Gloria Martinez has been selected as the Best Professor of Hays County for the year 2022 by the San Marcos Daily Record. The Best of Hays Awards are given out each year in a multitude of categories and are voted on by members of the community.
Dr. Xi Pan
Dr. Xi Pan’s research focuses on social and environmental determinants of brain health, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Presently, she is leading a pilot project that involves partnering with colleagues and graduate students from TXST, University of Washington, and Yale University to examine the association of cognitive performance with exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighters, who are actively serving Central Texas. This pilot project is the first study in the nation to identify and quantify the PFAS-cognition relationship in firefighters.
Dr. Kotarba Fellowship & Frontier Health
Dr. Joe Kotarba presented a lecture on "Social, Cultural, and Economic Aspects of Frontier Medicine" to the faculty and students at the University of Lodz in Poland on May 15, 2025. Dr. Kotarba served as Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Sociology at the university during the spring semester. He conducted workshops on sociological perspectives on body, health and gender; the grounded theory method of qualitative research; and the implications of music in everyday life for wellness. Dr. Kotarba extended his research on frontier health to Poland and currently continues his examination of health issues and care delivery among emigrants from Belarus and Ukraine. His lecture and visit coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Economics and Sociology at the University of Lodz.
Dr. Kotarba's Study of Frontier Health in Far West Texas
Dr. Joe Kotarba, Professor of Sociology at Texas State University, is conducting a study of health issues and health care delivery in far West Texas. The Nursing Program in the School of Health Sciences at Sul Ross University in Alpine, Texas, is collaborating with this study. This study is one component of a broader project that seeks a sociological understanding of situations in which the emergence of an illness or injury is unpredictable and/or the availability of desired or effective medical intervention is problematic. A focus of this study, for example, is on health issues faced by recent retirees who leave urban residences to live in fairly remote places or small towns in very rural West Texas. Other examples of individuals encountering frontier health include NASA astronauts, early victims of COVID-19, tourists, emigrants, female participants in new professional team sports, and people who have had gender-affirming surgery. The Faculty Research Accelerator Program and the Center for International Studies at Texas State University provide support for this research.
Dr. Martinez named Best of Hays
Sociology Joins Bobcat Build
The Sociology Department participated in the University's Bobcat Build event. Sixteen students, staff and faculty members (one not pictured) came together to benefit the Hays County Community by clearing out brush, moving branches, washing windows and even (attempting to) remove a tree stump! Thank you to all who participated!
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Faculty Research
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