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General Interests
"I am primarily a cultural sociologist, and my research projects have focused on questions of cultural production and social change. My dissertation was a study of American children's book publishing and the ideological content of American children's novels. I was curious about what it means to think about novels as a source of data about both ideology and production context, and I was interested in the history of the feminized labor of American children's book divisions. As a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Exeter, I worked on a study of European film festival organizations. My new research study, of Balinese sea salt, extends questions of cultural production and commodification, while connecting to questions of globalization, commerce, and consumption."
Years at Knox: 2006 to present
Education
B.A., 1996, Smith College.
M.A., 1999, University of Washington.
Ph.D., 2005, University of Washington.
Teaching Interests
Inequality and stratification, the sociology of gender, feminist theory, globalization, popular culture and cultural studies, the sociology of food and agriculture, urban sociology, social movements and social change, research methods.
Honors/Grants
Award for Excellence in Teaching, Department of Sociology, University of Washington, 2000, 2005.
University of Washington Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship, 2004-2005.
Social Science History Association-Rockefeller Graduate Student Scholarship, 2004.
* Denotes Knox student
Publications
"When Bad Girls Go Good: Models of the Self and Reality" on Vh 1‘s Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School. *Alice M. Holbrook and Amy E. Singer. The Journal of Popular Film and Television 37 (2009): 34-43.
"Democracy for Children?: The Social Context of American Children's Novels, 1930-1950."Amy E. Singer. In R. Browne and L. Kreiser, Jr. (ed.), Popular Culture and the Arts: Essays on Elitism versus Democratization. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Press (2009).
"Great Books for Girls?: A Case Study of American Children's Novels." International Feminist Online Journal 1 (2006): 4.
"Equity in Heterosexual and Homosexual Intimate Relationships." Co-authored with Pepper Schwartz. Gender Mosaics: Social Perspectives, 2000.
Presentations
"Being Nice: Effects of Campus Culture on Classroom Interactions, Presentation, American Sociological Association, San Francisco, California, 2009."
"Organic, Artisanal, Fancy, Salty: The Romance of Balinese Foods and American Markets. Association for Asian Studies, Chicago, Illinois, 2009."
"What's Normal to Me (May Be Strange for You): Children's books and feminism across disciplines." Annual Meetings of the Children’s Literature Association, Bloomington, Illinois, 2008.
"Commodities and Power in Globalized Food Networks: A Balinese case study." Annual Meetings of the Global Awareness Society International, San Francisco, California, 2008.
"Sleuthing through Time: A Sociological Analysis of Nancy Drew's Primary Literary Incarnations." Annual Meetings of the Midwest Popular Culture Association, Kansas City, Missouri, 2007.
"Subversive Children's Stories: The Work of American Book Women, 1930-1950." Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, New York City, New York, 2007.
"Cinematic Sociology: Critical Thinking and the Silver Screen." Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association, New York City, New York, 2007.
"Sociable and Subversive: The Women of Children's Book Publishing." Annual Meetings of the Social Science History Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2006.
"Film Festivals, Fieldwork, and Feminist Methodologies." Feminist Research Network of the University of Exeter, Exeter, England, 2005.
Campus & Community Involvement
Chair, Faculty Cultural Events Committee.
Member, American Sociological Association.
Member, Sociologists for Women in Society.
Member, Social Science History Association.
Member, Children's Literature Associations.
Member, Midwest Sociological Society.
What Students Say
"Amy is very invested in the learning process and in her students' successes. She encourages hard work and critical thinking through high expectations and also takes time to get to know students on an individual level. She is especially good at teaching students how to take time with learning materials so they may gain a deep and meaningful understanding of concepts and theories related to course topics. She welcomes both intellectual and personal relationships with students and is great to work with on independent research projects or independent studies."
-Julia Strehlow, Anthropology-Sociology major
Like many Knox College students, Steve Galdek is fond of the squirrels wandering around campus. His research project is enabling him to learn more about their winter-survival strategies.
A few weeks after completing an international assignment to take photos of newly arrived pandas in Scotland, Knox College instructor Michael Godsil is asked to document the delivery of two more pandas in France.
Knox College introduces KnoxReads, an online book discussion. The first selection is "Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion across the Islamic World," by writer and foreign policy analyst Robin Wright, who visits Knox on February 28.
