Doctoral Candidate Emily Tingle is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Georgia. Her research sits at the intersection of political sociology, the sociology of culture, and the sociology of value and evaluation (SVE), where she specializes in qualitative and comparative-historical methods. The central problems driving her research agenda include investigating how people make meaning and mobilize forms of capital, how institutions shape political life, the doxa embedded within political organizations, and how culture influences the possibilities for social change and understanding of social problems. Her dissertation—a historically embedded comparative ethnography—examines candidate evaluation and the mechanisms underlying campaign finance and investment decisions to better understand the persistence of political inequality and the uneven distribution of resources within electoral politics. Emily is driven by a problem-solving approach to sociological inquiry, in which her dissertation project seeks not only to capture empirical problems in electoral politics but also to offer solutions to better support democracy and strengthen election integrity. Her research has been nationally recognized and supported by the American Sociological Association’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (ASA DDRIG), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Beyond academia, Emily applies sociology to the policy challenges shaping communities today, bridging rigorous social science with public policy. During the 2025–2026 academic year, she served as a fellow with the Georgia Women's Policy Institute (GWPI), focusing on legislative advocacy and gender equity across the South. In the summer of 2026, she interned with the Archway Partnership at the University of Georgia, leading the development of an internal evaluation report on the Connected Resilient Community (CRC) Initiative in rural Georgia. For 2026–2027, she holds the Roosevelt Institute's Graduate Humanities Internship, a role that connects qualitative research with applied policy work in New York City and Washington, D.C. Education Education: M.S. Sociology, Mississippi State University 2022 B.A. Political Science and Sociology, Mississippi State University 2020 Other Affiliations: Enter the name of department or institution you are affiliated with Research Research Areas: Political Sociology Social Movements Race and Ethnicity Gender Work, Occupations, and Organizations Research Interests: Political Sociology Sociology of Value and Evaluation (SVE) Sociology of Knowledge and Expertise Grants: 2026 Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, American Sociological Association/National Science Foundation ($16,000) 2025 Women and Girls in Georgia Grant (WAGG), Institute for Women's Studies, University of Georgia ($1,000) 2025 Summer Doctoral Research Grant, Graduate School, University of Georgia ($1,500) 2025 Graduate Retention and Inclusion Grant, Graduate School, University of Georgia with Madeline Williams ($4,000) 2024 Mellon Building Intersectional Southern Futures Grant, Institute for Women’s Studies, University of Georgia ($2,000 for data collection; $1000 for funding an undergraduate research assistant) Selected Publications Selected Publications: Emily L. Tingle. “‘What Was My Catalyst?’ Narratives and Biographical Connectivity in Public Education Activism.” Qualitative Sociology. doi:10.1007/s11133-025-09615-y.
