Devon Goss
Associate Professor of Sociology
Devon Goss is a sociologist specializing in the areas of race and ethnicity, education, the family, and popular culture. She completed her PhD at the University of Connecticut in Sociology with a graduate certificate in Feminist Studies.
Much of her research centers on the experiences of those who cross racial boundaries. Her co-authored book with SunAh Laybourn, Diversity in Black Greek-Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line (2018), explored non-Black members of African American sororities and fraternities. Previously, she documented the impact of racial ideology on members of transracial families, the experiences of white students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities, the racial motivations of white expats in Mexico, and how colleges and universities narrativize their histories with enslavement. Her current project explores the experiences of non-white Taylor Swift fans.
Education
BA| University of Portland| 2009
MS| Lewis & Clark College| 2012
MA| University of Connecticut| 2014
PhD| University of Connecticut| 2018
Courses Taught
SOC 101: Introduction to Sociology
SOC 247: Racial and Ethnic Relations
SOC 260: Sociology of Sports
SOC 307E: Sociology of Education
DSC 101: Sociology (Taylor's Version)
Publications
- Goss, Devon R., Sydney Gitlitz*, and Cheyenne Ross. 2026. "Institutional Narratives of Enslavement in Higher Education." Race and Social Problems 18(1).
- Goss, Devon R. 2022. "The Complexities of Mixed Families: Transracial Adoption as a Humanitarian Project." Genealogy 6(2): 33.
- Goss, Devon R. 2021. “Using Institutional Archives to Unsettle Racial Pasts.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 7(4): 594-599.
- Goss, Devon R. 2021. “Ivory in an Ebony Tower: How White Students at HBCUs Negotiate their Whiteness.” Identities 28(6): 674-689.
- Gonzalez-Sobrino, Bianca, and Devon R. Goss, eds. 2019. The Mechanisms of Racialization Beyond the Black/White Binary. New York: Routledge.
- Goss, Devon R. 2019. "'It's Like Going Back in Time: How White Retirees Use Expatriation to Reclaim White Dominance." Sociological Perspecties 62(4): 538-553.
- Laybourn, SunAh M., and Devon R. Goss. 2018. Diversity in Black Greek-Letter Organizations: Breaking the Line. New York: Routledge.
- Goss, Devon R. 2018. “‘People’s Heads Don’t Even Go There:’ Public Perceptions to Transracial Familial Intimacy.” The Sociological Quarterly 59(1): 111-127.
- Hughey, Matthew W., and Devon R. Goss. 2018. “Sociological Interpretations of the Relationship and Influence between W.E.B. Du Bois and Max Weber.” The American Sociologist 49(2): 181-217.
- Laybourn, SunAh M., Devon R. Goss, and Matthew W. Hughey. 2017. “‘You’re Either One of Us or You’re Not:’ Racial Hierarchy and Non-Black Members of Black Greek-Letter Organizations.” Sociology of Race and Ethnicity 3(4): 552-565.
- Goss, Devon R., W. Carson Byrd, and Matthew W. Hughey. 2017. “Racial Authenticity and Familial Acceptance Among Transracial Adoptees: A Bothersome Bargain of Belonging.” Symbolic Interaction 40(2): 147-168.
- Hughey, Matthew W., and Devon R. Goss. 2015. “A Level Playing Field? Media Constructions of Athletics, Genetics, and Race.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 661(1): 182-211.
* Coauthorship with an Oxford College undergraduate student