I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology and core faculty in the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences at the University of Washington. I am also a faculty affiliate in the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology and Science, Technology, and Society Studies at the University of Washington.
My research considers the creation and consequences of conceptual categories, including ways that human difference (e.g. based on gender, race, age, etc.) is seen as real and natural. My overall goal is to create new conceptual and methodological tools that help people understand, interrogate, and intentionally engage in social processes.
I am currently working on projects related to what I call "Naturalness Dogma"; age as a socially constructed system of inequality; and methods to more responsibly measure and interrogate social difference.
email: sjohfre@uw.edu
Last name pronunciation: "JOE-free"