Featured Photo by Luke Cameron
Story by Luke Cameron
New to MTSU and the sociology department this academic year is Rachel Davis. Davis is a native of Decatur, Tennessee.
Davis comes to MTSU from the University of Kentucky, where she recently completed her PhD in sociology with a concentration in criminology. While at UK, Davis worked closely with Claire Renzetti, PhD, who heads up the Center for Research on Violence Against Women.
“There’s research I want to do on campus sexual assault,” Davis said.
Davis is settling in to MTSU and the area, and she likes what she has seen thus far. “Number one, it’s close to home,” she said. “Also, I like that it serves a diverse population. It offers students upward social mobility.”
She is teaching two classes this fall term: Social Problems and Drugs in Society.
“The students have been so great,” she said. “The faculty, too, have been very kind, supportive and resilient.” That resilience has been needed, as two sociology department faculty have passed away this term.
In the spring Davis will teach courses titled Sex Trafficking, Drugs in Society and Social Deviance. In addition to her teaching duties, she is affiliated with the Middle Tennessee Student Sociologists club, works with the women’s and gender studies department and serves on a host of university committees.
When away from work, Davis plays Spider-Man 2 and Tears of the Kingdom on her Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, bakes and cross-stitches. She enjoyed playing softball when she was younger as well.
One of her goals as a teacher is to expose students to new viewpoints, knowledge and perspectives.
She said, “I know where I was growing up and where I came from, I was not exposed to a lot of diverse viewpoints and values.”
Her strengths in the classroom are her fluency with technology, and her flexibility and empathy in interfacing with students. She notes that an understanding professor with a listening ear can be the difference between a student’s staying in school and dropping out as students juggle classes, jobs, mental health, financial issues, family events and emergencies.
She even received mental health first aid training during the semester and “almost immediately put it to good use.”
Davis hopes students in her classes learn and take away a few things. “I hope students think critically about what they are told and the messages they receive from society. Everybody can make the world a better place, in their own way.”
Finally, she wants students to continue being curious and to maintain the desire to keep learning.
