About
Caroline Hale (she/her pronouns) is a first-year Ph.D. student interested in understanding how social categories are constructed and come to be seen as real, normal, and natural, and how these processes shape experiences of inequality. In this area, she is particularly focused on researching the cultural creation, perception, and implications of gendered categories and systems. Questions that motivate her are: which social categories — and at what point — are considered to be natural? How do institutions produce ideas about gendered bodies and behaviors? How do our conceptualizations of gender evolve and shift across contexts? Caroline currently has publications under review at Sociological Theory, Cultural Sociology, and Journal of Crime and Justice.
Prior to beginning doctoral studies, Caroline worked as a Research Assistant and Lab Manager (PI: Dr. Sasha Johfre) in the Department of Sociology at the University of Washington (UW). Caroline earned her B.A. with Honors from UW in Sociology and Environmental Studies, where she developed award-winning research projects in both of her majors. During her undergrad, she spent a summer as a visiting student at Stanford, pursuing additional coursework in sociology, philosophy, and science communication.
Caroline is always eager to learn more and talk with others who share similar research interests!
