New & Noteworthy

This week I posted a new Discovery, ‘Right to Work’ Laws, based on work by Tom VanHeuvelen. In his research, VanHeuvelen finds that workers living in states with ‘Right to Work’ laws, which limit union organizing and strength, are paid 5-12% less than states without ‘Right to Work’ laws.

Over the next several weeks I will also be posting our Best of 2023 pieces. Mallory Harrington’s piece, Defending Against Social Media in Criminal Trials, won our ‘Hook, Line, & Sinker’ Award with the opening line, “Your Tweets, pictures, and messages may be used against you.”

From the Archives

The Holiday season is right around the corner, and so is consumerism. Check out this piece from Sociological Images, 1/3 of People Say Commercialism is the Worst Part of Christmas, to learn more. Ugly sweater season is also here, read The Ugly Christmas Sweater: From Ironic Nostalgia to festive simulation to inform yourself before donning your ugliest sweater.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has two new pieces to read:

• race, “that ugly word”, by Ann Morning on differences of views on race of college students in the United States and Western Europe from their new book An Ugly Word: Rethinking Race in Italy and the United States.
• better together, or what sociology’s history of moral debate can teach you by Shai M. Dromi and Sam Stabler about the trajectory of sociology as a field from their new book, Moral Minefields: How Sociologists Debate Good Science.

Council on Contemporary Families a new read:

• What does it mean to be a “daddy”? by Tony Silva from his new book, Daddies of a Different Kind: Sex and Romance Between Older and Younger Adult Gay Men from his research on interviews with relationships with large age-gaps.

First Publics has a new Dialogue on Intro Soc Textbooks:

• Kathleen Korgen discussed her textbook Sociology in  Action: Introduction to Sociology, which utilizes active learning to get students invested in learning sociology.

Sociological Images latest includes:

• The Border is a Budget by Ghazah Abbasi, on some of the complexities of borders as means of political, but also economic maintenance.

New & Noteworthy

Caroline Garland’s latest Discovery, How UN Requirements Create Problems for Delegations from Developing Nations, highlights work by Danielle Falzon on how developing countries are at a disadvantage compared to nations with more resources. High expectations can lead some of the developing countries’ delegates underslept, hungry, and overworked.

From the Archives

Abortion headlines continue to frequent headlines, learn more about some of the impacts of abortion restrictions by reading contexts, abortion restrictions are harmful to everyone.

Alexei Navalny, a Putin critic, went missing from prison. Check out the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies‘ piece, Unpacking the Charges Against Putin for reading up on some of his violations of human rights.

Backstage with TSP

The TSP team met Sunday at a bowling alley to celebrate another year of hard work by the board! We had a blast spending non-work time together and were able to recognize some great work over the last year. When we come back together after the holiday break, we will be welcoming several new board members (it’s going to be a packed board room!).

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has a new video to watch with Dr. Ashley Rondini and Dr. Jerry Saunders II on cancer prevention guidelines, which predominantly are tailored towards people with ‘fair’ skin types.

First Publics‘s latest includes Ellen T. Meiser’s Rethinking Service-learning to be More Public and Creative, on the role of higher education students’ roles in local institutions.

New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes Alison Cares in Tampa Bay Times and Inside Higher Education on Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr.’s proposed plan to remove “Principles of Sociology” as an option to fulfill the social science course requirement at public universities (click here to read ASA’s response), Christopher P. Scheitle in The Conversation about religion diversity among graduate students, Philip Cohen in Smithsonian Magazine featuring new research showing that life expectancy across the U.S. fell from 2019 to 2021 and that women now live 5.8 years longer than men, Jennifer Earl in Meduza on political repression, and Anna Samchuck in El País on the Wall Evidence Project, which has been documenting the graffiti and inscriptions left by the Russian military in occupied areas of Ukraine since February of 2022.

From the Archives

December is one of the most generous months, read The Social Determinants of Charitable Giving to learn more about individual donations.

