My interest in women’s and gender studies began during my undergraduate career when I spent nearly a year researching and working on my thesis focused on the lack of representation of women in ancient Greek philosophy. My interest and expertise in women’s and gender studies was further developed during my graduate training in cultural anthropology at the University of New Mexico (UNM) in Albuquerque. In addition to numerous courses and research focused on issues of women and gender through an anthropological perspective, my dissertation focused on women and religiosity in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. My dissertation research, and subsequent publications focused on examining the allure of Islam (and pious Islamic lifestyle) to young, cosmopolitan, college educated women.
Currently I am actively involved in developing a new research project that will focus on women entrepreneurs in West Africa. Having recently completed my MBA and my growing interest in addressing the plight of women in the Global South, I am eager to begin my ethnographic research data collection. My primary focus is on the ways in which women challenge and work outside and inside the confines of familial, social and cultural expectations that limit their economic participation to achieve economic independence. In addition, I am working on a project focused on refugee integration in Nebraska and broader Midwest.