Sarah Callaway Brabant has nearly 50 years of experience as a sociologist, grief educator, feminist, and community activist. She is currently Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette). Before receiving an undergraduate and a postgraduate degree from Memphis State University, Dr. Brabant took courses at Auburn University and Newcomb College. She later attained a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Georgia in 1973. Additionally, she is a Fellow in Thanatology, and a certified family life educator and a sociological practitioner.
Dr. Brabant commenced her prestigious career in academia as a sociology instructor at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) before joining Louisiana State University as a visiting professor of anthropology. She subsequently joined the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1973; she has held the positions of professor, associate professor, and assistant professor of sociology. Dr. Brabant’s professional accomplishments are countless. She is a founder and first president of the Lafayette Mayor’s Commission on the Needs of Women. Moreover, she was instrumental in the design and development of the first battered women’s shelter and the first rape crisis center in the area. She designed and developed the first course in death and dying at her university. As a result, her community involvement shifted from battered and homeless women programs to death and grief-related programs. She has served as a support person for Acadiana Chapter of Compassionate Friends, counseled persons living with AIDS through Acadiana CARES, and was appointed to the faculty of the Delta Region of AIDS Education and Training Center. Dr. Brabant was also one of the founders of the Grief Center of Southwest Louisiana (today known as Healing House), a local program for bereaved children and their care givers.
Dr. Brabant has transferred her extensive knowledge into literature content, including “Mending the Torn Fabric: For Those Who Grieve and Those Who Want to Help Them.” Her professional affiliations include the American Association of University Professors, the Association of Death Education and Counseling, Mid-South Sociological Association, the Association for Applied and Clinical Sociology, and the American Sociological Association. Dr. Brabant has been recognized for her achievements through inclusion in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Education, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of American Women. In 2017, she was honored as a Who’s Who Lifetime Achiever.
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