The new Hunger Games movie is in theatres, to learn more about deviance and rebellion read the classic, Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley.

The Biden administration is proposing changes to TANF to close loopholes that some states have been using to spend funds on non-welfare programs. Learn more about TANF by reading our Public Assistance Provides Food and Shelter Discovery by Allison Nobles.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

First Publics has its latest on Soc Intro Textbooks with Lisa Wade, author of intro book Terrible Magnificent Sociology.

Council on Contemporary Families latest include Eman Tadros, Chantal Fahmy, Sara (Smock) Jordan, and Antonia Guajardo write up some of the complexities of fathering while incarcerated.

Contexts has new pieces to watch and read on claiming colors with Gary Alan Fine and Fiona Greenland, The Golden Bachelor and adult dating by Lauren Harris, and Queer Farmers by Taylor Hartson.

New & Noteworthy

Shania Kuo published a new “There’s Research on That”, Not Just a Monolith: Complicating Asian American Identity. In this piece, she unpacks some of the problems with the umbrella term “Asian Americans”. Immigration, panethnicity, East Asian cultural overshadowing, and anti-Asian Racism are all covered.

In case you missed it, I created a quick list of some TSP Thanksgiving-themed pieces. This includes our fantastic video and TROT by Isabel Arriagada and Mahala Miller on family conflict around the dinner table.

From the Archives

War in the Middle East, Ukraine, and around the world continues to make headlines as more lives are destroyed. Learn more about The Impact of Distance from War by Kristalena R. Herman.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has their Fall 2023 issue to read before 12/15 for free! Check out the table of contents to read about machine learning, divorce in Korea, college access after incarceration, and more!

Council on Contemporary Families has new content on persistent racial housing inequality in public housing by Junia Howell, Ellen Whitehead, and Elizabeth Korver-Glenn.

Our friends at The Berkeley Journal of Sociology are accepting submissions for their 65th Volume until December 15th! Click here to send your submission and reach a public audience! Also, in case you haven’t already, order the 64th Volume – “Space and Place at the Margins” – here.

Here are some Thanksgiving-themed pieces to read as you are recovering from your food coma!

• Table Talk for Thanksgiving by the 2018 TSP Grad Board.
• Visual Soc: Family Meal Conflict by Isabel Arriagada and Mahala Miller (includes a video and TROT!).
• Cut the Turkey and Run by Evan Stewart in Sociological Images
• From our archives: Thanksgiving of Sociological Images by Lisa Wade.
• National Holidays and Settler Colonialism by George Dalbo from the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies.
• Season’s Greetings from America’s Men from Sociological Images by D’Lane R. Compton PhD and Tony Love.
• Preparing for Thursday: Some Tips on Arguing about Trump by David Banks from Cyborgology.
• 23 Thanksgiving Food Facts by Lisa Wade from Sociological Images.

New & Noteworthy

Mason Jones and I published a new Discovery on work by Catherine Sirois, Dependent, Delinquent, or Denied? In her research, Sirois found resource scarcity was causing social workers and probation officers to be “institutional offloading” youth who required lots of time and attention.

Mallory Harrington’s media report on Clippings includes Casey Stockstill in Chalkbeat on her new book False Starts: The Segregated Lives of Preschoolers,  A.J. Jacobs in CNN on raise increases in Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai factors – possibly a preemptive move to prevent union organizing, Kevin Woodson in Fortune on his new book The Black Ceiling: How Race Still Matters in the Elite Workplace, and Mariana Luzzi in Barron’s on Argentina’s inflation and poverty crisis.

From the Archives

In the United States, Thanksgiving is around the corner. This holiday is notorious for family conflict around the dinner table, especially with politics. Learn more about some sociology behind this phenomenon from our video and TROT, “Visual Soc: Family Meal Conflict” by Isabel Arriagada and Mahala Miller.

Black Friday is also this week. Check out Nathan Palmer‘s piece on this consumer holiday to learn about the ritualization of this shopping frenzy.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has their Fall 2023 issue to read before 12/15 for free:

• Fall 2023 issue of ASA’s Contexts Magazine, including pieces on cannabis, obesity, parenting, and more!

