The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

Does Experiencing Discrimination in the Workplace Change Opinion? A Mediation Analysis of Identity and Support for Affirmative Action, was Dr. Shanae's dissertation work. 

Affirmative action policies have been a popular topic in U.S. media since their inception in the Civil Rights Act 1964. Previous studies note that race, gender, and political identity are known influencers of support for affirmative action policies; however, this dissertation analyzes the mediating effects of perceived experiences of discrimination in the workplace on a person's level of support for the preferential hiring and promotion of Black Americans based on the intersection of the race, gender, and political identity. Through social dominance theory (SDT), this dissertation highlights the motivations people may have in support or opposition of affirmative action, especially for Black Americans. Due to the historical lineage of African Americans in the U.S., stereotypes about Black people's work ethic have continued to be mostly negative-which inform hiring, promotion, and admission procedures today. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) to conduct regression and mediation analysis, this dissertation found significant support for mediation of perceived experiences to increase support for affirmative action among white females, and Black people regardless of gender or political identity. While race and gender discrimination were thought to be the most influencing forms of discrimination experienced, age discrimination showed to transcend racial, gender, and political barriers. Accordingly, appealing to experiences of age discrimination may be a helpful approach to closing the implementation gap of those who voice support for equality yet constantly vote in support of inequality.

 Given Name is an ongoing sociological project exploring the creativity, intention, and cultural intelligence embedded in Black naming practices across Africa and the diaspora.

This work treats names not as curiosities, but as cultural texts. Each conversation examines how a name carries memory, migration, spirituality, resistance, family lineage, and aesthetic choice. Through narrative interviews, I document the intention behind names — why they were chosen, what they mean, and how they shape identity over time.

Future research will map the distinctive sound patterns present in Black names across regions: tonal influences, rhythmic structures, consonant clusters, vowel elongations, and linguistic traditions rooted in Yoruba, Igbo, Akan, Zulu, African American Vernacular English, Caribbean dialects, and beyond.

Rather than responding to deficit-based narratives about Black names, this project reframes naming as authorship — as deliberate cultural production. It builds a narrative and sonic archive that highlights the intellectual, artistic, and diasporic continuity present in Black naming traditions.

At its core, Given Name is public sociology in practice — documenting how identity is spoken into being.