"In the book, I show that race, religion, and immigration were critical to the development of an anti-fat, pro-thin bias in the Western World," says Sabrina Strings, assistant professor of sociology and 2017-18 Hellman Fellow.

Sabrina Strings, assistant professor of sociology, has received a 2017-18 Hellman Fellowship to complete her book, Thin, White & Saved: Fat Stigma and the Fear of the Big Black Body, a historiography of fat-phobia in the West. “My research examines the historical development of fat stigma in the United States and its potential contribution to racial/ethnic and gender disparities in health outcomes,” she said. “The Hellman Fellowship will make the timely completion and release of my book possible.”  Under contract with NYU Press, Strings’ book is expected to be released in the summer or fall of 2018. Hellman Fellowships help promising junior faculty realize their full scientific and academic potential with grants of up to $50,000. UCI has awarded 46 of them since 2013, when the campus program was established with a gift of $1.25 million from the Hellman Family Foundation. Additional 2017-2018 recipients include Hosun Kang, School of Education; Emily Thuma, School of Humanities; Zeba Wunderlich, School of Biological Sciences; Michelle Dingman, School of Engineering; and Mo Li, School of Engineering.