About Me
About Morgan
Morgan Montañez is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Radford University where she is also the Director of the Center for Social and Cultural Research. In addition, she is a director on the board of the National Center for Frontier Communities where she hold the elected office of Secretary and is chair of our policy and research working groups. She has a PhD in Sociology focused on structural racism and rural poverty from Washington State University. She is also an active member of the Rural Sociological Society (RSS) where she serves on the Diversity Committee (2024-2027) & as liaison to the Nomination Committee (2024-2025). She is also the Chair of the Rural Race and Ethnicity Research Interest Group of RSS (term fall 2023-2027). Additionally, she is the author of a scholarly, sole-authored book "We Don’t Have That: Race, Infrastructure, and Healthcare in Rural New Mexico" under contract with Bloomsbury Academic (forthcoming 2027).
Academic Employment
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Director of the Center for Social and Cultural Research
Radford University
2024-Present
Project Manager
Social and Economic Sciences Research Center- Washington State University
Full Time: 2023-2024
Research Assistant 2022-2023
Part-Time Faculty
Central New Mexico Community College
2021-2023
Education
Academic Background
PhD Sociology
Washington State University - 2023
MA Applied Cultural Anthropology
Oregon State University- 2017
BA Cultural Anthropology with a Minor in Sociology
University of Colorado, Denver -2014
Associates of Arts and Sciences
Arapahoe Community College- 2012
Current Highlights
Publications, Current Research, and Recent Fellowships
Peer Reviewed Publications
Montañez, Morgan. 2025. ““Medical…We don’t have that”: (Not) Accessing Healthcare in Rural New Mexico.” Journal of Rural Studies.119: 1-10. 103769.
Montañez, Morgan. 2024. “Nowhere Else to Go” Housing Insecurity in a Hispanic-Majority, Rural County During the Covid-19 Pandemic.” Rural Sociology. 89(1): 106-129.
Current Research
Losing Access in Rural Virginia. PI on project in Buchanan County, Virginia looking at access to aid programs and healthcare in the face of changed social safety net. Project supported by $10,000 SEED Grant from Radford University. (2025- Present)
Virginia 211— Tracking Access to help in Virginia Counties. PI on project that utilizes intake data from Virginia’s 211 social service connections phone calls. The dataset spanning between 2019 and 2024, includes monthly call logs including qualitative intake data on what services were requested and which they were able to make referrals to. With the aid of undergraduate research assistants and interns, we are coding this qualitative data to assess which service needs were unable to be addressed. Dataset includes more than 1,5 million entries. Project outcomes include mapping for the State of Virginia to illustrate areas that are underserved and where specific services are needed.
Fellowships
Elevate Research Faculty Fellowship. 2026-2027 Academic Year. ($1000 and Student Mentorship Support for 1 Class).
Radford University RISE Fellowship 2025-2026 ($2,500) Training in course development and support for revamping a course. Accepted to 2026 Cohort.
Radford University LIFT Fellowship Spring 2025. ($1,000) Training in course development and support for updating Survey Research Methods.
Professional Leadership
National Center for Frontier Communities. Board of Directors. Elected position. (September 2024-Present)
-
Secretary (January 2026-Present).
-
Chair of the Research Committee (January 2026-Present).
-
Interim Chair of the Policy Committee (January 2026-Present).
Rural Sociology Society. Executive Committee Member “Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion.” (2024-2028)
-
RSS Diversity Committee Liasson to the Nominations Committee.” (2024-2026)
Rural Sociology Society. Chair of the Rural Race and Ethnicity Research Interest Group. Elected Position (2023-2025; 2025-2027).
Community Work
Election Worker- City of Radford (2024- Present)
Consultant- Nourish at Beans and Rice Food Pantry (2025-Present)
Upcoming...
Montañez, Morgan. 2026. Inaccessible: Race, Isolation, and the Crisis of Access in Rural New Mexico. Under Contract with Bloomsbury Academic January 2026, Forthcoming 2027.
Radford Housing Project (2025-Present)
Radford and Fairlawn Utility Strain Project (2026-Present)
Presenting at Southwest Social Science Association in April and Rural Sociological Society in July. See you there
