Jamie MacLennan

Jamie MacLennan, Ph.D., attended Rutgers University and completed his doctoral degree in sociology with a concentration in environmental sociology.  His doctoral dissertation consists of an analysis of the social processes occurring among Appalachian Trail long-distance hikers.  As a part of his data collection effort, he spent 6 months hiking the entire 2,172.6-mile Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.  Since then, Dr. MacLennan has continued researching the strange behaviors of long-distance hikers, as well as engaging in research locally on the attributions for racial inequality among African Americans in South Georgia.  He teaches courses in the areas of environmental sociology, natural resources, health and medicine, and social justice.

Joseph Comeau

Dr. Comeau holds a M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and earned a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Texas in 2012. He joined the Georgia Southwestern State University Department of Psychology and Sociology in 2013. His interests include race and ethnicity, sociological theory, and belief in the paranormal. When he isn’t teaching, Dr. Comeau spends time with his family, enjoying good coffee, making YouTube videos about his beloved Arizona Cardinals, pondering ghosts, and occasionally playing music.

Interests: race/ethnicity, education, inequality, Social Theory

Gary Fisk

Gary Fisk received a BA degree from Luther College (Decorah, IA) with majors in Psychology and Anthropology. His doctoral degree is from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he studied limbic cortex in rats and driving safety in people with brain injuries. Currently, his scholarly interests are unconscious perceptual processing and designing PowerPoint presentations that promote student learning. Dr. Fisk teaches Statistics, Biopsychology, and Sensation/Perception.

Debaleena Ghosh

Hailing from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), India, Dr. Debaleena Ghosh earned her B.A. at St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, and M.A. at the University of Calcutta—both degrees in Sociology. Subsequently, she earned her second M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology, and Graduate Certificate in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Dr. Ghosh’s areas of expertise broadly entail the sociology of gender, race/ethnicity, work, occupations and organizations, immigration, culture, social inequalities, intersectionality, and qualitative methods. Driven by her own experiences in the classroom, her doctoral research explored how gender, race, national origin, ethnic culture, and foreign-born status intersect to determine the social and professional standing of immigrant (i.e., foreign-born) professors in U.S. academia. Her other ongoing projects explore “moral panics” pertaining to immigration in the U.S., the “fitting in” of immigrants in the American fabric via cultural processes, and Bollywood’s role in redefining Indian masculinity, among many others. 

Dr. Ghosh has published both research and book reviews in notable peer-reviewed journals, such as Sociological Perspectives and Gender & Society, and currently serves on the editorial board of Social Sciences. Additionally, Dr. Ghosh has an extensive teaching experience of more than 13 years, both in India and the United States. At GSW, she teaches introduction to sociology, sociology of family, human sexuality, gender and society, and research methods.

Sally Merritt

Dr. Merritt received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Tulane University in 2021, and her Master’s degree in 2019. She has a B.A. in art history from the College of Charleston. Dr. Merritt teaches courses on social psychology, cross-cultural psychology, experimental psychology, and introductory psychology. Dr. Merritt has three main areas of research: the social psychology of communication, issues of discrimination in the workplace, and belonging/persistence in STEM for underrepresented groups. Dr. Merritt has presented original research at national and international conferences including the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the Association for Psychological Science, and the International Convention of Psychological Science.

Debbie Palmer

Dr. Palmer is a developmental psychologist with interests in studying family relationships during adolescence and young adulthood across a variety of contexts, such as chronic disease management and academic activities. Dr. Palmer began researching at College of Charleston, where she earned a B.S. in Psychology. She later completed a master’s degree in General (Experimental) Psychology at East Tennessee State University. Next, she worked as an Information Research Technician for two years in the Department of Family Medicine within the James H. Quillen College of Medicine at East Tennessee State University. Later, she enrolled at the University of Utah’s doctoral program in Developmental Psychology where she explored pediatric psychology and family dynamics in the management of type 1 diabetes. She became a faculty member in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in August, 2003, and defended her dissertation in May, 2004. After 16 years as a faculty member, she took a position as a faculty member in the Department of Psychology and Sociology at GSW in August of 2019. This relocation provided Dr. Palmer an opportunity to be closer to family in the southeast. Dr. Palmer regularly teaches Psych 1101, Psych 2103, Psych 4402, Psych 4407, and has recently begun supervising the department’s Psychology and Sociology internship program. Dr. Palmer has published in journals such as Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Developmental Review, Journal of Family Psychology, and Children’s Health Care.