Before graduate school, I worked professionally as a non-profit fundraiser, project manager, and HIV prevention researcher. My work has been published in Poetics, Sociological Perspectives, and Culture, Health & Sexuality.
I am passionate about teaching and have developed courses at U.C. Berkeley and C.U. Boulder on sexuality, culture, and the arts and media. My strengths as an instructor are a grounded approach to explaining complex ideas, recognition and respect for students’ diverse backgrounds and talents, and frequent use of multimedia and expert speakers to enhance student engagement.
Matthew S. Rowe 