I am an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Utah and an affiliate of the Health, Society & Policy (HSP) program. My research centers on the psychological effects of inequality, with a focus on common mental health conditions such as major depression. I am especially interested in so-called “mental health paradoxes” that traditional theories of stratification cannot easily explain.
In a related stream of research, I examine inequalities in cognitive health, including conditions like Alzheimer’s disease that are becoming more common in the United States as the Baby Boomer generation reaches older adulthood. I see mental and cognitive health as two cases in which, as Pierre Bourdieu put it, “social structure is made into mental structure.”
My work lies at the intersection of medical sociology, social psychology, inequality, and culture. Other areas of interest include classical and contemporary social theory, political sociology, and sociology of modernity.
I received a Ph.D. in sociology from Indiana University in 2023. Prior to that, I earned an M.S. in sociology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where I served as a predoctoral trainee at the National Institute on Aging. I also hold a B.A. in sociology from Oberlin College.
I have an active interest in pedagogy (see Teaching) and have published in Teaching Sociology. Feel free to get in touch at max.coleman@utah.edu.