Assistant Professor of Sociology

Office: 478 Philip G. Hoffman Hall
Phone: 713.743.4527
Email: nmlanga@uh.edu
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Education

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
M.A., Sociology, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
MBA., Corporate Management, Mzumbe University
B.A., Sociology, University of Dar es Salaam

Biography

Neema Langa is an assistant professor of Sociology. She is a joint faculty member in the Sociology and the African American Studies Departments. Her research uses quantitative methodologies to examine structural forces contributing to heterogeneity in healthcare utilization and health outcomes among African and African American women in underserved communities. She is particularly interested in exploring the role of institutional forces in determining disparities in the utilization of maternal health care and maternal health outcomes in developing and developed countries. Her research also examines the role of social inequalities and healthcare experiences in influencing variations in these women's later-life health outcomes. 

Research Interests

• Sociology of Health (Medical sociology)
• Sociology of Gender
• Sociology of Aging and Life course
• Social Inequalities
• Intersectionality

Teaching

Undergraduate Courses

• Gender and Health care in Africa 

Selected Publications

• Langa, Neema, and Bhatta, Tirth. 2020. “The rural-urban divide in Tanzania: Residential context and socioeconomic inequalities in maternal health care utilization.” PLOS ONE 15(11):e0241746. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0241746
• Goler, Timothy, Bhatta, Tirth, Lekhak, Nirmala, and Langa, Neema. 2021. “Racial Differences in Self-Appraisal, Religious Coping, and Psychological Well-being in Later Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Elder Policy 1(3):111–130. https://doi.org/10.18278/jep.1.3.4
• Kutela, Boniphace, Novat, Norris, and Langa, Neema. 2021. “Exploring geographical distribution of transportation research themes related to COVID-19 using text network approach.” Sustainable Cities and Society 67(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.102729
• Kutela, Boniphace, Langa, Neema, Mwende, Sia, Kidando, Emmanuel, Kitali, Angela, and Bansal, Prateek. 2021. “A text mining approach to elicit public perception of bike-sharing systems.” Travel Behaviour and Society 24(1):113–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2021.03.002
• Kutela, B., Combs, T., John Mwekh’iga, R., and Langa, N. (2022). Insights into the long-term effects of COVID-19 responses on transportation facilities. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 111, 103463. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.TRD.2022.103463
• Langa, N. (2023). Dependency Theory: An Evaluation of the Period-Based Changes in the Utilization of Maternal Health Care and Neonatal Mortality in Tanzania Between 1991 and 2016. International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services (International Journal of Health Services), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/27551938231156033
• Langa, N. (2023). Intersectionality and Dependency Lenses in Neonatal Mortality: Evidence of
  Regional, Residential, and Socioeconomic Inequalities from Post-colonial Tanzania, 1991–2016.
  Sociological Perspectives, https://doi.org/10.1177/07311214231167172.
• Langa, N., Bhatta, T., & Amuta, A. (2023). Intersecting Upstream Factors: Inequities in Cervical Cancer Screening in Malawi. Women’s Reproductive Health, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2023.2229308