PhD Sociology, 2022 AAUW American Dissertation Fellow, PDRF Sociology Graduate Fellow (2017-2021)
Through my academic and applied career I have worked in multiple projects that inform my research interests in migration, motherhood, gender, education, and consumer culture. As a qualitative researcher I have worked with various rural, urban, and minority communities who have expanded my interest in understanding the ideologies and social constructions that permeate our beliefs and practices.
My dissertation discusses how highly educated immigrant Colombian women in the United States configure their identities as mothers using the framework of transnationalism and translocational positionalities. I explore the role of their transnational ties and intersectional social identities in this process. I also look at the transnational experiences of their mothers (or closest living relative) in Colombia. Using a multigenerational and multi-sited research approach, my findings dissect the classed and racialized discourses and meaning-making processes that Colombian women use to make sense of their beliefs and experiences with motherhood. My work contributes to the literature on U.S. - Latinx highly educated migrants while problematizing intra-ethnic divisions.
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About Dr. Claudia Méndez Wright
Through my academic and applied career I have worked in multiple projects that inform my research interests in migration, motherhood, gender, education, and consumer culture. As a qualitative researcher I have worked with various rural, urban, and minority communities who have expanded my interest in understanding the ideologies and social constructions that permeate our beliefs and practices.
My dissertation discusses how highly educated immigrant Colombian women in the United States configure their identities as mothers using the framework of transnationalism and translocational positionalities. I explore the role of their transnational ties and intersectional social identities in this process. I also look at the transnational experiences of their mothers (or closest living relative) in Colombia. Using a multigenerational and multi-sited research approach, my findings dissect the classed and racialized discourses and meaning-making processes that Colombian women use to make sense of their beliefs and experiences with motherhood. My work contributes to the literature on U.S. - Latinx highly educated migrants while problematizing intra-ethnic divisions.
Disciplines
Business Intelligence, Marketing, Anthropology, Communication, Environmental Studies, Latin American Studies, Sociology, Family, Life Course, and Society, Gender and Sexuality, Inequality and Stratification, Place and Environment, Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies, Race and Ethnicity, Sociology of Culture, and Migration Studies
Research Interests
Grants
| 2021 - Present | Graduate Research and Creative Opportunity Grant (GRCO). |
| Utah State University | |
| 2002 - 2002 | CHaSS Student-Faculty Summer Grant |
| Utah State University | |
| Colleague(s): Dr. Erin Hofmann |
Professional Service and Affiliations
| 2022 - Present | American Dissertation Fellow, American Association of University Women |
Honors and Awards
- Presidential Doctoral Research Fellowship (PDRF). Utah State University, Office of Research and Graduate Studies, Fall 2017-2021.
- Outstanding International Graduate Student Award. University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Department of Communication, May 2009
- Robert E. Simmons Memorial Scholarship. University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Department of Communication, May 2008. “Outstanding Graduate Student” distinction
- S.A. Graduate Enhancement Award. Utah State University, Office of Student Affairs, Fall 2021- Spring 2022
- Graduate Instructor of the Year. Utah State University, College of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Spring 2022.
Courses
- Sociology of Gender
- Introduction to Sociology
- Interpersonal Communication
- Public Speaking
- Spanish I and 2
| Present | PhD Candidate, PDRF Graduate Fellow Sociology, Utah State University ‐ Sociology and Anthropology | |
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| August 2007 - September 2009 | M.Sc., University of Louisiana at Lafayette ‐ Communication | |
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| 2001 - 2005 | Anthropology, Universidad de Los Andes - Colombia ‐ Anthropology | |
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