Dr. Shantel Gabrieal Buggs, B.A. 2009
Assistant Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, Florida State University – Tallahassee, Florida
2009 Major: Sociology (with distinction)
How has being a Sociology graduate from Duke helped shape you personally and/or professionally?
"Sociology introduced me to the joy of doing research, specifically qualitative research. It was that joy that sustained me in my pursuit of my graduate degrees and the transition into being a faculty member. I do my best to emulate all the ways that Duke Sociology professors and graduate students mentored me with my own undergraduates, particularly those interested in doing honors theses. I don't think I would have even pursued Sociology had I not been at Duke since this was not my original plan and I took a bit of convincing from Eduardo haha. In my defense, I was a first-generation college student who didn't even know what sociology was before college."
What advice would you give students in Duke's Sociology programs?
"Now that I'm on the other side of things and have more of an understanding of how applicable sociology is beyond being in academia, I always try to inform undergraduates that the possibilities are really endless for how you can use the skills that sociology provides. If you have the opportunity to do your own research through a thesis or an independent study, that's a great way to figure out if graduate school is the right plan -- if you don't like doing independent research or even something more applied, graduate school will probably not be a good fit. Which is okay! It is daunting to graduate and be expected to "know" what you're going to do but I think it is important to think more about the skills you have and how they can be useful in a given career; I personally know sociologists who work for the government, tons of tech companies and start-ups, in corporate jobs or for non-profits. Graduate school isn't the only next step available."
