Assistant Professor of Sociology
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Email: jfan@ualr.edu
501-916-3173
Stabler Hall 405-I
Specializations:
Social Networks, Sociology of Technology, Statistics and Quantitative Methods, Photo/Video Ethnography, Self and Identity, Mental Health, Africa & Asia
Dr. Jiabin Fan received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology from Louisiana State University in 2022 and joined the faculty at UA Little Rock in fall of that year. Her research interests include social networks, new media, mental health, and science and technology studies, particularly in Asia and the developing world. In particular, her work attempts to shed light how the structure of social ties in concert with the meanings that inhere in social relations can combine to affect one’s self-concept and psychological well-being. Her recent study investigates the way in which offline interaction, digital communication, and structural characteristics of personal networks interact with social support to influence mental health among college students in China.
In addition to the core aspect of her research, Dr. Fan also enjoys participating in interdisciplinary collaborations. She has been working with public health scholars to examine the community cooperation in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The project investigates the new forms of cooperation people develop in the face of disaster when they cannot easily come together in traditional days. She is a mixed methodologist. Her preferred methodologies are photo/video ethnography and quantitative methods. Her work has appeared in various peer-reviewed journals, including Sociological Forum, Sociological Bulletin, and Journal of Biosocial Science.
Dr. Fan believes in service as well. She has served as an officer of the Arkansas Sociological and Anthropological Association (ASAA) and on the Southwestern Sociological Association (SSA) Executive Council. She is also the faculty advisor of the Sociology Club and the reviewer of the Ethnograpfilm Festival.
Teaching Areas:
Alongside her research and service, Dr. Fan teaches Social Statistics, Research Methods, Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Disaster, Video Ethnography, and Self, Identity, and Society.
Select Publications:
Shrum, Wesley, Mark Walker, Jiabin Fan, Paul Mbatia, Paige Miller, Matthew Harsh, Jonathan Yevuyibor, and Mark Schafer. 2023. “Tough Ties and Rough Networks: Inequality and Exploitation in African Slums.” Sociological Forum 38(2): 375-94.
Fan, Jiabin, Oliver Garretson, Antony Palackal, Paige Miller, and Wesley Shrum. 2020. “Bounded Solidarity and Mobile Technology: The Decline of Core Networks in South India.” Sociological Bulletin 69(2):191-214.
Stroope, Samuel, Rhiannon Kroeger, and Jiabin Fan. 2020. “Women’s Health in India and the Role of Dowry as Gender Context: Results from a National Multilevel Study.” Journal of Biosocial Science 53(4):508-21.
Garretson, Oliver, Jiabin Fan, Paul N. Mbatia, Paige Miller, and Wesley Shrum. 2018. “When Family Replaced Friendship: Mobile Communication and Network Change in Kenya.” Sociological Forum 33(4):900-23.
