Samantha Kwan
Associate Professor
Phone: 713.743.3948
Email: sskwan@uh.edu
Office: 496 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Education
Ph.D., Sociology, University of Arizona
B.A. (Hons.), Sociology and Criminology, University of Toronto
Biography
Samantha Kwan is an associate professor in sociology. Professor Kwan teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on research methods, as well as the sociology of the body. Her research uses mixed methods (i.e., content analysis, quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews) to examine the politics of embodiment. Specifically, she examines how individuals embody, resist and negotiate body norms and conventions and how social location shapes these negotiations. She is co-author (with Jennifer Graves) of "" (Rutgers University Press, 2013) and co-editor (with Chris Bobel) of "" (Vanderbilt University Press, 2011) and "" (Vanderbilt University Press, 2019). With Rose Weitz, she co-edited "," 4th edition (Oxford University Press, 2014). Her newest book (with Jennifer Graves) is titled, "" (Temple University Press, 2020). Professor Kwan鈥檚 research and commentary have been reported in, among other media outlets, Forbes, the Huffington Post, Shape, New York Times and USA Today.
In 2012, Professor Kwan was awarded the Provost鈥檚 Teaching Excellence Award and the Ross M. Lence Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2013, she received the University Commission on Women鈥檚 Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award. In 2017, the Houston YWCA recognized Professor Kwan鈥檚 service to the Houston community with the Outstanding Women Honoree in Education Award. Professor Kwan is the former director of the UH Cougar Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament. She is a tennis enthusiast and an avid supporter of adaptive tennis.
Research Interests
- Research Methods
- Body and Health
Teaching
- Introduction to Sociological Research (Undergraduate)
- Qualitative Research Methods (Graduate)
- Research and Writing in the Social Sciences (Graduate)
- Sociology of the Body (Graduate and Undergraduate)
Selected Publications
- Kwan, Samantha, and Jennifer Graves. 2020. "Under the Knife: Cosmetic Surgery, Boundary Work, and the Pursuit of the Natural Fake." Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
- Kwan, Samantha, Scott V. Savage, and Mary Nell Trautner. 2020. 鈥淎dorning the Female Body: Feminist Identification, Embodied Resistance, and Esthetic Body Modification Practices.鈥� Sociological Focus 53(1):67鈥�88.
- Bobel, Chris, and Samantha Kwan, eds. 2019. "Body Battlegrounds: Transgressions, Tensions, and Transformations." Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
- Kwan, Samantha, and Trenton Haltom. 2019. 鈥淢ixed Methods in Body and Embodiment Research.鈥� Pp. 69-86 in The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Body and Embodiment, edited by N. Boero and K. Mason. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Weitz, Rose, and Samantha Kwan, eds. 2014. The Politics of Women's Bodies, 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Kwan, Samantha, and Jennifer Graves. 2013. "Framing Fat: Competing Constructions in Contemporary Culture." New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
- Bobel, Chris, and Samantha Kwan, editors. 2011. "Embodied Resistance: Challenging the Norms, Breaking the Rules." Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
- Kwan, Samantha. 2011. 鈥淟ay Perspectives on the Biomedical Paradigm on 鈥極besity鈥�: Theorizing Weight, Health, and Happiness.鈥� Social Theory & Health 9(4):1鈥�17.
- Kwan, Samantha, and Mary Nell Trautner. 2011. 鈥淛udging Books by their Covers: Teaching about Physical Attractiveness Biases.鈥� Teaching Sociology 39(1): 16鈥�26.
- Kwan, Samantha. 2010. 鈥淣avigating Public Spaces in Everyday Life: Gender, Race, and Body Privilege.鈥� Feminist Formations 22(2):144鈥�166.
- Kwan, Samantha. 2009. 鈥淔raming the Fat Body: Contested Meanings Between Government, Activists, and Industry.鈥� Sociological Inquiry 79(1):25鈥�50.
- Kwan, Samantha. 2009. 鈥淐ompeting Motivational Discourses for Weight Loss: The Nexus of Health and Beauty.鈥� Qualitative Health Research 19(9):1223鈥�1233.
- Kwan, Samantha, and Mary Nell Trautner. 2009. 鈥淏eauty Work: Individual and Institutional Rewards, the Reproduction of Gender, and Questions of Agency.鈥� Sociology Compass 3(1):49鈥�71.