Dr. Patricia Gagné
Dr. Patricia Gagné ’86 is a Professor of Sociology and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Louisville. Her research focuses on gender and includes numerous articles on intimate partner violence, transgenderism, women and body work, and the personal and social benefits women derive from serious edgework leisure.
The latter is featured in the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies in Gagné’s article, “Mixed Gender-Cross Country Research: Personal Reflections and Experiences of Long-Term Ethnographic Researchers in a Community of Touring Motorcyclists.”
She graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences at Ohio University with a B.A. in Sociology before earning an M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology at The Ohio State University.
Gagné teaches undergraduate and graduate level theory courses, graduate qualitative methods, and a graduate course on gender and sexuality.
From her Motorcycle Studies article:
Our goal in this article is to consider some of the benefits and pitfalls of mixing friendship with a professional relationship between a female and a male colleague during a long-term participant observational study. As we share our experiences, sometimes painful, occasionally comical, we hope to open a professional dialogue on the pros and cons of conducting qualitative participant observational research with an unrelated member of another gender, whether on serious edgework leisure or another topic. Our aim is to suggest factors research teams might consider as they embark on long-term ethnographic studies. Our work here is not meant to provide an exhaustive list of issues that might arise nor suggest that the way we handled them is exemplary. We hope our work opens a dialogue that might advance research partnerships between and among ethnographic scholars of varying genders.
Comments