Kjerstin Gruys, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Contact Information
- Email: kgruys@unr.edu
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Phone: (415) 802-9956
- Fax: (775) 784-1358
- Office: Lincoln Hall 311
- Mail Stop: 0300
- Website: http://www.kjerstingruys.com/
- Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
- Ph.D., Sociology, UCLA, 2014
- M.A., Sociology, UCLA, 2008
- A.B., Sociology, Princeton University 2004
- Certificate in the Study of Women & Gender, Princeton University, 2004
Biography
Dr. Kjerstin Gruys is an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Reno and author of Mirror, Mirror, OFF the Wall: How I Learned to Love My Body By Not Looking at It for a Year (Avery, 2013).
Kjerstin's research broadly explores the relationship between physical appearance and social inequality, with a particular focus on gender as it intersects with race/ethnicity, class, sexuality and age. She has specific expertise in: (1) Labor Market Inequality & "Aesthetic Labor," (2) Intersections between Bodies/Embodiment and Cultural Markets, and (3) How News Reporting on Obesity & Eating Disorders Shapes Prejudice and Health Behaviors. Her research - empirically grounded through ethnography, in-depth interviews, content analysis and the occasional experiment - has been published in Social Problems and Social Science & Medicine, among others. Prior to earning her Ph.D. from UCLA (2014), Kjerstin worked as a merchandiser in the corporate offices of two multi-national fashion firms. She is currently developing a book manuscript, tentatively titled: True to Size?: A Social History of Clothing Size Standards in the U.S. Fashion Industry.