To Whom It May Concern:

This letter responds to recent commentary about Georgia State University’s Department of Sociology reported by Susanne Stevens in Pine Magazine. As current and past graduate students within the department, we are writing to support the research opportunities, pedagogical training, and professional mentoring offered within this program. We believe it is important to voice our support for the department and the faculty who have been targeted for the attack, especially Doctors Mindy Stombler, Donald Reitzes, and Kirk Elifson.

The research interests listed after our undersigned names demonstrate the diverse and unique studies we have pursued. As emergent scholars, we appreciate that the department allows for scholarship that may challenge the palates of mainstream scholars and the general public. Our research has benefited from the professional guidance and expertise offered by faculty members. We understand that our research and teaching choices may, at times, come under critical review. We believe that the guidance our mentors provide—in teaching and in research—will make us better sociologists.

As graduate students with experience teaching classes within the department, we support the pedagogical training provided through this department. In designing the syllabi and curriculums for undergraduate courses, we have had considerable freedom. We are encouraged to be thoughtful of our representations of diverse peoples and issues, especially concerning race, gender, class, sex, sexuality, age, ability, and global cultures. We are tasked with constructing courses that challenge undergraduate students to examine multiple social matters sociologically. We are taught to convey material in ways appropriate for the course level (i.e., freshman-level introductory courses versus upper-level substantive courses). Compared to other graduates, we enter the job market with an exceptional and thorough amount of training.

We hope that future media attention will consider that there are many of us who have experienced great opportunities and achievements at Georgia State. Although it is unfortunate that some leave the graduate program disappointed, we the undersigned assert that that is the exception, not the rule. We are proud to be part of an award-winning department that is respected within the field. We support the GSU Department of Sociology and wish to promote it as an excellent environment for professional scholarship.

Respectfully,

Past and Present Graduate Students in the Department of Sociology, Georgia State University.

Elroi J. Windsor, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Student Instructor, Past Teaching Associate

• Gender and Sexuality, Transgender Healthcare, Surgical Body Modification, Queer Theory
• Gender and Society, Sexuality and Society, Queer Identities

Amy Palder, Ph.D., Visiting Lecturer

• Gender, Sexuality, Intersectionality of Identities, Cognitive Sociology, Theory
• Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Social Problems, Sexuality and Society, Gender and Society, Queer Identities

Christopher W. Pell, M.A., Doctoral Candidate

• Race and Urban, Transportation, HIV/AIDS
• Introduction to Sociology

Elizabeth Cavalier, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, Past Teaching Associate

• Gender and Sexuality, Sport Sociology, Sociology of Teaching and Learning
• Sexuality and Society, Queer Identities, Gender and Society, Introduction to Sociology, Introduction to Social Problems

Marni Kahn, M.E.D., Graduate Student Instructor, Teaching Associate

• Gender and Sexuality: Coming Out Experiences, Post-Closet Era, Feminisms, Women Studies
• Gender and Society, Introduction to Social Problems

Saori Yasumoto, M.A., Graduate Teaching Assistant, Doctoral Candidate, Past Teaching Associate

• Family, Gender, Cross-cultural Research, Culture and Cognition
• Introduction to Social Problems, Families and Society

Michael J. Lepore, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Brown University

• Aging, Long-Term Care, Care Work
• Introduction to Sociology

Stephanie Medley-Rath, M.A., Doctoral Candidate

• Gender, Sex, Culture, Family
• Introductory Sociology

Alexis A. Bender, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, Project Manager for "Sexuality in Assisted Living Facilities" NIH Grant Project

• Family, Health, and Life Course: Disabilities, Gender, Medical Sociology, Couples and Transitions, Aging and Health
• Introduction to Social Problems, Deviant Behavior, Families and Society

Christina Barmon, MPH, Doctoral Student, Graduate Research Assistant for "Sexuality in Assisted Living Facilities" NIH Grant Project

Moon Charania, M.A., Graduate Student Instructor

• Feminist Theory, Globalization, Postcolonial and Queer Theories
• Sexuality and Society, Introduction to Sociology

Mikel L. Walters, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Teaching Instructor

• Intimate Partner Violence, Sexuality, Gender and Queer Families
• Gender and Society, Sexuality and Society, Introduction to Social Problems

Max J. Green, B.A., Graduate Student

• Gender, Sexuality, Health disparities, LGBT Issues

Gail Markle, M.S., Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Student Instructor

• Gender, Work/Family, Identity, Popular Culture, Environmentalism
• Introduction to Sociology

Cameron D. Lippard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology
Race and Ethnic Relations, Immigration

• Introduction to Social Problems, Social Problems in American Society, Race and Minority Relations, Research Methods, Social Stratification

Amanda M. Jungels, M.A., Doctoral Student, Graduate Student Instructor

• Gender and Sexuality: Street Prostitution
• Introduction to Social Problems

Cynthia B. Sinha, M.A., Doctoral Candidate, Graduate Student Instructor

• Family and Life Course, Ethnic Identity Construction
• Introduction to Sociology, Families and Societies

Robert R. Maddox, B.A., Doctoral Student, Graduate Teaching Assistant

• Research Interests: Gender and Sexuality, Race Class and Gender, Sexual Prejudice, and Identity Theory