In case you missed it, Engaging Sports latest:

• A piece on CrossFit by Kevin M. Anzzolin. As a former CrossFitter I can wholeheartedly endorse this piece – highly recommended read.

First Public’s latest:

• Dialogues on Intro to Sociology Textbooks with Shamus Khan and Dalton Conley

New & Noteworthy

This week TSP’s Caroline Garland published a new Discovery, Hard Work Pays Off?, on work by Rebecca Wetter and Claudia Finger. In this piece, we learn about the buy-in of the belief of meritocracy of German medical students. Students with parents who attended college were more likely to believe their hard work paid off than students whose parents did not attend college — who felt admissions were more dependant on class or influence.

Our Clippings this week features Patrick Sharkey and Megan Kang in The New York Times on gun laws and gun deaths and Michael Rocque in Boston Globe on gun laws and safety in Maine. We also have Adia Harvey Wingfield in the Harvard Business Review on workplace culture and the experience of Black employees, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Alison Gemmil, and Sarah Hayford on millennial hurdles to having children in The Washington Post (great read), coverage of Pete Simi‘s testimony on the current Trump ballot trial in Colarod in the Ohio Capital Journal, and Gillian Gualtieri in Hyperallergic on the U.S. arts and culture industry.

From the Archives

The Grammy Award Nominations were released on November 10th! Learn more about what these awards mean for artists by reading Contexts recent article by Rose Xueqing Zhang.

Election results came in last week, highlighting some of the stakes and possibilities for next year’s election. Read S Ericson’s Discovery on work by Bart Bonikowski, Yuval Feinstein, and Sean Bock on the national political cleavage.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has several new pieces including:

• Arlene Stein’s experience with having her book Unbound: Transgender Men and the Remaking of Identity targeted for a possible book ban.
• Understanding the conditions necessary for megachurches to grow and flourish in the United States by Peter Muzzerall.
• Mia Brantley’s piece on her work on interviews with 35 Black mother’s experiences on parenting.

Council on Contemporary Families has two new reads:

• Sung S. Park writes up her recent study on the experiences of People of Color with Disabilities exposure to inadequate conditions and hazards in their home.
• Jennifer Tabler, Ruby Charak, and Rachel M. Schmitz work with LGBTQ+ people experience with identity-related abuse during childhood and subsequent mental health challenges in adulthood.

New & Noteworthy

This week’s Clippings includes Samuel L. Perry‘s work in The Washington Post on new House Speaker Mike Johnson and assault weapons, Carolina Are in El País on sexualization in social media, Carolyn Liebler in The Washington Post on the Census and measuring Americans with Indigenous heritage, and Amin Ghaziani in SciTechDaily on the ambivalence of coming out experiences of LGBTQ adults.

From the Archives

Pain and suffering are commonplace in the news, especially now. Read j. Siguru Wahutu’s TROT on “consuming the pain” through images of the “other” in the media.

Daylight savings time was this past Sunday (in case you haven’t noticed by now). Learn more about the history of Daylight Savings time by reading Lisa Wade’s piece in Sociological Images.

Backstage with TSP

Because of TSP’s growing student board, we have increased the number of “pitches” per week (where students review recent academic articles, write a brief summary, and present the articles to the rest of the board) and “workshops” (where students share their Discoveries drafts on screen and the rest of the board provides feedback real-time). This increased frequency of pitches and workshops will enable us to publish more content in the upcoming months!

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has a new piece on “dyadic interviewing”, interviewing both young adults and their parent, in research with Elena van Stee, Gaby Flores, Ariel Chan, and Angelica Qin.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece on 7 patterns of women’s journey through motherhood, education, and work through adulthood by Bo-Hyeong Jane Lee and Anna Manzoni.

First Publics has a new Reflections by Michael Kennedy on his teaching journey towards a critical and public-oriented approach.

