Dr. Sarah Donley

Courses Taught

• SY 301 Researching Society
• SY 221 Introduction to Sociology
• SY 222 Honors Introduction to Sociology
• SY 368 Gender and Society
• SY 324 Social Stratification
• SY 356 Social Movements & Activism
• SY 340 Death & Dying

Academic/Research Interests

Dr. Donley’s research interests include gender and sexuality, work and organizations, culture, death and dying, intersectionality, and research methodology. Her research focuses more specifically on gender beliefs, culture, inequality, and ideology in a variety of contexts including women in nontraditional occupations (funeral directing), death and end of life care, online memorialization, LGBT experiences in the deep south, sexual violence on college campuses, rape myths on social media, and living with HIV/AIDS. Her current research explores the emergence of Death Doulas in end-of-life care and what this means for means for death and dying in the United States.

Teaching Interests

Dr. Donley regularly teaches classes on gender, social stratification, death and dying, and sociological methods. As a teacher, she is interested in connecting sociological ideas to student’s lived experiences as well as demonstrating how sociology can provide students with a more critical and reflexive understanding of the social world. Dr. Donley is passionate about getting students interested and involved in research, specifically by showing students how research can be used to better understand and improve society. Dr. Donley often works with students on research projects and provides opportunities for hands on research experiences in her classes.

Education

• Kansas State University, PhD, Sociology, 2014
  Dissertation:  The Overtaking of Undertaking:  Feminization and the Changing Gender-type of Funeral Directing

• Kansas State University, MA, Sociology, 2009
  Thesis:  HIV in the Heartland:  Negotiating Stigma, Disclosure and the HIV+ Community

• University of Nebraska-Omaha, BA, Sociology, 2006

Publications

• Allen, Chelsee, Tina H. Deshotels, Sarah Donley. Forthcoming. “#NotHereToo: Community
  Readiness to End Campus Sexual Violence in the Deep South.” Journal of Policy Practice and Research.
• Turgeon, Brianna and Sarah Donley. 2023. “Beyond Race, Class, and Gender: Integrating
  Intersectionality into Monopoly Simulations.” TRAILS.
• Myers, Faith and Sarah Donley. 2022. “COVID-19, I Hate You!”: Framing Death and Dying in COVID-19 Online Memorials. Omega: Journal of Death and Dying.
• Donley, Sarah, Tina H. Deshotels, and Katelynn Shadoan. 2022. “It’s Pride Y’all: Mechanical and Organic Solidarity’s Impact on White LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Deep South.” Deviant Behavior 44(3): 438-455.
• Donley, Sarah and Melencia Johnson. 2021. “Introduction to the Special Issue: Intersectional Experiences and Marginalized Voices.” Sociological Spectrum 41(1): 1-8.

• Donley, Sarah. 2019. “‘It was my Calling’: Gendered Pathways to Funeral Directing.” Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 83(2): 257-273.

• Donley, Sarah and Alexis Paige. 2018. "Sociology and Social Work Undergraduates' Reflections on Participating in a Research Project on Campus Sexual Assault and Misconduct." Journal of Applied Social Sciences 12(1): 46-58.

• Donley, Sarah and Chardie L. Baird. 2017. “The Overtaking of Undertaking:  Gender Beliefs in a Feminizing Occupation."  Sex Roles 77 (1-2): 97-112.