Meredith Whitnah
Meredith, a member of the Sociology and Religion working group, is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology and is affiliated with the Center for the Study of Religion and Society. Her research interests include the intersection of religion and gender, cultural sociology, and social theory.
Meredith's dissertation project examines how faith-based organizations in South Africa that had resisted apartheid have addressed gender issues, especially gender-based violence. This builds on her Master's-level research on how American evangelical organizations present divergent perspectives on the relation between beliefs about women's roles and domestic violence. Meredith's concern is with identifying ways in which particular beliefs can both facilitate and constrain the ability to recognize gendered inequality and violence.