Keynote Luncheon and Awards Reception Registration

Faculty Commons is excited to showcase the research endeavors of our faculty and hope you will show your support to your colleagues by registering to attend one or more of our scholarly and creative presentations taking place throughout the day at the 4th Annual Faculty Research Symposium.

This year, Faculty Commons is excited to announce that our FRS Keynote Luncheon speaker will be Dr. Sarah Donley, Professor of Sociology.

Registration is required for the Keynote Luncheon and the evening Awards Reception. Individual presentations will use on-site QR codes to track attendance. No pre-registration required.

Keynote Luncheon with Speaker Dr. Sarah Donley

  • Lunch Served: 11:00-11:30
  • Keynote Address: 11:30-12:30
  • Location: B01 Merrill Hall
  • Audience: Faculty and Students (Please note that Faculty Commons can only provide lunch for faculty.)

Awards Reception Celebrating Faculty

  • Time: 5:00-6:00 PM
  • Location: Atrium, Merrill Hall
  • Audience: Faculty Only

Register for Keynote Luncheon

Keynote Luncheon Lecturer

Rashad Ahmed Dr. Sarah Donley
Professor, Sociology

Dr. Donley, a Midwest native, has been a faculty member at Jacksonville State University since 2014. She regularly teaches courses on gender, social stratification, death and dying, and sociological methods, emphasizing sociology’s relevance to everyday life. Passionate about student research, she actively collaborates with students on projects and has published extensively with them.

As an intersectional scholar, her research explores how cultural gender beliefs, ideology, and inequality interact across diverse social contexts, including funeral directing, online memorialization, LGBTQ+ experiences in the Deep South, and the dynamics of sexual violence on college campuses and social media. Her current research explores the emergence of Death Doulas in end-of-life care and what this means for means for death and dying in the United States.

Outside of academia, Dr. Donley enjoys cooking, outdoor adventures, playing video games, and traveling. She also loves spending time with her dogs, Jack and Teddy.

 

Keynote Presentation

Title: We can Transform Dying from a Medical Experience to a Human Experience: How Death Doulas are Reshaping End-of-Life Care in the United States

Presentation: This talk looks at the work of death doulas—nonmedical caregivers who provide support, comfort, and guidance to people at the end of life and their families. Based on 40 qualitative interviews with doulas from across the United States, this talk will highlight their emergence, connection to the broader “death positivity” movement, the kinds of support they offer, their efforts to be recognized as professionals, and the challenges they face as they carve out space in end-of-life care.