PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] – The American Sociological Association has selected PSTC Alumnae Karida Brown as this year's recipient of the Association's Best Dissertation Award. Her dissertation, Before They Were Diamonds, traces the formation of an African American mining community in Eastern Kentucky, and its transformation into a diasporic community when the mines closed and the Civil Rights Movement created mobility opportunities.

Brown graduated from Brown University in 2016 and is now Assistant Professor of Sociology at UCLA. She will be presented with the award in August during the ASA's annual meeting in Montreal.