College of Arts and Sciences

Education:

• PhD, Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago
• BA, Psychology, Case Western Reserve University

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

Medical education, the social construction of bodies and emotions, and the politics of scientific knowledge production

Bio:

Kelly Underman received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Underman was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine prior to joining the faculty at Drexel. She is a qualitative researcher whose interests include medical education, the social construction of bodies and emotions, and the politics of scientific knowledge production. Dr. Underman is the author of Feeling Medicine: How the Pelvic Exam Shapes Medical Training (NYU Press, 2020). Her work has also been published in Social Science & Medicine, Gender & Society and Sociological Forum. Her awards include the Simmons Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Sociological Association Medical Sociology Section.

Selected Publications:

• Underman, Kelly. 2020. Feeling Medicine: How the Pelvic Exam Shapes Medical Training. New York University Press: New York, NY.
• Jenkins, Tania M.*, Kelly Underman*, Alexandra H. Vinson, Lauren D. Olsen, and Laura E. Hirshfield. 2021. “The Resurgence of Medical Education in Sociology: A Return to Our Roots and an Agenda for the Future,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 62(3): 255-270. *denotes equal authorship
• Vinson, Alexandra H., and Kelly Underman. 2020. “Clinical Empathy as Emotional Labor in Medical Work.” Social Science and Medicine, 251: 112904.
• Underman, Kelly, and Laura E. Hirshfield. 2016. “Detached Concern?: Emotional Socialization in Twenty-First Century Medical Education.” Social Science & Medicine, 160: 94–101.
• Underman, Kelly. 2015. “Playing Doctor: Simulation in Medical School as Affective Practice.” Social Science & Medicine, 136: 180-188.