New and Noteworthy

We cover new research from Orlaith Heymann and colleagues on how people access risk and safety when seeking abortions– even after overcoming legal and economic barriers

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Over at our partner Council on Contemporary Families’s blog Sara Yeatman and Emily Smith-Greenaway discuss their research on women’s responses, both negative and positive, to unexpected pregnancies.

Citings & Sightings

Sociologist Louise Seamster was on the Ezra Klein show this week, in conversation with Tressie McMillan Cottom, discussing how student loans and higher ed contribute to the racial wealth gap.

Backstage with TSP

This week, we welcome Walt Jacobs to our board meeting. Last week, in preparation, we read Walt’s preface to Sparked, and discussed how and why to do first-person writing for a social science audience. This conversation gave board members the space to think about how to balance our emotion and values with the demands of social scientific research.

Tonight, Walt will be in conversation with our own Doug Hartmann, as well as Bianet Castellanos, discussing Sparked as part of the University of Minnesota’s public life project. We’d love to see (and hear from you) there. More info and registration here.

More from Our Partners and Community Pages

Give Theory a Chance spoke with Dr. Christopher R. Matthews about the work of Nick Crossley. Give the podcast(s) a listen!

Over at Contexts’ blog David Burley spoke about the potential (and necessity) of training our sociology students to lead the fight against climate change.

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New and Noteworthy

Over the weekend Social Forces published Mariana Amorim‘s work with the Alaska Permanent Fund data, showing that low and middle-income parents increase spending on their kids when given no-strings-attached money.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

We rounded up research on the consequences of thinking about childcare as an individual family’s responsibility as democrats continue to hammer out the details of an infrastructure plan that will likely not include paid family leave.

Citings & Sightings

Council on Contemporary Families reposted Stacy Torres’ USA Today essay on how her experiences with hospice care at the end of her father’s life opened up her eyes to the weight of “administrative burdens” on folks navigating the healthcare system.

Backstage with TSP

Last week the board discussed the introduction to friend of the site Lisa Wade’s new introduction to sociology textbook Terrible, Magnificent Sociology. We used this as a jumping off point to discuss the relationship between emancipatory sociology and sociology as the pursuit of social facts, what that means for teaching, and how we can incorporate that into the public sociology work we do here at TSP. Going “back to the basics” was helpful for us, particularly as we have undergraduate board members and board members from outside the discipline.

More from Our Partners and Community Pages

Read Rabble Rouser get the Boot! at a backstage sociologist.

Contexts’ blog posted a 2018 interview of California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar by Jeannine Bell.

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New and Noteworthy

Board member Daniel Cueto-Villalobos wrote on new research from Patricia Homan and Amy Burdette on how belonging to a sexist religious community can harm women’s health and wellbeing.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Richard J. Petts, Trenton D. Mize, and Gayle Kaufman wrote for the Council on Contemporary Families about the importance of designing paid parental leave policies that reduce the stigma, reflecting on research about the benefits of parental leave and their own study on how supportive leave policies can reduce penalties associated with leave-taking.

Backstage with TSP

This year we have rebooted our “media beat.” Led by intrepid new board member, S, each week during our board meetings we share coverage of sociologists and sociology in mainstream news outlets. In the past we have shared content like this on the site (most recently in our Clippings format). We know we gain valuable perspective when we better see how “the other” understands the work that social scientists are doing in the world. This knowledge helps guide our thinking about how to make the information and content we share more approachable and relevant for our audience.

More from Our Partners and Community Pages

Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo and Manuel Pastor write about place-based racial identities and shared futures for the Contexts’ blog.

Meyer Weinshel shared the history and significance of the Kindertransport movement of Jewish children from Nazi Germany during World War II for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ blog.

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New and Noteworthy

Alicia Smith-Tran wrote for Engaging Sports on how her research on Black middle-class women runners demonstrates the importance of running groups for black women as a source of community and belonging in sport.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Board member Jake Otis rounds up research on the promises and effectiveness police-mental health professional partnerships, known as Crisis Intervention Teams (CITS).

Sighting and Citings

The New York Times spoke to eighteen academics (including several sociologists) about which family policy should be a priority during ongoing Capitol Hill negotiations on the infrastructure package.

Backstage with TSP

Last week we prepared for our board meeting by re-watching Aldon Morris’ 2021 ASA presidential address. We used this as a jumping off point for a discussion about emancipatory sociology: what does it mean for us and our work at TSP? This is a big, complicated conversation. We didn’t reach any conclusions and we’re excited to continue the discussion over the coming weeks. We are also wondering what our readers think. Do you have ideas, suggestions, or reflections about how TSP could engage with emancipatory sociology? Drop us a line at tsp@contexts.org.

More from Our Partners and Community Pages

Amanda Michiko Shigihara writes for Contexts‘ blog on the relationship between labor shortages and low wages in the restaurant industry.

Outgoing editor Arielle Kuperberg asks three questions of incoming Council on Contemporary Families‘ blog editor Dr. Alicia Walker.

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This week we have it all: research on imposter syndrome, conversations on how to handle gender inequality at home, what the pandemic parenting meant for gender inequality, and an intro to the theoretical work of W.E.B. Du Bois.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Daniel Cueto-Villalobos rounded up research on imposter syndrome, how it relates to diversification efforts, and what we might do about it.

Sighting and Citings

The Atlantic wrote up “The Gender Researcher’s Guide to an Equal Marriage,” asking sociologists William Scarborough, Richard Petts, Daniela Negraia, and Caitlyn Collins how they handle gender inequality at home.

