Sara Mason, Ph.D.

Sara Mason

Department Head, Sociology & Human Services

Phone678-717-3878

Office locationStrickland Academic, 185 A, Gainesville

Area(s) of Expertise: Tourism & Leisure Studies, Race and Ethnicity, Social Stratification, Culture, Memory, and Place.

Courses Taught

Dr. Mason teaches courses in Sociology and the Human Services and Delivery and Administration
(HSDA) program.

Education

  • Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2009
  • M.A., Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2002
  • B.A., Cultural Studies, Hampshire College, 1995

Research/Special Interests

Dr. Mason’s research focuses on the intersections of race, culture, knowledge production, and power, with a particular emphasis on cultural practices (particularly tourism, place-making and consumption), in relation to racial identities, class, history, and memory. She is currently working on a book length manuscript based on her research on the growth and popularity of heritage tourism in relation to the politics of place-making and a growing Black tourist class.

Publications

Mason, Sara F. (2011). Making Sense of Slavery on the Plantation Trail: An ethnographic look at how we remember slavery on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The Public Intellectual.  Retrieved from http://thepublicintellectual.org/2011/05/17/making-sense-of-slavery-on-the-plantation-trail/. (Invited Contribution)

Mason, Sara F. (2011). Selling Dr. King’s Dream: Blackness and Tourism in Atlanta. In V.A. Young and B.H. Tsemo (eds.) From Bourgeois to Boojie: Black Middle-Class Performances. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press.