Carrie Lane Chet

American Studies faculty member is dissertation award finalist

Carrie Lane Chet, assistant professor of American studies, was one of five finalists for the American Studies Association’s Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize for 2005.

Her doctoral dissertation, "What I’m Worth: White-Collar Unemployment in a New Economy," was an ethnographic study of unemployed white-collar high-technology workers. Chet found that today’s high-tech workers are better prepared -- emotionally, financially and professionally -- to manage prolonged unemployment than were previous generations of laid-off professionals. She also concluded that workers’ individualism and their faith in the market economy shape their views of broader issues such as globalization, labor activism and economic inequality.

Chet completed her dissertation and received her doctorate in American studies at Yale. She teaches "Introduction to American Studies," "American Character," "The Search for Community" and "Ethnography and American Culture."

"I am thrilled with this honor, particularly because I believe the ASA’s decision to include my dissertation among the finalists reflects the growing importance of ethnographic fieldwork to American Studies," Chet said.

The Ralph Henry Gabriel Dissertation Prize winner was Alyosha Goldstein for his dissertation, "Civic Poverty: An Empire for Liberty through Community Action," which he completed at New York University. The prize has been awarded annually since 1987.

Members of the American Studies Association, which was chartered in 1951, include teachers and others whose interests extend beyond their specialties, faculty and students associated with American Studies programs in colleges and secondary schools, museum directors and librarians interested in all segments of American life, public officials and administrators concerned with the broadest aspects of education.