BOONE—Two sociologists from the University of Central Florida will present lectures Oct. 20 and 21 at Appalachian State University on topics that have been in the news in recent months – racial attitudes and motherhood in the media.

Shannon K. Carter is an assistant professor of sociology at UCF. Her primary research areas are sociology of reproduction, social inequalities and sociology of health and medicine. She will present “Scientific Motherhood and Infant Feeding: Peer Breast Milk Sharing in Media and Practice” Oct. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s room 417 Beacon Heights.

J. Scott Carter is an associate professor of sociology at UCF. His research interests encompass several areas, including race and politics, racial attitudes, racial inequality in education, and Southern and urban place. He will present the talk “Contemporary Racial Attitudes in the US: Are We Living in a Post-Racial Society?” Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in Plemmons Student Union’s room 417 Beacon Heights.

The talks, sponsored by Appalachian’s Department of Sociology, are free and open to the public.

Shannon K. Carter’s research on gender and reproduction has examined women’s accounts of their gender performances during childbirth in out-of-hospital settings, perceptions of body/self-relationships during pregnancy and birth, and infant feeding consumerism. Her current projects focus on African-American mothers’ breastfeeding experiences and peer breast milk sharing in Central Florida.

Scott Carter’s current work looks particularly at race, politics and framing effects. He has also been working on projects looking at racial attitudes and attitudes toward the police.

The election of Barack Obama to the U.S. presidency in 2008 headlined a growing narrative that the United States is now post-race. This notion pushed mainly by the media poses that Americans and American society, in general, have slowly but steadily moved passed the place where race predicts social inequality and hostile racial feelings predominate.
Scott Carter argues that while this vision seems ideal, it has come under great scrutiny by race scholars. He uses research in the race literature to take a closer look at how race plays out in the U.S. in terms of inequality and attitudes, and discusses whether the U.S. is moving toward a society where race no longer matters.

About Appalachian State University

As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.

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