Sarah B Boeshart
(828) 772-6528
Graduate Assistant
Department of Sociology and Criminology
University of Florida
sboeshart@ufl.edu
Education:
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (expected 2018)
Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology
American University, Washington, D.C.
Master of Arts in Sociology
 GPA: 3.95/4.0
 Passed Oral Comprehensive Examination with Distinction
 Areas of concentration: intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality; policy and public opinion;
gender based violence in the US and South Africa, LGBTQ rights and representations; social
movements
University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville NC
Bachelor of Arts in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies-Concentration in Women and Gender
 Minor in Africana Studies and Literature
 GPA: 3.651/4.0
SENIOR PROJECT: Being Queer at Work: How Workplace Discrimination Forces Passing or Firing
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH: How the Matrix of Domination Influences Social Policy: The
Success and Failure of Employment Non-Discrimination Acts
Research Interests:
Social movements
Social conflict
Social policies
Political fallout of inequality
Violence against women
Hate Crimes
Queer Theory
Feminist Theory
Sociological Theory
Qualitative Methodologies
Previous Teaching Experience:
Graduate Teaching Assistant—American University (August 2012-May 2014)
 Worked with 2 professors a semester providing teaching support: tutoring; holding office hours;
grading essays; holding study sessions, helping students with writing technique, making copies for
class, etc.
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U.S. Sociology
Global Sociology
Critical Social Thought
Contemporary Sociological Theory
Courses Assisted:
 Power, Privilege, and Inequality
 Introduction to Women Studies
 Introduction to Arab Studies
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Leadership and Community Service:
D.C. Office of Aging: Older Adult and HIV Workgroup (October 2012-May 2014)
 With the rates of HIV infection the highest among older adults in the District of Columbia, we are
working to educate seniors about the disease and achieve policy and medical practice reform to
address the issue.
American University: Sociology Graduate Committee (August 2012-August 2013)
 I serve as the student voice on the committee with other faculty. We are currently working in
reforming the graduate MA program.
University of North Carolina at Asheville: Policy Reform Committee (September 2011-May 2012)
 I was responsible for reviewing the policy vernacular and intentions in the Residential Education
department, coming up with possible changes for the vernacular in order to be more inclusive and
welcoming to a more diverse Freshman class, and presenting the suggested changes to administrators.
University of North Carolina at Asheville: Queer Conference Intern (March 2011- April 2011)
 Contacted local business and companies concerning donations, set up and managed registration
tables, helped gather resources for the event, and helped distribute information to the community and
campus about the speakers and events.
University of North Carolina at Asheville: Resident Student Association (Fall 2008-December 2011)
 Member of the Residence Hall Improvement Committee (August 2010- May 2011): Drafted
legislation to provide Safe Zone training to all campus residents, to make residence halls a more
diversity friendly environment
Presentations:
Scheduled “Misogyny and Violence against Black Lesbians: Discursive Constructions of Corrective Rape in
South Africa.” Presenter, National Women’s Studies Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November
2014.
“A Look into Misogyny and Violence against Black Lesbians: “Corrective Rape” in South Africa.”
Presenter, Eastern Sociological Society Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD, February 2014.
“Regional Employment Non-Discrimination Policies: Asheville, North Carolina an Example for the South".
LGBTQ Caucus, South Eastern Women’s Studies Association, Greensboro, NC. April 2013.
“How the Matrix of Domination Influences Social Policy: The Success and Failure of Employment NonDiscrimination Acts.” Poster Session, National Women’s Studies Association, Oakland, CA.
November 2012.
“How the Matrix of Domination Influences Social Policy: The Success and Failure of Employment NonDiscrimination Acts.” Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of North Carolina at
Asheville. Asheville, NC. April 2012.
“Stand Against Racism: The Rant.” Invited Speaker. University of North Carolina at Asheville. Asheville,
NC. April 2012.
“How to use the Assessment Tool for Common Office Space: Working Toward an Inclusive, Welcoming
Environment.” Invited Speaker. Asheville Chamber of Commerce. Asheville, NC: March 2012.
Recent Research:
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Misogyny and Violence against Black Lesbians: Discursive Constructions of Corrective Rape in South
Africa—MA Thesis
“Corrective rape”, an act where a straight man rapes a lesbian in an effort to turn her straight, is a
growing problem in South Africa. Despite being hailed as the rainbow nation, South Africa refuses
to address incidents of discrimination and hate crimes perpetrated against this population (specifically
Black lesbians). In this paper, I examine how newspaper articles reproduce normative structures of
sexuality and the ways that this reveals the cultural production of “corrective rape”. Drawing from
poststructural discourse analysis, I trace the creation and treatment of “corrective rape” and survivors
of “corrective rape” between 2009 and 2013 in ten different newspapers. I examine the ways in
which the discourse constructs the attacks and how it marginalizes the women who survive these
attacks. I then examine the ways in which discourse analysis can reveal the power, privilege, and
vulnerability associated with “corrective rape”. Finally, I offer some thoughts on the implications
these findings have for discursive scholarship and social justice.
How the Matrix of Domination Influences Social Policy: The Success and Failure of Employment NonDiscrimination Acts—Undergraduate Research
The National “Employment Non-Discrimination Act” (ENDA), can establish a multitude of new
policies, the primary being that it will illegalize discriminating against a person of a different sexual
orientation in the workplace. While it receives high support, it fails to pass the congress every year it
has been introduced since the late 1990’s. In this paper, the author will examine the reasons for
failure in the national level, state level (North Carolina) and at the local level (Asheville, NC) through
the lens of Patricia Hill Collins’ matrix of domination theory. The matrix of domination theory
establishes the intersections of identity and where power lies; those intersections of power are vital in
determining the future of ENDAs and the future of social policy in the United States of America.
Being Queer at Work: How Workplace Discrimination forces Passing or Firing—Undergrad Senior Project
The subject of workplace discrimination is a hotbed topic in many Lesbian and Gay communities,
and the following paper will examine the subject in a variety of ways. Those ways are: 1) What
discrimination is and the physical/mental effects on a person, 2) the various forms of discrimination,
3) what has been done about discrimination in years previous, 4) how discrimination plays out in
Social Science fields and why that is important to note, and 5) what still needs done in order to
achieve protection from discrimination. Through those various lenses, the author plans to flesh out
the problems of why and how discrimination happens and why it is a critical social issue that needs
addressed in grassroots organizing, state and national congresses, and through advocacy for
acceptance of difference in primary education.
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