Image description clockwise from upper left 1. Older couple holds hands around a tree. 2. Mars Rover 3. An asian chef holds her hands over a plate, seasoning the food 4. Coach Deion Sanders on the Jackson State sideline at the 2021 SWAC Championship 

New and Noteworthy

Because critics assess them based on “authenticity” and consumers expect them to be cheap, gourmet ethnic restaurants struggle to stay afloat and gain recognition. Check out this new discovery from Gillian Gualtieri written up by board member Abigail Palmer.

Citings and Sightings

Insider spoke with sociologist Janet Vertesi on how her ethnographic work with NASA helps shows that, unlike the general public, scientists do not anthropomorphize the robots they work with but they do feel deeply connected to the technology.

Backstage with TSP

Given Twitter’s uncertain future, and the energy of our board members, particularly our enthusiastic undergrads, we are considering what alternative social media platforms TSP might use to showcase our public sociology work. We aren’t yet sure what this will look like but we are having fun thinking about how we could make TSP go viral and feeling grateful for the advice and participation of a younger, and more trend-sensitive, generation. Do you showcase your academic work on other platforms? Do you wish TSP was on a social media site that you love? Drop us a line at tsp@contexts.org.

From the Archives

This week, we lost co-founder of Sesame Street, Dr. Lloyd Morrisett. Dr. Morrisett leaves behind a powerful legacy of public children’s programming that works to reflect the sometimes tough realities of kids lives, such as parental incarceration.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts spoke with Dr. Ethan Raker about why he is excited about Contexts‘ arrival at the University of British Columbia (spoilers: Great opportunities for grad students! Showcasing UBC’s unique soc perspective! The great Trends section!)

For Engaging Sports Dawn Norwood reflects on what the history of athletics at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the reality of the financial and racial inequalities shaping college athletics can tell us about renewed attention to HBCUs.

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog Brittany Stahnke Joy shared her research on what aspects lead to long-term success in marriage.

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Image attribution, clockwise from upper left. 1.“Untitled” by Sofia_Shultz_Photography is licensed under “Pixabay License“ 2. “January 2004 – Mars Rovers Landed” by NASA is in the public domain 3.  “Chef Pam is working on her dish in “The Table” restaurant by Thexprojectbkk is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 4. photo via 2C2K Photography licensed under CC BY 2.0