This spring, four students from the sociology program at Colorado Mesa University will present their research at the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) conference in Long Beach, California. These students will be accompanied by professors Brenda Wilhelm and Megan Henley. 

Each student was required to complete an original sociological research paper based on work they completed in upper division sociology courses.

“These students have worked hard to locate datasets or in some cases collect their own data and conduct their own analyses under the guidance of their instructors,” Hanley said.

The students submitted their work back in October and were notified of acceptance in December.

Courteney Schwander will be presenting her paper “Politics and the Environment” in the environmental sociology session alongside Beth Bowman, who is presenting her work on “Nuclear Disaster Vulnerability and Resilience in Japan.”

Amanda Olmedo will present her research, “What Makes People Happy?” in the panel on labor and social movements. Finally, Manny Cisneros will present his paper, “Guns, Beer and God: An Exploration on American Gun Culture in Relation to Gender and Mass Shootings” in the panel on race, class and gender.

This an amazing opportunity for CMU students. These students have worked hard, with guidance from professors Stephen Merino and Megan Henley, to produce original research that contributes to important subfields within sociology.

“Most undergraduates do not have the opportunity to present at major academic conferences and although PSA is receptive to student work, PSA maintains a high standard for the research that is presented. The fact that four students from our sociology program will present at the conference shows how much CMU students can accomplish,” Hanley said.

Olmedo, who will be presenting at the conference March 28-31, is proud to serve CMU. There are around seven other students presenting in Olmedo’s topic group and the majority of them are from California. Olmedo is thrilled that she gets the chance to represent CMU and show what our students are capable of.

“Excited, scared, overwhelmed, overjoyed and grateful are the emotions that come to mind when I found out that I was given this opportunity. I am in my senior year, and I wanted to make this year count of trying for new things and that is what I did. I tend to be the type of a person who is very scared of presenting in front of people, but I really wanted to challenge myself this year,” Olmedo said.

The PSA conference will provide students with presentation skills that will help them throughout their careers. In addition, it allows CMU students to work alongside students from other universities. The students’ experience will not only help them grow as individuals, but also help CMU presence grow.

“My hope is that they share their experiences with younger students following the conference and drum up enthusiasm for future conferences. I hope that presenting at PSA becomes an annual tradition among our majors because it is such a rewarding opportunity and it gives presenters professional experience that will be useful in whatever careers they choose,” Hanley said.