Renata Tonks Forste is an American sociologist who specializes in the health and well being of women and children in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. She has served as the chair of the department of sociology at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

(BYU) and has also directed that institutions women's studies program.

Biography

Forste was born in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

and raised in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

area. Forste is a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

who sees the faith as more than just church attendance. She has bachelor's and master's degrees from BYU and a Ph.D. from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Forste joined the BYU faculty in 1995. Previously she was on the faculty of

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

. In addition to studies related to Latin American, she has done studies on the relationship between breast feeding and women educational levels in the United States. Forste and her husband Michael are the parents of three daughters.

Publications

Her most widely cited article is "The Decision to Breastfeed in the United States: Does Race Matter" published in the journal ''

Pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

'' with Jessica Weiss and Emily Lippinoctt in Vol. 108, No 2, in August 2001. Her next most cited article is ''Sexual Exclusivity Among Dating, Cohabitation and Married Women'' published with Koray Tanfer in the ''

Journal of Marriage and Family The ''Journal of Marriage and Family'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the National Council on Family Relations. It was established in 1939 as ''Living'', renamed to ''Marriage and Family Living'' in 19 ...

'' Vol. 58, no. 1, February 1996. She also wrote the 1984 book ''Education for Women at Brigham Young University: Students Perception of Opportunities, Problems and Stereotypes'' under her maiden name Renata Tonks. She has also published a study in the journal '' Fathering'' that suggests non-father positive male role models can be very helpful to boys as they develop, especially those who lack fathers of their own."BYU Study: Role Models Matter"
''

Church News The ''Church News'' (or ''LDS Church News'') is a weekly tabloid-sized supplement to the ''Deseret News'' and the ''MormonTimes'', a Salt Lake City, Utah newspaper owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is ...

'', July 9, 2009.

References

External links

Mormon scholars testify entry on Forste

bio from BYU women's studeies program

BYU bio of Forste

Mormon Literature Database entry for Forste
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forste, Renata Living people Latter Day Saints from New Mexico Brigham Young University alumni University of Chicago alumni Western Washington University faculty American sociologists Brigham Young University faculty American women sociologists Latter Day Saints from Virginia Latter Day Saints from Oregon Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) Latter Day Saints from Illinois Latter Day Saints from Utah Year of birth missing (living people)