Friday Roundup

New & Noteworthy

Changes to Affirmative Action may impact elite prep schools, which serve as a major pipeline into elite universities. Read Richard Zweigenhaft’s latest Special Feature to learn more.

TSP board member Ellie Nickel’s writes up research by Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik on Double Discrimination for educational opportunities that students who are Black and Disabled face.

Citings and Sightings

Parents are especially vulnerable to economic shifts and uncertainties. Sociologist Jessica Calarco was featured in The Atlantic and provides insight on some of the risks and realities that parents face.

Russian sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, a Professor at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences,  was charged with “justifying terrorism” for an online post analyzing the possible fallout of the destruction of the Crimea bridge.

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With the American Sociological Association’s annual conference a few weeks away, we will be launching a new podcast, videos, and other content within the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned on Twitter, or X, for more.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts has new pieces on:

• Police Officer’s determination of what constitutes the “hate” in hate crimes.
• COVID-19 blame and scapegoating in South Korea.
• Meet the editors: Laura Beth Nielsen and Seth Abrutyn

Council on Contemporary Families latest includes:

• LGBTQ health and its connections with State-Level Protections.
• What makes “Great Sex”?

New & Noteworthy

Fathers who spend more time on childcare duties with their young children are more likely to feel that men and women should be treated equally. Read our latest Discovery written up by Caroline Garland on Tomas Cano’s and Heather Hofmeister’s work, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family. 

Citings and Sightings

Marriage patterns in the United States among midlife adults have increased, as perceptions of marriage have become more of a “capstone” life experience. Click here to listen to sociologist Susan Brown’s comments on NPR about this trend.

Backstage with TSP

Behind the scenes, our grad board is working on some new discoveries, special features are being edited, and new YouTube videos for our channel are being developed. Stay tuned for more upcoming content!

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Our partner Contexts has a number of great reads that have been published over the past few weeks, including (but not limited to) what is it to be ukrainian, black sociology: a primer, and the privileged professor. Give one (or all) a read!

Are you the oldest child? Click here to read the Council on Contemporary Families piece on favoritism towards the “prodigal children” by Reilly Kincaid. 

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New & Noteworthy

Good healthcare systems have been linked to reduced impacts of childhood adversity on adult health. Gradboard member Nicole Schmitgen writes up important findings from Matthew Andersson and colleagues in our latest TSP discovery.

Prisons around the world have a variety of disparities, but what about differences across prisons-within-prisons? Jacob Otis explores the contrasts between English & Welsh, and Norwegian prisons based on insights from Ben Crewe, Julie Laursen, and Kristian Mjåland.

Citings and Sightings

Supreme Court rulings have sparked nationwide discussions and demonstrations. Click here to hear about some sociologists’ reactions to rulings on affirmative action and student loan forgiveness.

Backstage with TSP

With July having arrived, TSP has made significant progress on some new projects. This includes our growing YouTube channel (early access) which will be regularly updated in the coming months with new content. Stay tuned for more!

From the Archives

Regions across the United States have experienced a surge in smog caused by Canadian wildfires. To delve deeper into the connection between humans and wildfires, click here.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

Peter Harvey writes up some of his research on how students make sense of their position and identity in society in Contexts’ blog.

In Sociological Images, Victoria Lieberman covers how female and male body types are portrayed in children’s TV and movies, click here to read more.

Ever wondered about the older adult dating scene? Lauren Harris in Council on Contemporary Families covers her recently published research in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

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Millennial mothers are spending less time in the workforce and more time on housework and childcare when compared to Generation X and Baby Boomer mothers. Read our latest Special Feature by Brendan Churchill, Leah Ruppanner, and Sabino Kornrich to learn more. 

Citings and Sightings

As the United States continues to grapple with labor shortages today, Smithsonian Magazine recently highlighted the photography of sociologist Lewis Hine and his thousands of photos of children’s working conditions in the 1900s. Click here to read more and view dozens of pictures of child labor in the 1900s.

