Dr. Amy McDowell is an Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Mississippi. She is an Associate Chair of Sociology in the department and is the Director of Queer Mississippi, an oral history interview project that seeks to document and preserve LGBTQ history in Mississippi.
Research Interests
Dr. McDowell's research centers two interrelated questions: 1) How is the so-called religious/secular binary blurred through everyday practices of religion?; and 2) How do everyday practices of religion reinforce or challenge social hierarchies of race, gender, and sexuality?
Her previous research examined how U.S. Christian Hardcore and Taqwacore (“taqwa” means God consciousness in Arabic) youth use punk music to create space for religious expressions that defy religious and social conventions. Her current research uncovers how evangelical Christians keep progressive ideas and people out of sight, and out of mind, at church. In addition to these research activities, Dr. McDowell is the Director of Queer Mississippi, an oral history interview project that seeks to document and preserve LGBTQ history in Mississippi. To access interviews in the collection, visit eGrove, the University of Mississippi’s digital repository.
Biography
With childhood roots are in Mississippi, Dr. Amy McDowell spent her youth in Pensacola, Florida, where she discovered the energy of punk rock music shows, experiences that influenced my fondness for sociology. In her early 20s, she left the Southern U.S. to earn her B.A. in Sociology at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and then later earned her Master’s Degree and Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. McDowell joined the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Mississippi in 2014 and is an Affiliate of the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies.
2020. Burke, Kelsy and Amy McDowell (equal co-authors). “White Women Who Lead: God, Girlfriends, and Diversity Projects in a National Evangelical Women’s Ministry.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7(1): 86-100.
2018. McDowell, Amy. “‘Christian But Not Religious’: Being Church as Christian Hardcore Punk.” Sociology of Religion 79 (1): 58–77. doi:10.1093/socrel/srx033
2017. McDowell, Amy.“Aggressive and Loving Men: Gender Hegemony in Christian Hardcore Punk.” Gender & Society 31(2): 223-44. doi:10.1177/0891243217694824
2017. McDowell, Amy.”“This is for the Brown Kids!” Racialization and the Formation of “Muslim” Punk Rock.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. doi:10.1177/2332649216647747
2014. McDowell, Amy. “Warriors and Terrorists: Antagonism as Strategy in Christian Hardcore and Muslim ‘Taqwacore’ Punk Rock.” Qualitative Sociology 37 (3): 255-276. doi:10.1007/s11133-014-9279-7
Courses Taught
- Soc 302 Sociological Theory
- Soc/G St 325 Sociology of Gender
- Soc 336 Sociology of Religion
- Soc/G St 425 Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
- Soc 619 Religion, Gender, and Sexuality
Education
B.A. Sociology, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (2006)
M.A. Sociology, University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (2008)
Ph.D. Sociology, University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (2014)