Sara Mason, Ph.D.

Department Head, Sociology & Human Services

Strickland 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.