Sarah Giles

Courses Taught: Intro to Sociology, Research Methods

Research Interests: Aging, Policy, Race, and Inequality

Bio: Sadie’s main research interest throughout her graduate career has been in aging. Her M.S. thesis was rooted in cultural gerontology, which ultimately led to a deep interest in the interconnections between ageism and a complex policy history spanning back decades. As she gravitated towards critical gerontology, her research became more focused on policy and inequality. Sadie is currently working on her dissertation, which is a project on racial health disparities in old age with a focus on how policy-based resources translate to health equity or inequity Native American and Alaska Native elders. Sadie has also worked closely with Dr Toni Calasanti as a research assistant on various projects related to the study of aging over the past several years, including work on topics such as retirement migration and spousal caregiving and dementia.

Awards/Honors: •Carol Bailey Graduate Student Symposium Paper Award. Spring 2018. For “Under the Ageist Microscope: The Biomedicalization of Successful Aging.” With Jessica Herling.

 Professional Travel Award. Center for Gerontology and the Department of Human Development at Virginia Tech for travel to the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. New Orleans, LA, November 2016.

Presentations: • Giles, Sadie. A Confluence of Policy Inequality: Health Disparities in Old Age Among American Indian and Alaska Native Populations. Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. November 2020. (Moved to virtual format due to Covid19.)
• Calasanti Toni, Marion Repetti, and Sadie Giles. Retirement Migration: A way to evade social exclusion? To be presented at the 6th International REIACTIS Conference, “Inclusiveness in an Aging Society.” February, 2020. Metz, France.
• Maples, James, Sadie Giles, Michael Bradley, Brian Clark, Rhiannon Leebrick. Climbing out of Coal Country: The Economic Impact of Rock Climbing in West Virginia’s New River Gorge. Southern Sociological Society 2018 Annual Meeting. Atlanta, Ga. April 2019
• Giles, Sadie and Jessica Herling. Under the Ageist Microscope: The Biomedicalization of Successful Aging. American Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. August 2018. (Roundtable)
• Giles, Sadie. Sexy Seniors Aren’t Geezers: Redrawing the Boundaries of Old Age. IAGG 2017 World Congress. San Francisco, CA. July 2017.
• Giles, Sadie. Sexy Seniors Aren’t Geezers: Redrawing the Boundaries of Old Age. Southern Sociological Society 2017 Annual Meeting. Greenville, SC. March 2017.
• Giles, Sadie and Toni Calasanti. “Gray Matters: Privilege in the Age of #grannyhair.” Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting. New Orleans, LA, November 2016.

Publications: • Maples, James N., Michael J. Bradley, Sadie Giles, Rhiannon Leebrick, and Brian Clark. 2019. “The Economic Impact of Rock Climbing in West Virginia’s New River Gorge Region.” Journal of Appalachian Studies. 25(2):184-201.
• Calasanti, Toni and Sadie Giles. 2018. “The Challenge of Intersectionality.” Generations. 41(4): 69-74.

Twitter: @sadiegiles_soc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadiegiles