MSU Sociology Assistant Professor stef shuster wins GenCen Professional Achievement Award

March 17, 2022

Dr. stef shuster, Sociology and Lyman Briggs, is the 2022 MSU Professional Achievement Award winner.

The MSU Center for Gender in Global Context announced the university-wide awards for work in gender equity and social justice.

"These awardees embody the values of feminist leaders and bring a unique and impactful passion to their work," MSU GenCen wrote.

Specifically, individuals nominated for the Professional Achievement award must demonstrate a unique drive and passion within their career and positively influences the culture of Michigan State University.

Dr. shuster earned their Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Iowa, with a certificate in Gender Studies, and their B.A. in Sociology from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Their current research and teaching areas are united by an overarching interest in how evidence is a social artifact that is constituted through social, cultural, and historical contexts. Across their projects, shuster asks: who constructs evidence, how does evidence confer authority to individuals and groups, and how is it mobilized by social actors? These dimensions of evidence are a centralized feature of shuster’s scholarship in three domains including how: 1) medical providers negotiate evidence to make medical decisions within uncertain terrains; 2) social movement actors use evidence to make claims about social issues; and 3) language is used in interaction to regulate subjugated groups.

shuster currently serves on the editorial boards for the Journal of Health and Social Behavior and Gender & Society.