New & Noteworthy

We have two new ‘There’s Research on That” pieces, a YouTube video, and our weekly Clippings of Sociology and Sociologists in the news for you to check out:

• In the spirit of Halloween, Mallory Harrington & Nicole Schmitgen wrote up work by sociologists and research on the paranormal, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered: Sociology of the Cultic and Paranormal“. Check it out to learn more about what we know on this topic, including how “cultic milieu” shares space in our world with skepticism.
• I wrote a piece on the research on body-worn cameras, or body-cams, used by police officers. Turns out that body-cams benefit both police and the public and the use of the technology has skyrocketed in recent years.
• We have a new YouTube video up and ready for you to view! Our own Eleanor Nickel produced a video on a recent discovery of ours, “Separate, Unequal, and Denied: The Double Discrimination of Black Disabled Students“.
• Our latest Media Report on Clippings features Bethany Everett in USA Today on abortion care, Patricia Hill Collin‘s award of $1 million for the Berggruen Prize for Philosophy and Culture and was interviewed in TIME, Daniel Jaffee wrote an article for The Conversation on the role of bottled water used as a stopgap for crises, Marianne Cooper in Human Resources Director on LeanIn.org and McKinsey‘s annual Women in the Workplace report, and Katie Spoon on women in the academy, with Kimberlee Shauman commenting on the value of the study providing insight into the academic field.

From the Archives

Japan ruled an existing requirement for sterilization for people setting gender change to be unconstitutional. Read more about “trans joy” from Contexts to learn more.

The NHL recently reversed its ban on rainbow-coloured Pride tape for their sticks. To learn more, read Justin Maietta‘s, “make ‘hockey is for everyone’ for everyone”.

Backstage with TSP

We had a great discussion about several candidates for our upcoming SOC 101 episodes last week. Our next steps will be reaching out to authors to schedule interviews, writing questions, and forming episode teams. More to come!

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts latest includes:

• Part 2 of Dr. Aldon Morris‘s work from University of California Press blog highlighting his and other scholars’ efforts to ensure the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois.
• Rose Xueqing Zhang writes up work by Eddie Caumiant and colleagues on the effect of social environments and alcohol consumption.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new piece to read:

• Marcus Maloney and Kate Babin write up some research and what we know about the “manosphere” and loneliness of heterosexual boys

New & Noteworthy

TSP board member Eleanor Nickel has a new Discovery, “Love Behind Bars.” Based on a recent article by Kristin Turney, Katelyn Rose Malae, MacKenzie A. Christensen, and Sarah Halpern-Meekin, the ripple effect of jail incarceration is strongly felt by women and children of incarcerated persons.

Our latest Media Report on Clippings features some Spookiology from Margee Kerr, Lars Birger Davan, Marc Eaton, and Dennis Waskul in Axios and Atlas Obscura, Patricia Romero-Lankao on transitioning to green energy and equity in NPR, and Alexei Levinson on the war in Ukraine and Putin’s career in The Bell.

From the Archives

How do we relate to people around the world experiencing war and trauma? Read our ‘There’s Research on That’ by Brooke Chambers to learn more about how distant war and the degree media coverage can impact our selective empathy of conflicts.

Student loan forgiveness developments continue to make headlines. Read our ‘There’s Research on That’ by Amber Powell on how student loan debt disproportionately impacts students of color and women.

Backstage with TSP

We are growing! New board members are joining the TSP team and bringing new perspectives and energy! Podcast planning is also our primary project. We are currently looking for recent sociological books to add to our current SOC 101 episodes.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts has new pieces to check out:

• Sophie X. Liu writes up work by Liliana V Rodriguez on the role of humor in coping with impossible situations.
• Dr. Aldon Morris‘s essay from the University of California Press blog highlighted his meeting with the president of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, on W.E.B. Du Bois’s legacy in Ghana.  

Council on Contemporary Families latest include:

• Patricia Drentea writes up the change and evolution of the meaning of family, based on her latest book Families and Aging