“Why Sociology?” is a podcast series for use in sociology classrooms featuring mini-interviews with sociology graduates of all degree levels (AA, BA, MA, PhD) who have taken career pathways beyond academia in applied and clinical careers. The goal of the series is to demonstrate the relevance of sociology to students and to highlight the applicability of the discipline in a variety of occupational fields.
Nearly everything we do as human beings is shaped by social forces and factors, Dr. Wiley truly embodies this. Sociology infects every aspect of how they interact with the social world. The sociological imagination informs everything they do. Sociology shapes how they interpret the world, interact with others, and enables them to see the world through so many different perspectives. Everything is sociology and sociology is everywhere!
22 Mar 2026
Martina Sharp-Grier - Educator and Public Speaker
What does it mean to live sociology, rather than just study it? This week, I’m honored to welcome my mentor, Dr. Martina Sharp-Grier, to the mic. We explore her journey into the field, how she translates complex sociological theory into real-world action, and the vital work she’s doing with identity, to create change on a national scale. Tune in to hear how one educator is redefining passion in the classroom and empowering others to see the world—and themselves—differently.
22 Sept 2025
Estrella Lemus - President of AKD Sociology Honor's Society, University of Akron
In this season premiere, student guest host Estrella is introduced, as she will be hosting this season. She shares her academic background in sociology, highlighting the projects and research that have shaped her perspective. Estrella then outlines her goals for the season, aiming to leverage the podcast as a platform for scholarly discussion and accessible learning. A central theme of her introduction is a passionate argument for the relevance of sociology in understanding everyday life and broader societal structures.
22 Feb 2024
Hannah Horrigan - Educational Initiatives Supervisor at AHMA
Hannah Horrigan is an Educational Initiatives Supervisor at the Akron Housing Metropolitan Authority and a proud zippie. Explore her interesting journey, starting with an interest in lock-picking via sociology and moving to skillful and compassionate leadership in our community.
21 Nov 2022
Alex Leake - UX and Market Research
Alex is a researcher and strategist who helps companies understand people and markets in order to solve problems and make consumer lives better. Alex graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin for a Masters degree in Advertising. Alex has over 10 years of experience working in Market Research using different research methods to help inform product development, product positioning, strategy and marketing across multiple industries.
Manager, Marketing Business Insights & Research
aleake@mozilla.com
13 Jun 2022
Megan Delong - Neighborhood Network Coordinator
Here is a bio Megan shared with us:
My name is Megan Delong and I am a 2018 Sociology Alum from the University of Akron. I am currently working in the non-profit sector at Habitat for Humanity of Summit County as Neighborhood Network Coordinator. Neighborhood Network focuses on the Middlebury and University Park neighborhoods here in Akron – I’m so happy to be a resident of the Middlebury neighborhood! My favorite past times are painting, watching a new movie with homemade popcorn, and taking a walk through the community with my fiancé Sam. I am so grateful for my Sociology experience at the University of Akron and can’t wait to see more Sociology grads come from UA!
Important links:
neighborhoodnetworkakron.org (www.neighborhoodnetworkakron.org)
facebook.com/NeighborhoodNetworkAkron/ (https://www.facebook.com/NeighborhoodNetworkAkron/)
instagram.com/neighborhoodnetworkakron/ (https://www.instagram.com/neighborhoodnetworkakron/?hl=en)
And my email megand@hfhsummitcounty.org (mailto:megand@hfhsummitcounty.org) is available and open for all!
13 Jun 2022
Brett Heller - Assistant Director of Event Planning
Brett Heller, M.S., is the Assistant Director of Scheduling and Events at the University of Akron. He double majored in Psychology and Sociology (Stony Brook University, 2014) and went on to do his Master of Science in College Student Personnel Administration (Illinois State University, 2016). He loves to serve the community around him and believes in getting engaged in as many extracurricular offers as you can. His favorite thing about the University of Akron is how his career allows him to serve the broader community and how motivated the students are when it comes to creating their own positive experiences.
He is available if you want to find out more about him or his career at bheller@uakron.edu.
13 Jun 2022
Kelly Roach - Victim Advocate
Victim Advocate for a Police Department/OH. Offers emotional support, victims' rights information, and help in finding needed resources.
13 Jun 2022
Kim Foreman - Executive Director of Environmental Health Watch
Executive Director, Environmental Health Watch (www.ehw.org), Cleveland/OH. Community organizer, home inspector homes for health hazards and public policy consultant.
13 Jun 2022
Liza Grossman - Director of Research and Evaluation
Dr. Liza Grossman is the Director of Research and Evaluation at a dynamic nonprofit, Stark Education Partnership (edpartner.org (edpartner.org)), working to elevate education, learning, programs and all students' success through data and data-driven decision-making. She is a trained sociologist from the University of South Carolina and the University of Akron and is honored to be a part of a vibrant community of life-long learners and collaborators in Stark County, Ohio. There is nothing like working with talented and caring professionals across the spectrum who partner together to continuously work to provide all students with education and career success.
Dr. Grossman can be reached at Liza.Grossman@edpartner.org (mailto:Liza.Grossman@edpartner.org).
13 Jun 2022
Davishay Lawrence - Mortgage Loan Originator
Davishay Lawrence is Mortgage Loan Originator, but also has worked as a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) Specialist in a nonprofit community corrections agency.
13 Jun 2022
Michael Rickles - VP of Research at Sharecare
Here are some links Dr. Rickles shared for further research:
CWBI link to primary project: https://wellbeingindex.sharecare.com/ (https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwellbeingindex.sharecare.com%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cda18%40uakron.edu%7C70f58ba49585409bb24f08d93d61f388%7Ce8575dedd7f94ecea4aa0b32991aeedd%7C0%7C0%7C637608313173282087%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=WCDbZv8Gw7%2B2jdMFPi9W%2F9jo4lrEgERfZNF0KQMYsUk%3D&reserved=0)
Contact: michael.rickles@sharecare.com (mailto:michael.rickles@sharecare.com)
Dr. Rickles is happy to work with students in his available capacity. For those in/around Atlanta, there may be internship opportunities for upper-level undergrads and grad students.
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