Biography
Courtney Marciá Gardner is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. Her primary research areas are sociology of health and medicine, mental health, and social inequalities.
Courtney’s research examines positive aspects of intersectional race and gender identities. Her dissertation and related projects focus on how Black transgender and nonbinary young adults in Florida cultivate joy in their lives. Her dissertation was awarded the American Sociological Association’s Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (ASA DDRIG) for 2024-2025 for her project, “Advancing Beyond Deficit Models: How Joy is Cultivated among Black Transgender and Nonbinary Young Adults in Florida.” Her other research projects examine humor and media representations of masculine queer identities, and are published in the American Journal of Criminal Justice.