Nathan Fosse

Graduate Student in Sociology

Biographical Note

Nathan Fosse's research focuses on social demography (family formation and fertility intention) and health disparities over the life course. His research agenda is to incorporate symbolic meaning into analyses of the sociobiological processes of reproduction and physical decay. Previous research has attempted to extend this work. Prior and current research projects include the following: 1) the meaning of infidelity and inner-city sex codes, 2) inner-city men's prospective attitudes toward fatherhood and their cultural resources for caring for their progeny, 3) health disparities as a function of social exclusion in adolescence, 4) racial and ethnic health disparities within the context of the "war on terror." Future projects will continue along similar lines of cultural demography.

10/28/2007

Research Interests

sociology of the family, sociology of health, cultural sociology

Previous Degrees

B.A. Psychology

Qualifying Paper Title

Sex and the Inner City: "Boundary Work" and Infidelity Among the Truly Disadvantaged

Committee

Michele Lamont, Neil Gross, Bill Wilson

Abstract

Recent research on urban poverty has begun to document the cultural heterogeneity in the inner-city, emphasizing and documenting a range of potential cultural models of behavior. However, previous research has not sufficiently examined low-income men’s behaviors from an actor-centered, boundary work perspective. This paper provides a new approach to understanding inner-city sexual risk by showing how men construct personal and partner identities around their decisions to remain in a committed relationship. First, responses show that men rarely view infidelity as part of a lifestyle, but instead view it as a way to gain control in unstable relationships and to keep one’s options “open.” Conditional on establishing trust, most men report desiring long-term conjugal ties. Second, responses reveal the conceptual limitations the idealization of “mainstream” and “subcultural” cultural modes, particularly when these concepts are used to describe the worldviews of the poorest members of the inner-city: men’s understandings of themselves and their sexuality are a part of mainstream society, not in opposition to it.

Prospectus Title

Fathers, Sons, and Daughters: the Intergenerational Transfer of "Leveled" Aspirations

Committee

Michele Lamont, William Julius Wilson, Kathy Edin

Abstract

Abstract: This dissertation draws upon research on family formation and fertility intention among urban, black men, to more rigorously examine how inner-city men perceive and anticipate the life chances of their progeny. Prior work has examined the "leveling" of aspirations among the inner-city poor, but less research has fully examined what economically-disadvantaged parents expect of their children's life chances, and moreover, how they expect to raise children of moral worth. Main issues addressed in this project include: 1) how fathers percieve the mobility chances of their children, 2) fathers' own perceptions of their resources to care for their children, and 3) the strategies they employ to provide their children with cultural and economic capital. This work, then, is an extension of prior research examining the intergernational transfer of expectations and moral identity, focusing in particular on how these cultural models are transferred from disadvantaged parents to their offspring.