Backstage with TSP

Last week one of our new board members did their first round of discovery pitches, bringing three new research articles to our weekly board members that would make good discovery pieces. It was exciting to see the field from some fresh eyes and got us excited about what’s to come for TSP.

From our Partners

Jennifer Randles wrote for Council of Contemporary Families on pandemic parenting and the persistence of gender inequality.

From our Community Pages

Give Theory a Chance was in conversation with Dr. Matthew Clair this week, speaking about the work of W.E.B. Du Bois.

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Fall is in the air here in Minnesota, and we’re bringing you sociological reads as refreshing as the autumn breeze.

New and Noteworthy

This week we covered new research by Tabitha Wright that shows that first-generation students experience more stressors, but not more depression, during college.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Over at our partner, Contexts, Angela Jones writes on how the political debate on sexual commerce in the United States has relied less on social scientific evidence than it has on emotion, threatening public health and safety.

Sighting and Citings

Our colleague Penny Edgell and Wendy Cage reflected on what Harvard’s new humanist chaplain shows about atheism in America over at the Conversation.

Backstage with TSP

Last week the editor’s of the Berkeley Journal of Sociology joined us for our board meeting. With our board of undergrads and grads, and their graduate student leaders, we wondered what public sociology will mean for the next generation of scholars. It was an exciting and inspiring meeting, full of promise that young scholars will continue to expand the boundaries of public soc.

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Next week marks the launch of our new newsletter format. This week we stick with our oldie-but-a-goodie.

On TSP this week we highlighted research contextualizing cultural change and the church. Our partner and community pages wrote on orientalism and the media, the risk of genocide in Afghanistan, and queer recruitment panic. Plus, a new podcast from Give Theory a Chance.

There’s Research on That!

As Pope Francis kicks off a three-year synod to discuss Catholic doctrine and practices where a big question on the table is the ordination of women as deacons, our own Christine Delp rounds up research on gender, cultural change, and the church.

From Our Partners

Contexts

Japonica Brown-Saracino, D’Lane Compton, and Jeffrey Nathaniel Parker write on panic over the “recruitment” of people into LGBTQ identity following the release of new Gallup data.

From Our Community Pages

Over at Engaging Sports Umer Hussain considers orientalist and islamophobic media coverage in advance of the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Will Calhoun writes for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies considering how the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan raises the risk of genocide for the Hazara people.

Give Theory a Chance shared a new podcast this week in conversation with Michael DeLand on Herbert Blumer’s interpretation of George Herbet Mead’s work on social construction and symbolic interactionism.

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It’s the start of the new semester and TSP is back! We are excited to continue sharing new social science research and highlight the work of our partner and community pages. We are also planning exciting changes to this newsletter format (more info on that below)

Discoveries

This week board member Daniel Cueto-Villalobos wrote on new research that shows that urban food deserts might be a myth, but that food access remains challenging for poor residents as “who lives where” in cities and suburbs undergoes change

From Our Partners:

Sociological Images

Evan Stewart writes on “Selling Sociology” to undergrads with concrete examples of sociology as a guide for thinking and action on critical public issues

Contexts

Theresa Rocha Beardall and Carrie Freshour share “one thing they know” is that teaching sociology requires embracing the discomfort and controversy the discipline inspires

Council on Contemporary Families

Michelle Janning writes on how college students living arrangements during COVID-19, and whether they returned to childhood homes, influenced their perceptions of the path to adulthood

From Our Community Pages:

• Alejandro Baer at the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies writes on the challenge of incorporating understanding of antisemitism into antiracist scholarship

Looking ahead…

To better engage with our audience, we’re planning some changes to our newsletter format. We hope to use this space to share our vision of the field and our excitement for new developments and research in sociology. If you have comments or suggestions, drop us a line at tsp@contexts.org

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Welcome back! This week we cover new research on how low-income moms address “diaper need.” Our partner and community pages featured content on the impact of student loans, the “Beth Schneider effect” in the sociology of sexualities, and the Amernian community’s connection to Minnesota.

Discoveries

Diaper Desperation by Nikoleta Sremac. We cover new research that shows that diaper need is an issue with consequences for health, stress, and stigma. In the face of this challenge, low-income moms employ labor-intensive strategies in order to maintain their children’s diaper supply.

From Our Partners:

Council on Contemporary Families

New from CCF! What Recent College Grads Say About the Impact of their Student Loans

From Our Community Pages:

• Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies explores the connection between the Armenian community and Minnesota, in light of the anniversary of the Armenian genocide and President Biden’s official acknowledgement.
• Feminist Reflections Archive reflects on Beth Schneider’s influential role in producing a sociology of sexualities.

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Happy Friday! This week we cover new research that examines the reasons for the slowdown in casual hookups. As always, our partner and community pages featured important and interesting pieces on the racial consequences of underfunding public universities, the obligation mothers feel towards their children, and the significance of public naming of genocide.

Discoveries

The Slowdown in Hookups by Hannah Schwendeman. We present new research that examines the relationship between alcohol, media use, and living arrangements on decreases in young adults’ casual sex.

From Our Partners:

Contexts

Broke: The Racial Consequences of Underfunding Public Universities with Laura Hamilton, Kelly Nielsen, and Victor Ray

Council on Contemporary Families

“It’s My Responsibility, Nobody Else”: Doing Motherhood by Joan Maya Mazelis

From Our Community Pages:

• Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies explores the significance of the word genocide after President Biden’s official acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide.

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