Sociology

Session II

Taylor Jones, "The Black Church: How the Black Church Supports Its Community During Times of Displacement"

This project will explore how W.E.B. Du Bois’s idea of the Black Church applies to the Black Community during periods of community change, specifically through displacement. Du Bois argues that the Black Church is significant to the community because it creates space for Black people to participate in institutions they would otherwise be excluded from, such as leadership roles, newspapers, and education. Understanding this role of the Black Church implies that the Church's role changes during periods of heightened conflict or stress. As a case study, this project will focus on three Baptist churches - St. John, Little Zion, and Rising Sun - which were displaced alongside their congregations during World War I for the construction of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. This project aims to examine how those institutions change and appear through displacement through interviews, literature review, and archival analysis. Using these methods will show whether some institutions become more visible while others fade into the background. Understanding this perspective is necessary to understanding how the Black Church continues to support Black communities through fragile political periods and why the Black community tends to rely on the church over other institutions.

Student Major(s): Sociology (Criminology, Law, & Power Track) & Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies Major

Advisor: Dr. Amy Quark

Kathryn Kilgallen, "Media Framing and the One Big Beautiful Bill: A Content Analysis of Healthcare Reporting"

Through survey research conducted after the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025, researchers found low levels of public understanding of the health policy changes contained within the bill. My research project aims to address this knowledge gap by exploring the language newspapers used to describe health policy changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill and answering whether political biases played a role in language choices. Through a multi-coder content analysis of 515 newspaper articles in Maryland and Kansas, I found papers in Democratic counties tended to refer to Democratic rhetorical points more than Republican ones, and these points were more present overall in the dataset. I also found that the window of passage to signage yielded the most articles and the most partisan language. This project provides insight into the language of health policy communication and expands the application of existing sociological frameworks.

Student Major(s): Public Health and Public Policy Major

Advisor: Dr. Thomas Linneman

Terrence McDuffie, "Williamsburg Displacement: How Williamsburg's Black Removal Reinforces Whiteness as Property"

This project seeks to analyze Williamsburg's serial forced displacement of its Black community and how it reinforces legal scholar and critical race theorist Cheryl Harris's concept of "Whiteness as property" and other settler colonialist-grounded theories of "property for whites." The theories are grounded in the idea that through systemic racism, property has become something that is reserved for White people and that Whiteness itself has become property. This project utilizes empirical data previously gathered for other projects focused on Williamsburg's serial displacement and uses the frameworks of "Whiteness as property," "property for Whites," and serial forced displacement to produce this understanding of Williamsburg's history. This understanding is anticipated to shape how we, as a society, can view national histories of Black displacements and how those displacements shape our understanding of American history overall. 

Student Major(s): Sociology & Africana Studies Major

Advisor: Dr. Amy Quark