Professor Cheryl Johnson, Ph.D. makes research and learning personal and poignant

Cheryl L. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology, Criminology, and Human Services does just that. By sharing her perspective as a woman of color caught between multiple cultures, she makes research and learning personal and poignant. Born in Peru, Professor Johnson was adopted as a baby and raised by a family in the States. “I went back to Peru recently,” she shares. “But I didn’t really identify with my birth culture — I didn’t fit in, I don’t speak Spanish. It was this weird in between.”

This experience is what Professor Johnson refers to as “The Third Culture”, where an individual is born into one culture, but raised in another. In cases of adoption, this can lead a person to feel adrift, and like they don’t belong in any of their assigned spaces. “We intend to expand that for other sociological aspects, like disability, politics, and gender affiliation. It’s based on this “not being enough” concept.”

This fascinating concept served as the impetus for Professor Johnson to reach out to one of her high-performing students and make him an offer. “I received a faculty grant to work on a research project and present at a national conference. [This student] was a stellar student, I’d had him in multiple classes, and he always produced top-tier work. So I let him know that if I got it, he could work with me and get paid to help me do research.”

Professor Johnson and her student, rising junior Jason Viger, worked together at the end of the spring ’22 semester, with Jason completing the literature review while Professor Johnson was out of the country. Jason helped design the survey, added his own questions, as well as another crucial perspective, using his own experiences to support the research.

“[Jason] worked to code the data and we analyzed it together,” Professor Johnson explains. “He was in my qualitative analysis class last year, so it’s kind of an extension of that class.”

Professor Johnson typically selects up to two students to work one-on-one with each year, a dynamic made easy by the close-knit culture of Hartwick’s campus. “Because [Hartwick] is so small, faculty really gets the opportunity to work closely with students. They stop by the office to say hi, we see them in town. It’s more than just a professor/student relationship. You really get to know them and are happy for them when they succeed.”

The bonds Professor Johnson shares with her students will only continue to flourish as she looks ahead. “I like the opportunities that I’m able to work with students,” she says when asked about her upcoming projects. “In fact, I’m working with another student in the fall to research women in prisons.”