Amy Kathryn Brainer 1007 West Harrison Street (M/C 312) — Chicago, IL 60607-7140 Phone: 312-218-8837 — E-Mail: [email protected] — Website: http://amybrainer.com

Education PhD

Expected 2014, University of Illinois at Chicago, Sociology Dissertation: Sexuality and family relations in Taiwan Committee: Barbara Risman (Chair), Richard Barrett, Antonia Yen-ning Chao (Tunghai University), Lorena García, Mignon Moore (UCLA)

MA

2009, University of Illinois at Chicago, Sociology Thesis: “Being straight is not a choice”: Essentialism and identity de/construction among heterosexual siblings of gay, lesbian, and bisexual young adults Committee: Lorena García (Chair), Barbara Risman

BA

2005, North Park University, Sociology Senior thesis: Sexuality and social distance on a Christian university campus

Teaching Experience and Interests I have experience in undergraduate and graduate level teaching in classrooms of varying sizes, as well as working with students one-on-one through independent studies and research assistantships (see pp. 3-4 for a complete list of courses prepped and taught). I look forward to teaching a variety of courses with special interests in research methods, ethnography, family, Asia and Asian America, global and transnational studies, sexuality, sex and gender, race and ethnicity, and intersections of these topics (such as global and transnational family issues, and Asian and Asian American perspectives on sex, gender, and sexuality).

Research Interests I am interested in how family members relate to one another across dimensions of difference and inequality (such as sexual orientation, gender, age, and intra-family class distinctions), and how these family relationships shape and are shaped by larger social, cultural, political, and economic forces. My dissertation analyzes generational changes in parent-child and sibling relationships in Taiwan, with a focus on families in which one or more members is lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender.

Research Fellowships •

 

Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, $20,000 (2012-2013)

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University of Illinois at Chicago Chancellor’s Graduate Research Fellowship, $8,000 (2011-2012, awardees are selected based on the multidisciplinary merit of the research)

Awards •

Alice J. Dan Dissertation Research Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, $500 (2013)

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SAGE Teaching Innovations & Professional Development Award (2013, this award carried a $500 scholarship to attend the American Sociological Association Teaching and Learning Pre-Conference in New York)

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One of 12 applicants selected for funded participation in the International Sociological Society 11th International Laboratory for PhD Students in Sociology, “Sociology in an Unequal World,” Taipei, Taiwan (2012)

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Jessie Bernard Outstanding Contribution to Feminist Scholarship Paper Award, Feminism and Family Studies Section, National Council on Family Relations (2009)

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Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities Division Graduate Student Paper Award, Society for the Study of Social Problems (2009)

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Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues Graduate Student Paper Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, $500 (2009)

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University of Illinois at Chicago LAS PhD Student Travel Award (2011) and Graduate Student Council Travel Awards (2009 & 2010)

Publications

 

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Brainer, Amy. Forthcoming 2013. “Growing up with a lesbian, gay, or bisexual sibling.” Families as They Really Are (2nd edition), edited by Barbara J. Risman and Virginia Rutter. W. W. Norton & Company.

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Moore, Mignon R. and Amy Brainer. 2012. “Race and ethnicity in the lives of sexual minority parents and their children.” LGBT-Parent Families: Possibilities for New Research and Implications for Practice, edited by Abbie Goldberg and Katherine Allen. New York: Springer.

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Manuscripts in Preparation or Under Review (drafts available) • Brainer, Amy. “Changing parent-child relations and the emergence of a ‘coming out’ discourse in Taiwan.” •

Brainer, Amy and Mignon R. Moore. “Racial and cross-national variation in the literature on LGBT parents.”

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Book review of The Marrying Kind: Debating Same-Sex Marriage Within the Lesbian and Gay Movement, by Mary Bernstein and Verta Taylor. Gender & Society. Forthcoming fall 2013.

Teaching Experience Graduate teaching Co-Instructor — University of Illinois at Chicago • Co-instructor (with Barbara J. Risman) of Research Methods II, a qualitative research practicum for first year PhD students in sociology (Soc 501, spring 2013, 15 students) Undergraduate teaching Instructor — University of Illinois at Chicago • Sociology of Gender (Soc 424, fall 2013, 35 students) • Sexualities (Soc 212, summer 2011, 35 students) • Senior Research Experience: Making Alternative and Minority Families Visible (Soc 490, research practicum for sociology major seniors, spring 2011, 15 students) • Gender and Society (Soc 224, cross listed with Gender and Women’s studies, fall 2010, 180 students) Teaching Assistant — University of Illinois at Chicago • Sociology of Asia and Asian Americans (Soc 228, cross listed with Asian American Studies, spring 2010, 35 students) • Gender and Society (Soc 224, cross listed with Gender and Women’s Studies, fall 2007, spring 2008 & summer 2010, 180 students in fall and spring, 35 students in the summer session) • Introduction to Sociology (Soc 100, 360-student blended learning course, fall 2009, ran 3 weekly discussion sections of 18 students per section) Independent study supervision • Designed and supervised an independent study on gender and family change in Taiwan and China for an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (Soc 296, 4 credit hours, spring 2011) • Trained two undergraduate research assistants in ethnographic and qualitative interview methods and supervised these students as they assisted

 

