Jennifer Bulanda

Jennifer Roebuck Bulanda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Scripps Research Fellow at the Scripps Gerontology Center, Miami University. Her research focuses on family relationships, health outcomes, aging, and the life course, with a particular emphasis on marital quality, gender dynamics, and later-life health trajectories. Bulanda holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Bowling Green State University, with concentrations in family studies, demography, and quantitative methods.

Her teaching portfolio includes courses such as Sociology in a Global Perspective, Medical Sociology, Social Forces and Aging, and Population Studies. Her academic contributions address topics like vaccine opposition during the COVID-19 pandemic, team-based learning methodologies, and intergenerational family dynamics.

Research trends in her publications emphasize marital relationships across the life course, the intersection of family structures and health disparities, and the sociological implications of aging. Key themes include gender differences in mental health outcomes, the role of religion in family life, and demographic shifts in cohabitation patterns among older adults.

Bulanda’s work has been published in journals such as Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, and Teaching Sociology. She actively explores policy-relevant issues, including unpaid parental leave challenges and healthcare justice in the U.S.