About Me

I am a fixed-term Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Michigan State University. I earned my PhD from Kansas State University in 2017, while also teaching at Emporia State University in Emporia, KS. I also have an MA in English Literature, Composition, and Rhetoric from K-State, and have more years of teaching experience, between English and Sociology, than I care to talk about 🙂

I am also a first-generation college student. One of my middle school counselors told me that I was “not college material,” and one of my first references for graduate school told the graduate committee that I was “not graduate school material.” In my more petty moments, I really want to go wave my Doctoral degree underneath their noses, BUT <deep sigh> I don’t want to be that person.

Instead, I am channeling that energy, and past frustration, into helping other students succeed. First-generation, second-generation, students from school districts that just didn’t have enough resources, or even quiet students, like me, who just got overlooked because they were “good” and “quiet” students who didn’t demand attention–all of you are on my radar. I see you. And I see the potential in you. Let’s get that potential polished up, shall we?

If you want to know more about me as a sociologist, you can check out my website, here: www.stacylsmith.com.

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