Mariah Jade Zimpfer

Name: Mariah Jade Zimpfer
Title
Organisation: Sociology School of Social and Political Science University of Edinburgh
Address: Edinburgh UK
Telephone
E-Mail: mjadez@gmail.com
Research Interests: Ethnicity and culture, Appalachia, the American South, ethnography, Social Impact Assessment, Program Evaluation, Historical sociology, Bridging and bonding, Artifact Ethnography, Social capital
URL: http://www.sps.ed.ac.uk/gradschool/community_and_representation/research_student_profiles/sociology/zimpfer_mariah_jade

PhD Title

Identity and Marginalization in Contemporary Appalachia

My dissertation explores the various avenues for the potential of acquiring social capital as manifested through cultural reactions and responses to three artifacts and their potential marginalization through limited and often disconnected opportunities. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, conducted between October 2013 and April 2014 in a small community of 1,412 people in eastern Kentucky, this project seeks to shed light on the complex ways in which the cultural and social practices around three ‘artifacts’-the home, the ‘welfare check’ and the glucose meter-enable an empirical understanding of how social capital works. This dissertation challenges two broad conceptualizations of social capital, those whose lineage runs from Robert Putnam, and those that derive from Pierre Bourdieu in that is is not solely transferred between generations, nor does the positive aspects of community trust-building garner opportunities for social mobility.

Education

B.A.-Sam Houston State University Sociology/History May 2009

M.A.-Rutgers University American Studies December 2011

Publications

Bancroft, Angus, Zimpfer, Mariah Jade, Karels, Martina, and Murray, Orla. 2013. “Working at Pleasure in Young Women’s Alcohol Consumption: A Participatory Visual Ethnography”. Sociological Research Online.

Zimpfer, Mariah Jade. 2013. Alcohol: Social, Cultural, and Historical

Perspectives, edited by Martin, Scott C. and Golson, J. Geoffrey. Sage Publishing.

Entry: Anton Proksch Institute.

Zimpfer, Mariah Jade. 2013. Multicultural America: a Multi-Media Encyclopedia, edited by Carlos E. Cortes. Sage Publishing. Entry: Sharecropping.

Zimpfer, Mariah Jade, co-author with Nancy Baker. 2013. Multicultural America: a Multi-Media Encyclopedia, edited by Carlos E. Cortes. Sage Publishing. Entry: Harper's Ferry Raid.

Zimpfer, Mariah Jade. 2013.Handbook of Texas, 2013 edition. Entry: Riverside General Hospital.

Zimpfer, Mariah Jade. 2011. STEM Education description. Liberty Science Center homepage. Liberty Science Center. Jersey City, New Jersey. September 2011. http://lsc.org/for-educators/about-stem-lsc/.

Research Experience

Spring 2014. Research Assistant. ‘TROPOS Project’. Department of Sociology, University of

Edinburgh. Primary Investigator: Dr. Claire Haggett.

Spring 2013. Project Coordinator. “Working at Pleasure in Young Women’s Alcohol

Consumption: A Participatory Visual Ethnography”. Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh. Primary Investigator: Dr. Angus Bancroft.

Fall 2012. Research Assistant. “Competitor Report”. School of Social and Political Science,

University of Edinburgh. Primary Investigator: Sophie Graetz.

Summer 2011. Intern for STEM (Science, Technology, Education, and Mathematics) Program. Liberty Science Center. Supervisor: Rosa Catala.

Summer 2010. Research Assistant. Water Norms and Conservation Efforts: The Case of Hidalgo County, Texas. Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University. Primary Investigators: Dr. Karen Douglas and Dr. Gene Theodori.

Summer 2009. Research Assistant. Houston We Got a Problem: a Critique of Global Neoliberalism in the Aftermath of a Hurricane. Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University. Primary Investigators: Dr. Alessandro Bonanno and Dr. Lee Miller.

Summer 2009. Research Assistant. Tyson. Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University. Primary Investigator: Dr. Douglas Constance.

Summer 2009. Research Assistant. Los Otros Polleros: The Status of Mexican Poultry Farmers/Workers in a Post-NAFTA Politics of Intervention Saltillo, Mexico. Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University. Primary Investigator: Dr. Sujey Vega.

Honors and Awards

EUSA Teaching Awards. “Best Personal Tutor Award”, nominated. Spring 2015.

EUSA Teaching Awards. “Best Student Who Tutors Award”, nominated. Spring 2015.

PhD Conference and Fieldwork Fund. University of Edinburgh. Spring 2014.

Appalachian Studies Association Scholarship. Spring 2014

Alpha Kappa Delta, Southwest Social Science Association Annual meeting 2010. $100.00. Travel Award.

Ruth DeBlanc Scholarship, Department of Sociology, Sam Houston State University, Fall 2009.

Alpha Kappa Delta, Southwest Social Association Annual meeting 2009. $300.00. Travel Award.

Deng, Furjen. Associate Professor. Sam Houston State University. $400.00. Travel Award. Southwest Social Science Association, Annual Meeting 2009.

Phi Alpha Theta. International History Honour Society. Sam Houston State University. $290.00. Travel Award. Southwest Social Science Association, Annual Meeting 2009.

Ramsey Murray Woods Scholarship, Sam Houston State University, Department of Sociology, Fall 2008.

Teaching Experience

University of Edinburgh-Fall 2014-Spring 2015, Tutor, Sociology.

Hudson County Community College-Spring 2012, Lecturer: American Studies, American History I & II.

Sam Houston State University-Fall 2009-Spring 2010, Teaching Assistant: Ethnic Studies, Socialization, Social Control & Deviance, Economy & Society, and Cultural Anthropology.