Assistant Professor, Sociology Vanessa Gonlin joined the UGA Department of Sociology in 2020 after earning her PhD from Texas A&M University with specializations in race and social demography and certificates in Advanced Research Methods, Africana Studies, and Latino/a and Mexican American Studies. Her research and teaching areas of expertise include racial identity(ies), colorism, and interracial relationships, with a particular focus on Black peoples and bi/multiracials. In peer-reviewed publications Dr. Gonlin determines the outcomes of racial identity dimensions that do not always align, documents the impact of colorism, and highlights how social hierarchies operate within interracial relationship dynamics. Currently, she is studying majority/minority interracial relationships from the minoritized racial partner’s perspective. This ties in with her work on the progeny of such a union (i.e., people with mixed-race ancestry) and their experiences with discrimination and identity processes. Dr. Gonlin brings research into the classroom and enjoys teaching undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Gonlin teaches Race and Ethnicity in America, Analysis and Interpretation of Sociological Data I (aka Quantitative Methods I), and a new course that she created called Colorism and Hairism in Communities of Color, the demand for which has led it to now be offered at both the undergraduate (SOCI/AFAM/WMST 3650) and graduate (SOCI/AFAM/WMST 8360) levels. She is honored to have her dedication to student learning recognized through the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award, UGA NAACP Mary McLeod Bethune Educator Award, Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award, Multicultural Curriculum Grant, and Lilly Teaching Fellowship. Dr. Gonlin is not taking on any additional doctoral, master's, undergraduate, or high school students at this time.
