Laura Obernesser

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Education: BS: Sociology, 2013, SUNY Oneonta (Minor: Women’s and Gender Studies)
MA: Sociology, 2015, University of Montana (Area of Specialization: Inequality and Social Justice)
Thesis Title: “I Need a Hand-Up, Not a Hand-Out:” Spoiled Identities and Identity Maintenance among Single Mothers Experiencing Homelessness

Research interests: Family, Families and Inequality, Family Roles, Rural Families, Aging and the life course, Transition to adulthood, Intimate Relationships, Kinship ties, Generations and Society, Stress, Agency, Qualitative Methods

Recent courses taught: SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology, SOC 293: Social Research Methods, SOC 206: Social Problems, SOC 304: Sociology of Aging, SOC 308: Sociology of the Life Course, SOC 313: Sociology of Families, SOC 362: Families and Inequality

Bio: Laura Obernesser is a family sociologist. Her qualitative research focuses on how individuals idealize family, make sense of their relationships and roles within families and the effects these understandings have on their everyday experiences. Her research focuses on (1) family ideals: the desires, fears, and expectations held by individuals within families related to family life and how inequalities have effects on how individuals understand their relationship to societal expectations in the context of changing families and (2) agency: the behaviors and thoughts families engage in to cope with, and sometimes change their realities.

Her dissertation work focuses on the role ambiguity between grandparents and their adult children (parents) in rural families and how these care givers make sense of their family roles, relationships, and realities in the context of COVID-19. In her study, she examines parenting and grandparenting roles, class and gender inequalities, and how individuals within these families experience stress related to childcare and family.