Brooke Dinsmore

Brooke Dinsmore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology at Christopher Newport University (CNU). Her research focuses on race and class inequality, youth development, and the impact of digital technologies on educational dynamics. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Virginia, alongside an MA and BA in Sociology from the University of Virginia and Connecticut College respectively.

• Education:
• PhD in Sociology, University of Virginia
• MA in Sociology, University of Virginia
• BA in Sociology, Connecticut College

Her work examines how organizational cultures in schools reproduce or challenge inequalities, with a focus on teacher-student relationships and digital technology integration. She employs mixed methods including ethnography, interviews, and surveys, adapting methodologies to capture offline-online social interactions. Notable projects include studying relational cultures in high schools and the role of surveillance in childhood well-being.

Grants include a NSF Rapid Response Grant ($150k) for pandemic-era research on teacher-student relationships and a NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant ($16k). Her awards include the All University Graduate Teaching Award and Bierstedt Prize for best graduate paper.

Current projects explore how school environments shape racialized interactions and the methodological challenges of studying digital-era social dynamics. She has pioneered virtual tour methodologies for capturing youth peer cultures in hybrid online-offline spaces.