About

Dr. Kelsey Kramer (she/they) joined the Department of Sociology at Bates College as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Fall 2025. Their research broadly examines the social and structural determinants that shape punishment in the criminal legal system. Currently, she is focused on the development of Fat Criminology (FC), an emerging subfield that examines how bodies (particularly fat bodies)—as they intersect with other social locations—are constructed, surveilled, criminalized, and ultimately punished. This work draws on sociology, criminology and criminal justice, law, fat studies, gender studies, and public health knowledge. Dr. Kramer primarily conducts quantitative research using large administrative datasets, but has experience with evaluation, survey, and qualitative methods (e.g., interviews, focus groups, & systematic social observations).

Before joining the faculty at Bates College, Dr. Kramer worked as a Senior Research Associate for the Public Policy Research Institute at Texas A&M University, contributing to research and evaluation projects funded by the National Science Foundation, National Council on Aging, Federal Health Resources and Services Administration, and the Federal Department of Education. Before that, she worked as a Research Analyst for one of the U.S.’s largest county misdemeanor criminal courts with a focus on improving evidence-based decision-making for court administration and actors. Experiences from both careers inform their research and pedagogy.

Education:

BS, Utah State University

MS, Arizona State University

Ph.D., Sam Houston State University

K. Kramer CV

Selected Publications: 

The Geography of Race and Ethnicity Effects in Federal Sentencing: A Descriptive and Spatial Analysis

Examining the Sentencing of American Indian Women in US Federal District Courts

Assessing Cumulative Disadvantage against Minority Female Defendants in State Courts