Genevieve stuff

In my home state of West Virginia, I grew up performing as a dancer and an actor. I’ve transitioned into a sociologist who focuses on aspects of our existence as community members and community-based participatory methods for program evaluation. I identify as a sociologist, a creative, a Registered Maine Guide, an advocate for justice, and a deep thinker who is also a deep feeler of all the feels.

One of my favorite theorists, Anthony Giddens, wrote “a person's identity is not to be found in behavior...but in the capacity to keep a particular narrative going.” He meant that this can be both good and bad, of course. Regardless of quantifiable utility, I continue to affirm an identity as an artist. Creativity and flexibility are important, even as a sociologist who has to follow western rules of research I don’t always agree with. I do so because I think these qualities also allow us to work for justice, to empathize, and to see beyond our own social worlds to connect to others.

Working remotely, I currently split time between Asheville, North Carolina, Bozeman, Montana, and lots of places in between including both Portlands and West Virginia.

I did too much school. I’ve got a PhD in Sociology (as a Community, Health, and Environment fellow), an MA in Applied Social Research, a graduate certificate in Women’s Studies, and a BA in English with a Theater minor. If I had it to do over again, I’d probably skip the PhD and just go live in the woods, make art, choreograph dance pieces, and read a lot of books. But here I am. And grateful to be present in the work I’m doing.

I have a dog named Opal who is almost more dog than I can handle. I’ve taught at Montana State University, the University of New Hampshire, and Southern Maine Community College. I now work full-time for J.G. Research and Evaluation (www.jgresearch.org)—which is the coolest, kindest, smartest, best-est group of social science do-gooders in the universe (although I’m a bit biased). I’m more than the summation of all these things, of course, but this is what you’d notice in a surface conversation with me.

Organizations I support/been a part of: