Oana Dan

Graduate Student in Sociology

Biographical Note

Oana was born in Bucharest, Romania, where she lived until she finished high school. With a strong (and mandatory) background in Mathematics and Physics, Oana chose to enroll at Middlebury College, a liberal arts school in Vermont, because she desired the freedom to explore more academic options, especially in the social sciences. At Middlebury, Oana took her first sociology classes and double majored in Sociology and French, with a minor in Mathematics. Her honors thesis in Sociology used qualitative methods (mainly interviews) to analyze the symbolic adaptation of the hippie counterculture to the contemporary political and economic context, as evidenced by the members of one of the social clubs on campus. While at Middlebury, Oana engaged in numerous sociological activities, from researching and writing a project on human trafficking in Romania to working in social services in The Bronx, NY. Oana’s fluency in French allowed her to study for a semester in Paris, France, at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (“Sciences Po”). There, she discovered her interest in political science and especially in European Union politics. She also became aware of the indelible bond between sociology and political science, which provided fertile ground for her future research. After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Middlebury in 2005, Oana began her doctoral training in Sociology at Harvard, where she is now a third year. She is currently working on her qualifying paper, which analyzes the individual and country-level determinants of the sense of European Union citizenship. While her qualifying paper is quantitative, she plans to conduct qualitative work on a similar topic for her dissertation. In general, her work, from neo-hippies to European citizens, pursues her interest in political sociology and in cultural adaptation to contemporary political contexts.

10/07/2008

Research Interests

Political sociology, globalization, transnational institutions, citizenship; civil society; policy and political marketing; the European Union.

Previous Degrees

BA in Sociology and French (Middlebury College, 2005)

Miscellaneous Additional Information

Optional Sections on General Exams

Political sociology, Culture

Contact

(617) 495-4303 x277 (Phone)
617-496-5794 (FAX)

Center for European Studies LL9

Office Hours

Wednesdays 2-4