Archive: Apr 2024

New & Noteworthy

Colleges, administration, and professors across the United States are responding to student organizing around the conflict in Gaza. In light of this organizing, we compiled 6 pieces from us and our partners to read on student organizing.

First Hand Faculty Experiences on Campus Issues

• Mass Movements; Moral Moments by Donna Gabaccia reflects on her first-hand experience as a faculty member during an incident of police abuse in Minneapolis, recalling a distressing scene where a young Black teenager was unjustly detained by police in a library.

Young Adults and Social Structure of Protests

• When Youth Become Activists by Amber Joy Powell writes up some research on the nationwide youth-led movement advocating for stricter gun control in 2018, demonstrating the significant impact young activists can have using modern tools like social media to enhance their cause.
• in brief: close to the issue by Parker Muzzerall on how proximity to protests, such as the Occupy Central Movement in Hong Kong, increases support for the movement and shifts political ideologies leftward among nearby residents, despite the disruptions caused.

Challenges of Involving Police

• Political Protest and the Call for Law and Order by Amber Joy Powell covers the NRA’s response to progressive political protestors and how political figureheads have historically responded to social instability.
• Mizzou and Millennial tolerance for shutting down free speech by Lisa Wade coverage of the 2015 surge of student activism on issues of racism and changes on funding and resignations, while sparking debates about free speech and highlighting trends showing that Millennials are increasingly supportive of government censorship of speech offensive to minorities.

Public Opinion and Tolerance (or lack of) on Campus Protests and Academic Freedom in Sociology

• Curriculum, Culture Wars, and Sociology in the Classroom by Forrest Lovette and John Purnell respond to the recent attacks on the discipline in Florida, covering the value of sociology, free speech/academic freedom, and anti-intellectualism in American culture.

Turning to Clippings, this week includes Erin Cech and Elana Goldenkoff‘s article for The Conversation assessing how prepared engineers are to face ethical dilemmas regarding AI,  Richard Ocejo in the Times Union on his new book Sixty Miles Upriver: Gentrification and Race in a Small American City, Robert Bullard‘s recent win of the TIME Earth Award in recognition of his work in environmental justice, and Stephanie Alice Baker‘s article for The Conversation on how wellness influencers are contributing to misleading information about birth control on social media sites. 

And lastly, new from The Conversation, we reposted their new piece by Cheryl Cooky, Is this the dawn of a new era in women’s sports? This piece covers Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and the record-breaking viewership of this year’s women’s Final Four.

Behind the Scenes with TSP

Summer is nearly here! At TSP, this time of year means taking inventory of our current projects and setting new goals for the summer. This summer, we will be posting a TSP Summer Reading List with some recommended summer readings:

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts:

• we need a sociology of flourishing by Trevor Auldridge-Reveles and Demetrius Miles Murphy covers the need to shift sociology’s focus from social problems to studying and fostering well-being and flourishing.
• q&a with dr. ryan al-natour by Colter J. Uscola covers the opposition to teaching of Critical Race Theory in Australia.
• a sesame street feat by Parker Muzzerall‘s coverage of research on Sesame Street’s global success from co-producing culturally adapted versions through a collaborative exchange of values and knowledge between American distributors and local cultural producers.

New posts from the Council on Comtemporary Families include:

• Mothers Are the Primary Earners in Growing Numbers of Families with Children (reprinted) by Jennifer Glass, R. Kelly Raley, and Joanna Pepin highlighting research that 70% of American mothers will be the primary breadwinner for at least one year during their first 18 years of motherhood.

New & Noteworthy

Our latest ‘There’s Research on That’, War on Women on the Web by S Ericson and Caroline Garland, covers some of the research on the manosphere. These groups vary in their approaches, with some outright attacking women and others using pseudoscience to back their arguments against women.

This week Clippings covers Josh Greenberg‘s article for The Conversation on the resurgence of the vinyl LP, Chizuko Ueno named as one of the 100 most influential people of 2024 by Time Magazine,  Darnell Hunt and Camille Charles in SRN News on how O.J. Simpson’s trial still reflects the realities of racial divisions in America, Ashley Mears in Jacobin on her new book Very Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit, and Artūras Tereškinas in an LRT article about the Eurovision Song Contest and how Lithuanians react to their representatives.

From the Archives

Students across the U.S. continue to organize and protest for Palestine, with 9 arrested at the University of Minnesota today. Read out ‘There’s Research on That’ When Youth Become Activists by Amber Joy Powell to learn about the role that students and youths play in social issues.

“Botched Botox” makes headlines, check out this Sociological Images piece, Botox, Gender, and the Emotional Lobotomy to delve into some of the complexities of this practice.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Elena G. Van Stee‘s latest piece, making mom proud, covers research by Priya Fielding-Singh and Marianne Cooper which covers how lower-income mothers manage the emotional stress of not meeting societal parenting norms by employing “downscaling” strategies.

Council on Comtemporary Families‘s latest Older Hispanic adults, marital relationships, and depression. Why does the relationship quality matter? which highlights research findings that marital quality significantly impacts mental health, with positive marital interactions reducing depressive symptoms and negative interactions worsening them.

