Sara is a current PhD Candidate in the Department of Political Science and also currently obtaining her Graduate Certificate in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies.

After graduating from Appalachian State as an undergrad, she moved to Philadelphia to work at a pro-choice non-profit organization for 3 years before beginning her Ph.D.  Sara's research centers around comparative abortion policy, how civil society undermines the state, as well as sexual violence in conflict.

Her dissertation asks do abortion restrictions work? And, why don't they? Using a mixed-methods approach she seeks to answer this question, including a comparative case study of Turkey, Appalachia, and communist-era Romania.

Faculty Advisor: Sean Yom