Welcome
I am an assistant professor of Sociology and an associate faculty member in the Women, Gender, & Sexualities Studies department at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. I received my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2013. Formerly, I worked as a Research Sociologist at United States Census Bureau in the Center for Survey Measurement, a qualitative center hosted in the Research & Development directorate.
My research traces how institutions such as medicine, science, the nation-state, and media differentially construct bodies, behaviors, and identities and how actors react to, cope with, or resist these definitions. In recent projects, I have explored users’ perceptions of nonmedical prescription drug use, the practices of body- and biohacking, as well as political humor and advice columns as important sites of identity negotiation. Across my research and professional experience, I have developed methodological skills in content and discourse analysis, cognitive and semi-structured interviewing, focus groups, survey design, as well as ethnography.
If you have any questions about this site, my work, or my teaching resource blog, "My Sociological Activation", feel free to contact me at smirnovam @ umkc . edu.
My research traces how institutions such as medicine, science, the nation-state, and media differentially construct bodies, behaviors, and identities and how actors react to, cope with, or resist these definitions. In recent projects, I have explored users’ perceptions of nonmedical prescription drug use, the practices of body- and biohacking, as well as political humor and advice columns as important sites of identity negotiation. Across my research and professional experience, I have developed methodological skills in content and discourse analysis, cognitive and semi-structured interviewing, focus groups, survey design, as well as ethnography.
If you have any questions about this site, my work, or my teaching resource blog, "My Sociological Activation", feel free to contact me at smirnovam @ umkc . edu.