Miscellaneous Additional Information

Optional Sections on General Exams

Culture, Gender

Oral Exam Topic

The Sociology of Health Disparities

Software Skills

Stata, SAS, SPSS, Atlas.ti, Tetrad

Conferences at Which I've Made Presentations

PRESENTATIONS Fosse, Nathan. “Class, Aspirations, and Cultural Models of Parenthood Among the Urban Poor.” Paper to be presented at the Cultural Sociology Workshop. Cambridge, MA. November 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Sex and the Inner City: ‘Boundary Work’ and Fidelity Among the Truly Disadvantaged.” Paper presented at the Lamont Working Group. Cambridge, MA, April 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Fertility Intention Among Low-Income Men: the Roles of Bonding and Redemption Narratives.” Invited lecture to Harvard Extension School course on Love and Intimacy, taught by Prof. Neil Gross. April, 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Prospective Fertility Intention Among Low-Income Men: the Roles of Bonding and Redemption Narratives.” Presentation at the Children and Family Workshop at Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. April 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Nothin’ Ain’t Promised Except Death: the Phenomenology of Ghetto Violence.” Paper Presented at the inaugural meeting of Interrogating Diversity: Understanding Issues of Contemporary Surveillance and Policing.” Washington, D.C. March 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Fertility Intention Among Low-Income Men: the Roles of Bonding and Redemption Narratives.” Presentation in regular session at the Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. February 2007.
Fosse, Nathan. “Youth and Delinquency in the Boston Area.” Invited Lecture to the Staff and Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Youth Services (DYS). December, 2006.
Fosse, Nathan. “Understanding Sexual Risk and Fatherhood Among Marginalized Youth.” Invited Lecture to the Boston Area Network on Fatherhood and Social Policy. To be presented November 15, 2006.
Gabler, Jay; Jason Kaufman; Nathan Fosse. “Information, Aspirations, and Cultural Capital in the College Attainment Process: Application, Admission, and Matriculation at Elite and Non-Elite Schools.” General session on “Inequality and Culture” at the American Sociological Association annual meetings. Montreal, Canada. August 2006.
Haas, Steven, and Nathan Fosse. “The Influence of Health on the Academic Achievement and Educational Attainment of Adolescents: Evidence from the NLSY97.” General session of “Health and Adolescence” at the American Sociological Association annual meetings. Montreal, Canada. August 2006.
Haas, Steven, and Nathan Fosse. “The Influence of Health on the Academic Achievement and Educational Attainment of Adolescents: Evidence from the NLSY97.” Poster presented at the session “Children and Youth, Adolescence, Parents, Transition to Adulthood, Life Course” at the Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America. Los Angeles, CA. March 2006.
Fosse, Nathan. “Mortality, Money, Mistrust, and Status: Causes of Sexual Infidelity Among Inner-City Black Men.” Paper presented at the regular session “Race, Gender, and Culture” at the Annual Meetings of the Eastern Sociological Association. Boston, MA. February 2006.
Fosse, Nathan. “Mortality, Money, Mistrust, and Status: Causes of Sexual Infidelity Among Inner-City Black Men.” Paper presented at the Harvard University Sociology Department Graduate Research Colloquium. Cambridge, MA. November 2005.
Hass, Steven, and Nathan Fosse. “The Influence of Health on the Academic Achievement and Educational Attainment of Adolescents: Evidence from the NLSY97.” Paper presented at the regular session “Educational Attainment” at the Annual Meetings of the Eastern Sociological Association. Boston, MA. February 2006.
Fosse, Nathan. “Extracurricular Activities and Educational Attainment.” Paper presented at the regular session “Inequality and Culture” at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association. Philadelphia, PA. August 2005.
Fosse, Nathan. “Cultural Capital and High School Educational Attainment.” Paper presented at the Interim Research Committee on Communication, Knowledge, and Culture of the International Sociology Association. San Antonio, TX. March 2005.
Fosse, Nathan. “What’s in an A?: The Collective Evaluation of Undergraduate Performance.” Paper presented at the regular session “Sociology of Education: Organizational Issues in Higher Education” at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association. San Francisco, CA. August 2004.
Fosse, Nathan. “What’s in an A? An Immanent Critique of the Collective Evaluation of Undergraduate Work.” Paper presented at the Harvard University Sociology Department Graduate Research Colloquium. Cambridge, MA. May 2004.
Fosse, Nathan. “Preliminary Studies of the Impact of an Economic Manipulation of Trust on Team Problem-Solving. Paper Presented at the Harvard University Sociology Department Graduate Research Colloquium. Cambridge, MA. September 2003.
Fosse, Nathan. “The Effect of Trust on Cooperative Behavior.” Poster presented at the Sigma Xi Student Research Conference. Galveston, TX. November 2002.
Fosse, Nathan, Lauren Murphy; Jessica Perry; Elizabeth Ratcliff; and Kip Smith. “The Effect of an Economic Manipulation of Trust on Cooperative Behavior.” Paper presented at the Oklahoma-Kansas Society for Judgment and Decision Making Annual Meeting. Oklahoma City, OK. April 2002.

Contact

617-496-3695 (Phone)
617-496-5794 (FAX)

563 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138