Bio

Sharla Alegria is a graduate student in residence. Her research interests focus on the social construction, intersections, and consequences of identities such as race, gender, nation of origin, and sexuality. Sharla's recent work includes a study of whites' talk about racial profiling and participant observation in a co-ed roller derby league. Currently she is a research assistant for Enobong Branch examining the paradox of high performance but low persistence of undergraduate women in Information Technology. Sharla's dissertation work examines race, gender, and citizenship in the Information technology workforce.

Education

2005 B.A. Sociology Vassar College
2007 M.A. Sociology University of South Florida - Tampa

Research

Research Experience: Research Assistant to Professor Enobong Branch, Sociology Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst 2010-2012. “Commonwealth Alliance for Information Technology Education”

Publications

Alegria, Sharla. 2012. “Constructing Racial Difference through Group Talk: An Analysis of White Focus Groups’ Discussion of Racial Profiling.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01419870.2012.716519

Alegria, Sharla. 2008. “What Are You?” in Gendering Bodies, edited by S. L. Crawley, L. J. Foley, and C. L. Sheehan. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Press.

Teaching

Lecturer
Evaluating Information - Smith College

TA experience
Gender, Sexuality, Culture – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Evaluating Information – Smith College, Department of Sociology
Elementary Statistics – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Sociology
Social Class Inequality – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Sociology
Self, Society and Interpersonal Interaction – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Sociology
Social Problems – University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Sociology
Introduction to Sociology – University of South Florida, Department of Sociology