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Dr. Heather Shay
Heather Shay

College of Education Humanities & Social SciencesSocial SciencesAssistant Professor of SociologyNance Hall 323803-536-8683

Heather Shay

Dr. Heather Shay is an associate professor of sociology at South Carolina State University. She began working at SCSU August 2023. She worked at Lake Superior State University, the University of South Carolina Beaufort, and Middle Tennessee State University previously.

Education

  • PhD sociology, 2013, North Carolina State University
  • MA sociology, 2003, Florida Atlantic University
  • BA psychology/sociology, 2000, University of Kentucky

Research Interests

Her research interests include social inequality, social psychology and gaming.

Publications

  • Buyukozturk, Bert and Heather Shay. Forthcoming. “Social Play? The Critical Role of Social Interaction in Geeky Games.” Leisure Sciences.
  • Shay, Thomas “Buddy” and Heather Shay. 2022. “RPGs, Identity, and Writing Centers: Layering Realities in the Tutoring Center.” Pp. 161-180 in Unlimited Players: The Intersections of Writing Center and Game Scholarship, edited by S. Vie and H. Ryan. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press.
  • Cabaniss, Emily and Heather Shay. 2021. “’We Share Our Stories and Risk Losing It All’: Storytelling as Edgework in the Undocumented Youth Movement.” Symbolic Interaction 44(2):292-309.
  • Shay, Heather. 2017. “Virtual Edgework: Negotiating Risk in Role-Playing Gaming.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 46(2):203-29.
  • Schwalbe, M. L. and Heather Shay. 2014. “Dramaturgy and Dominance.” Pp. 155-180 in Handbook of the Social Psychology of Inequality, edited by J. McLeod, E. Lawler, and M. L. Schwalbe. NY: Springer.