Ana-Maria González Wahl

I completed my undergraduate degree at Creighton University and subsequently completed an M.A. and Ph.D. at Indiana University.  I then spent several years as an Assistant Professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I joined the Department of Sociology at Wake Forest in 2002.

My research focuses on several dimensions of social stratification and the politics of inequality. This work includes research on labor relations and race relations. In the area of labor relations, I have studied the politics of health and safety legislation with a recent emphasis on the conditions facing Latino workers in the meat packing industry. In the area of race relations, I have examined the dimensions and dynamics of residential segregation in micropolitan areas, focusing on new Latino destinations.  More recently, my research on Latinos has broadened to include an analysis of alcohol use and abuse among first-generation, second-generation, and third-generation plus adolescents. My work has been published in Social Problems, Sociological Compass, Social Science Research, and Sociological Spectrum.

I have taught a wide range of courses that reflect my research interests as well my efforts to integrate both community outreach and research with the substantive work covered in these classes.  These courses include Principles of Sociology, Race and Ethnic Relations, Sociology of Work, Social Problems, Special Topics:  Immigration, and a Freshmen Year Seminar.  In all of these courses, students are introduced to the principles of social research and the opportunities for community outreach that coursework in sociology prepares us to pursue. In a similar vein, I recently served with Dr. Steven Gunkel as a faculty advisor on an international service trip to Kayamandi, South Africa. In the post-apartheid era, this black township is a place where the work of tearing down the legacy of racism and colonialism remains pressing.  As part of the Wake Forest contingent, I had an opportunity to provide a computer literacy course to adults living in this township.

Curriculum Vitae

COURSES TAUGHT

SOC 151: Principles of Sociology
SOC 152: Social Problems
SOC 359: Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 362: Work, Conflict and Change
SOC 386: Special Topics: Immigration
FYS: Coming to America