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with various aspects of my field research in Taiwan (these positions were paid through my Wenner-Gren Fieldwork Grant, not for credit; fall 2011, spring 2012 & fall 2012) Professional development in teaching • College Teaching Preparation Program, jointly sponsored by the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) and the Council for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at the University of Illinois at Chicago (program consists of six pedagogically-focused workshops and preparation of a teaching portfolio; certificate conferral expected 2014) • American Sociological Association Section on Teaching and Learning PreConference on “Universal Design: Interrogating Inequality in Learning” (summer 2013) • Graduate-level training course on College Teaching of Sociology with Martha Thompson, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Women’s Studies at Northeastern Illinois University (spring 2010)

Selected Conference Presentations

 

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“Lesbian daughters-in-law, transgender descendants: Contemporary meanings of patrilineal kinship in Taiwan,” American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2013)

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“Analyzing the ‘generation gap’ in how LGBT people in Taiwan relate to their families of origin,” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, New York, NY (2013)

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“How ‘continuing the paternal line’ matters for lesbians and transgender people in Taiwan,” Gender Matters Conference, Chicago, IL (2013)

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“‘Let mom and dad know you’re the OK kind of gay’: Negotiations of class, gender and sexuality in Taiwanese families,” Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL (2013)

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“Sexuality and family relations in Taiwan,” ISA 11th International Laboratory for PhD Students in Sociology, Taipei, Taiwan (2012)

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“Race and ethnicity in the lives of LGBT parents and their children,” Council on Contemporary Families Annual Conference, Chicago, IL (2011)

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“‘Do I choose the faith, or do I choose my brother?’: Theorizing straight and gay siblings,” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (2010)

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“South Asian single mothers in ethnic enclaves,” Association for Research on Mothering Conference on Mothering and Migration, San Juan, Puerto Rico (with Pallavi Banerjee, 2010)

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“A family affair: Same-sexuality and family relations in Taiwan,” Sociologists for Women in Society Winter Meeting, Santa Barbara, CA (2010)

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“‘Being straight is not a choice’: Essentialism and identity de/construction among heterosexual siblings of gay, lesbian, and bisexual young adults,” Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2009)

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“‘Could I just wake up one day and be gay?’: Heterosexual (in)stability in sibling accounts,” Midwest Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Des Moines, IA (2009)

Invited Lectures (Chinese titles denote Chinese language lectures) • “Trans* Taiwan: Bodies, families, politics, histories,” Gender Umbrella Society, University of Illinois at Chicago (2013) •

“Siblings and parents of tongzhi: Social and historical perspectives,”「從社會 與歷史的角度來探討同志父母與手足」Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association Family Working Group, Taipei, Taiwan (2012)

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“Generational changes in Taiwan tongzhi family relations,” Department of Education, National Dong Hwa University, Hualien, Taiwan (2012)

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“Intimate research: Doing ethnography and oral history interviews in communities we care about,” Department of English, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (2012)

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“Generational changes in Taiwan tongzhi family relations,”「不同時代的同志 與家庭關係」Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association LGBT Elders Working Group, Taipei, Taiwan (2012)

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“International perspectives on contemporary families,” 「現代家庭的國際觀 點」Lee-Ming Institute of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan (2012)

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“Cross generational perspectives on LGBT lives－body, family, emotions, work” 「20、30、40、50 跨世代同志生命分享－身體、家庭、感情、職場」 panelist, Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association LGBT Elders Working Group,

 

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Hualien, Taiwan (2012) •

“Sexing up family studies: Why queer desires and sexual politics are important for understanding Taiwanese family change,” Department of English, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (2012)

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“‘If your sister’s a lesbian, you might be a lesbian too’: Growing up with an LGBT sibling,”「『如果妳姊姊是個拉子，那妳也有可能是個拉子』：跟同志 兄弟姐妹一起長大」Queer Student Group, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (2011)

Additional Professional Experience •

Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Sexualities, National Central University, Jhongli, Taiwan (2011—2013)

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Graduate assistant to the Council on Contemporary Families, a multidisciplinary professional organization of family scholars and practitioners (2008—2010)

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Research assistant to Barbara J. Risman, Professor and Head of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2009)

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Research assistant to Lorena García, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2008—2009)

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Ethnographer and qualitative interviewer, Chicago Area Study (under Janet Lynn Smith), Urban Planning and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago (2009)

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Survey interviewer, Chicago Area Study (under Maria Krysan), Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2008)

Service

 

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ASA Section on Family elected student representative (2013—2015)

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ASA Section on Sexualities elected student representative (2013—2014)

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Gender Umbrella Society (a student organization for trans* people and allies at the University of Illinois at Chicago) elected officer (2013—2014)

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Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association LGBT Elders Working Group member (2011—2012)

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UIC Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues, member of the Transgender Task Force (2009—2010)

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Graduate Student Association Steering Committee co-coordinator, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2008—2009)

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Brown Bag Lecture Series student representative, Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago (2007—2008)

Professional Affiliations •

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American Anthropological Association Section memberships: Association for Queer Anthropology; Society for Cultural Anthropology; Society for East Asian Anthropology American Sociological Association Section memberships: Asia and Asian America; Family (student representative); Sexualities (student representative); Race, Class, and Gender; Section on Teaching and Learning Council on Contemporary Families International Sociological Association Sociologists for Women in Society

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