Alyssa B. Cahoy (she/hers)
Doctoral student in sociology
Let us take a knife
And cut the world in two –
And see what worms are eating
At the rind.
– Langston Hughes, “Tired” (1931)
Hello, and welcome! I am a Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. I hold a B.A. in Health Sciences (social/behavioral sciences) and English literature from Rice University, where I graduated with honors.
My substantive areas of interest intersect Political Sociology; Collective Behavior and Social Movements; Sociology of Education; Asia and Asia America; and Digital Sociology. My research agenda is motivated by three broad theoretical questions: (1) Under what conditions do social identities, such as race, ethnicity, and gender, become politically salient? (2) What is the role of universities and students in social movements? and (3) How do the democratic institutions of different countries shape how immigrants and racial/ethnic minorities (dis)engage in politics?
For leisure, I enjoy watching psychological thrillers and K-dramas; doing landscape photography; and visiting secondhand bookstores. I currently live in West Philly with my fiancé and our two dogs. I am originally from Cagayan de Oro, Philippines and grew up in both rural and urban areas in the U.S. South.
