Education: M.A., Sociology, 2020, University of North Texas

Provisional Dissertation Title: "Refugee Service Organizations and Ambiguous State Policy: A Qualitative Comparison of Organizational Fields in Two Resettlement Cities in Texas"

Research Interests: Deborah Fessenden's research agenda examines questions at the intersection of immigration and organizational studies with a focus on refugees. She is a qualitative researcher who employs ethnographic methods, including interviews, participant observation, and content analysis to understand complex dynamics within the institutions of immigration in the U.S. Her dissertation addresses core sociological debates over the influence of public policies on organizational practices and goals at the local level, examining how refugee service organizations may enforce, understand, and/or contest policy mandates in the organizational fields in Dallas and Amarillo.

Selected Publications:
Fessenden, Deborah, William J. Scarborough, and Nathalia Hernández Vidal. 2022. "Online Feminism." In The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, 2nd ed., vol. 4, edited by David A. Snow, Donatella della Porta, Bert Klandermans, and Doug McAdam. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Scarborough, William J., Deborah Fessenden, and Ray Sin. 2021. "Convergence or Divergence? The Generational Gap in Gender Attitudes, 1977-2018." Pp. 73-94 in Advances in Gender Research, vol. 30, Gender and Generations: Continuity and Change, edited by Vasilikie Demos and Marcia Texler Segal. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.