Amy J. BinderAmy Binder is a professor at the University of California San Diego in the Department of Sociology. Amy Binder received her BA in Anthropology from Stanford University and her MA and PhD in Sociology from Northwestern University. Her principal esearch interests are in the areas of higher education, politics, cultural sociology, and organizations. One strand of her recent work focuses on the links between private universities and high-status first jobs, as exemplified in her award-winning article, “Career Funneling: How Elite Students Learn to Define and Desire ‘Prestigious’ Jobs” (in Sociology of Education, 2016). In other work, she has studied the influences of college campuses on students’ political ideas, styles, and action. Her second book Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives (Princeton University Press, 2013) established her reputation as an expert on political socialization and higher education, and her current research studying college students across the political spectrum will advance our understanding of millennial political actors. At UC San Diego, she has served as director of graduate studies for the Department of Sociology and was a founding member and organizer of an interdisciplinary workshop called The Workshop for the Study of Conservative Movements. From 2019-2022 she will serve as chair of the department. She has co-organized four UCSD Culture Conferences, resulting in a widely read special issue of The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. In other activities, Professor Binder served as the 2014-2015 Chair of the Sociology of Education section of the American Sociological Association, is a member of the Scholars Strategy Network, and recently completed a three-year term as deputy editor of the journal Sociology of Education. Professor Binder is a board member and chair of the Board Affairs Committee for The Preuss School, UC San Diego’s award-winning charter middle and high school for first-generation college-goers. Read More Read Less