New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes media coverage of Dana R. Fisher‘s new book: Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action in Yale Climate Connections, Agustín Teglia leveraging on chess workshops as a tool to foster socialization among young people who are vulnerable to violence, and marginality in Scroll.in, Tressie McMillan Cottom‘s opinion piece for the New York Times on O.J. Simpson, Apryl Williams new book: Not My Type: Automating Sexual Racism in Online Dating in The Harvard Gazette, and Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans‘s new book The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels reviewed by Alex Kotlowitz for The Atlantic.

From the Archives

Parents of the shooter from Michigan’s school shooting were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison. Check out Context’s piece on some research analyzing these acts of violence as “organizational accidents.”

O.J. Simpson died this past week. Check out our ‘There’s Research on That’, Un-Making a Murderer Still Leaves a Mark by Ryan Larson, to learn about this cultural coverage of crime like in Making a Murderer and others.

Vietnamese business tycoon Truong My Lan was sentenced to death in the country’s largest fraud case. Learn about the “legitimized violence”, or legal violence from a government towards individuals in our ‘There’s Research on That’ by Jillian LaBranche.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts includes:

• who gets to speak for autism by Catherine Tan, covering her new book, Spaces on the Spectrum: How Autism Movements Resist Experts and Create Knowledge, on the desires of some parents to use controversial treatments for autism and some autistic rights activists promoting neurodiversity.
• who’s a true American? by Colter J. Uscola covers research by Sam Perry on Christian Nationalism and attitudes towards ethno-racial exclusion/assimilation.
• history lessons by Sophie X. Liu on Chana Teeger‘s research in South Africa with highschool students’ engagement when learning about the Holocaust and Apartheid.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece:

• Childfree, Carefree, and Self-Care – The Roles Women Can Play by Kim Martinez Phillips on the experiences of women who choose not to have children and instead focus on autonomy and personal development.

New & Noteworthy

Paula Fomby, Professor of Sociology at Penn Arts & Sciences and Associate Director at the Penn Population Studies Center, published a new TSP Special, Families change. The way we support kids should change too. This piece covers some of the realities of children’s experiences, marriage, and some sociology-based research policies that could benefit children and marriage in the United States.

Shania Kuo has a new Discovery on Asian American Views Towards Affirmative Action from research by Ji-won Lee and W. Carson Byrd. Their research finds that “Over 50% of Koreans, Bangladeshis, Filipinos, and Cambodians were in favor or strongly in favor of race-conscious admissions” and “Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hmong respondents were the least likely to be in favor of affirmative action and more likely to be opposed to it.” Give it a read to learn more about race-conscious admissions attitudes of Asian Americans.

From the Archives

March Madness ended this past weekend, with stories of disparities affecting gender and racial differences in working conditions continuing. Check out this Engaging Sports piece from 2022 on the topic.

The solar eclipse was yesterday – learn more about the prominence of Astrology in society, and meaning/community finding under this non-traditional belief.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from Contexts includes:

• Seth Abrutyn and Amin Ghaziani reflect on their first year as editors for Contexts – check out their experiences thus far here.
• Have interesting stories from your research you want to share? Click here to learn more about how to share with a broader audience!
• Parker Muzzerall writes up research by Laura Pavón-Benítez and colleagues on the views of Spanish youth perceptions of nightlife on rural versus urban living.

The Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece:

• Richard J. Petts, Trenton D. Mize, and Gayle Kaufman write up some of the perceived likeability of parents who take longer versus shorter parental leave, and the gender differences across mothers and fathers.

New & Noteworthy

We have a new ‘There’s Research on That’ by Forrest Lovette and John Purnell covering the value and role that Sociology has on society, Curriculum, Culture Wars, and Sociology in the Classroom. In response to Flordia’s efforts to de-legitimize the role of sociology in Flordia, this piece covers some research surrounding this recent anti-intellectual attack.

This week’s Clippings includes Caitlyn Collins on The Ezra Klein Show on how national policies, social support, and culture affect experiences of parenthood, The Harvard Crimson coverage of false allegations of plagiarism against Christina Cross, and Amin Ghaziani‘s latest book‘s,  Long Live Queer Nightlife: How the Closing of Gay Bars Sparked a Revolution, coverage by The New York Times.

From the Archives

Long Island County in New York recently restricted a trans woman and roller derby player from playing. Read our recent TSP Special Feature by Chris Knoester covering sex discrimination against trans athletes.

MLB started last week with Shohei Ohtani capturing more headlines. Read some baseball sociology from Contexts to learn about some stats on MLB.

Behind the Scenes with TSP

ASA recently called for submissions on the value of sociology through a TikTok/Instagram contest. Last week, we brainstormed ideas and our fearless undergraduate board members have a number of ideas.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Here are the latest must-reads from:

Contexts

• the class politics of fine dining by Victor Ray, covering his experience and the intersection of luxury, exploitation, and class dynamics.
• learning curves by Sophie X. Liu covering research by Geoffrey T. Wodtke and colleagues that challenges the prevailing narrative that school quality is the primary determinant of neighborhood-based academic disparities.

Council on Contemporary Families

• Why Do So Many Christian Colleges and Universities Maintain Gendered Residence Life Policies? by Jessica Schachle-Gordon, Gabby Gomez, Jonathan S. Coley, and Dan Morrison on residence life policies at many U.S. Christian colleges and universities – rooted in conservative, cisnormative, and heteronormative beliefs, paradoxically create environments that may cause the things they aim to avoid.