Skowhegan Native Outstanding Grad in UMaine College

Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571, joe.carr@umit.maine.edu

ORONO — Emily Yearwood of Skowhegan, Maine, has been named the Outstanding Graduating Student in the University of Maine College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

She will graduate May 8 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology.

Yearwood majored in sociology with a minor in psychology. She transferred to UMaine as a sophomore who was undecided about her major until she started taking sociology courses.

“I like the idea of looking at group dynamics in a social context,” says Yearwood. “What drew me to sociology was the opportunity to look at your place in the world. With sociology, I’m constantly able to apply what I learn to my own life and the world around me.”

In her junior year, Yearwood was a teaching assistant and a research assistant to sociology professor Kim Huisman, and in her senior year, to sociology professor Amy Blackstone. Her research in collaboration with faculty included work on sexual harassment and the Somali Narrative Project.

“Research opened my eyes and made me want to apply to grad school,” Yearwood says.

Last year, a paper she wrote reflecting on her field research for a methods class was published in the scholarly journal “Contexts.”

Yearwood received the 2010 Marcia Smargon Kornetsky Sociology Prize and a Sociology Department Service Award. She was a member of the Sociology Club that led a book drive for the global literacy group Better World Books.

After graduation, she plans to take time off and eventually pursue graduate school.

Yearwood is the daughter of Susan Bruce and Jim Yearwood.