About

About Me

My name is Joss Greene (he/him pronouns). I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Davis.

I use intersectional approaches to study how gender boundaries are regulated, navigated, and transformed.  I have examined this topic through research on transgender people’s experiences with prisons, parole boards, reentry housing, community-based nonprofits, and workplaces.  I have published work in the American Journal of Sociology, Signs, Social Problems, Theoretical Criminology, and Theory & Society, among other journals.  My book about histories of trans existence and resistance in California prisons is under contract with the University of California Press and will be published in 2025. My newest work is a community-engaged research project about activism during the COVID-19 pandemic.   

Before beginning my doctoral studies, I worked at a high school in the San Francisco Bay Area and performed as a dancer. For the past decade I have been involved in social movement organizations, such as Survived & Punished NY and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, where I served as a core collective member. I am currently a member of the California Coalition for Women Prisoners and on the board of directors for Lyon-Martin Community Health clinic.

Education

  • Ph.D. Sociology, Columbia University, 2021
  • M.A. Sociology, Columbia University, 2016
  • M.A. Women’s & Gender Studies, Rutgers University, 2015
  • B.A. History and Gender Studies (double major), Scripps College, 2011

Selected Awards and Professional Highlights

  • Publication Award for Significant Contributions to Applied and Public Sociology, ASA Section on Sociological Practice and Public Sociology, 2022
  • Research Justice at the Intersections Scholar, Mills College, 2021-2022
  • Arlene Kaplan Daniels Paper Award for the best paper on women and social justice, Society for the Study of Social Problems, 2020
  • Dr. Devon T. Wade Mentorship and Service Award, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, Columbia University, 2019
  • Dissertation Fellowship, Center for Engaged Scholarship, 2018-2019
  • Charles Tilly Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship, Sociology Department, Columbia University, 2017