Recognition for our outstanding master’s student scholars: Meet Sarah Lawrence
By: Margaret Savoie
Sarah Lawrence
Every year, the Mississippi Academy of Science holds an annual meeting to present addresses, symposia, workshops, scientific papers and exhibits of interest to its members. This year, Sarah Lawrence, a Master of Arts in Sociology student won first place in the Psychology and Social Science Division.
Lawrence, originally from Albemarle, North Carolina, completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Mississippi, with a major in psychology and minors in sociology and history.
“I decided to continue my education at the University of Mississippi due to the exceptional mentorship from Dr. Willa Johnson as well as other incredible professors in the sociology and anthropology department,” said Lawrence.
The area of research for her presentation stemmed from a previous project that evolved into Lawrence’s thesis. The focus is on understanding how students with non-apparent psychiatric disabilities navigate higher education through relationships with institutional partners.
Dr. Anne Cafer, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Population Studies
“This is a tremendous honor and demonstrates the scholarly prowess of our students,” said advisor to Lawrence, Dr. Anne Cafer, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for Population Studies.
“In my research and experience to date many problems that this specific set of students face can be at least partially attributed to social norms and social structures that are in place,” said Lawrence. “Within my current project I am using a Community Based approach to involve these students within my research design and allow them to be equal stakeholders in this project’s development.”
Cafer said for the future, “I hope to be able to recruit more students like Sarah, who are interested in exploring and solving problems through analytical reasoning and critical thinking.”
After defending her thesis proposal, Lawrence plans to continue her journey of data collection through her current thesis.
“My ultimate goal is to work within a community development environment to best serve those whose voices need to be uplifted and included in important conversations,” said Lawrence.
“Sociology is a great place to work on real and interesting problems facing our society today,” said Cafer.
Lawrence said one thing she wants people to know about studying sociology at the University of Mississippi is, “Sociology gives us the tools to better understand deep and complex social issues and phenomena through empirically based research and if we can fully understand issues and problems that our society is faced with, we are best equipped to address these problems and in some instances develop policies and practices to best serve one another.”