Backstage with TSP

Summer is heating up! We have a number of projects nearing completion and coming soon to a computer/phone/or device near you. You may have also noticed that I am not Mahala. As Mahala passes the TSP torch to me this summer (Jake), I want to say a quick thank you and tribute to the years of guidance, commitment, and leadership Mahala has provided the TSP board. Thank you Mahala!

More from our Partner and Community Pages

College students returning home during COVID-19 faced the challenge of living through a pandemic, while simultaneously adjusting (or not) back to their parents’ authority, writes Elena van Stee of partner Contexts’ blog. 

The impacts of wrongfully imprisoning an innocent person go far beyond just the person, the friends, family, and community are also robbed of time with their loved one, Janani Umamaheswar writes in Council on Contemporary Families’ blog. 

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New and Noteworthy

Although many states have laws requiring judges to order the confiscation of guns when emergency restraining orders including threats of violence are issued, most don’t. On the site, Jacob Otis writes up this surprising finding from Julie Kafka and colleagues.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Although homophobic lyrics were once common, mainstream rappers now apologize for using slurs and share the spotlight with LGBTQ artists. Matthew Oware writes on the changing culture of hiphop for The Conversation.

Citings and Sightings

This week Shiny, Happy People, a docuseries about reality TV family the Duggars, and the fundamentalist Christian organization they belong to, premiered featuring sociologist Danielle Lindeman, who emphasized that the men in the family profited off the labor of their wives and daughters, whose births and weddings drew viewers.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

ALL of partner Contexts Spring 2023 issue is open access for just a few more days! Check out the table of contents and download great content for your to-be-read list while you can.

First-generation college graduates are often the advantaged members of their disadvantaged class while people who don’t graduate college like their parents are often relatively disadvantaged. For Council on Contemporary Families‘ blog Anna Manzoni and Jessi Streib share their findings on what differentiates first-generation students, as well as students who do not follow in their parents’ footsteps to college, from their peers.

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Welcome back to our summertime, fun-time, bi-weekly roundup!

New & Noteworthy

Restrictive immigration restrictions decrease healthcare usage among Latinx agricultural workers with legal status, through a chilling effect. Read this discovery from Rebecca A. Schut and Courtney E. Boen written up by S Ericson on the site.

Worth a Watch (Sociologically Speaking)

Check out this quick video rounding up research on the joys and challenges of motherhood from board member Jacob Otis.

From the Archives

Yesterday marked the third anniversary of George Floyd’s murder that inspired our series Wretched/Wonderful, reflections from social scientists on the racial dynamics of the twin cities. Check out Walt Jacob’s introduction to the series here.

Backstage with TSP

This week we had our first summer board meeting, an informal time for us to reconnect and make progress on our summer plans. It was fun to be back in the room together after a few weeks, and we’re excited about some big projects that we’re set to announce later in the summer.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

Contexts released their Spring 2023 issue. The entire issue is available open access for a limited time, explore it here!

For Sociological Images Leah Long wrote about the challenges, and dangers, of dating while trans and what changes could help keep trans people safer as they seek romantic and sexual connection.

Women athletes are both athletically and physically misrepresented in sports video games reflecting gender inequality write Judy Liao and Emily MacMillan for Engaging Sports.

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We’ve got a few quick ones for you to checkout this week:

After our most recent Earth Day, National Public Radio’s Science Friday spoke with sociologist Dana R. Fisher on the state of climate activism including the importance of media attention for shock-based demonstrations and the salience of overlapping social justice motivations for activists.

Axios spoke with Nancy López on her recent research showing that Afro-Latinos have higher educational attainment but lower pay than other Latinos, emphasizing the need for research into the diversity of Latino experiences.

From the Archives

This week, the Met Gala opulently honored the contributions of the controversial Karl Lagerfeld. For some sociological context on why gay men, such as Lagerfeld, find themselves more often in the fashion spotlight than women designers, check out this archive piece.

Yesterday, members of the far-right hate group the Proud Boys were charged with seditious conspiracy for their role in the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. Read this archive piece to understand “The Sociology of the Siege.”

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

People who live closer to protests are more supportive of them, despite experiencing more disruption to their lives according to recent research by Duoduo Xu and Jaio Guo written up for Contexts’ blog by Parker Muzzerall.

Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies’ blog had a Student Spotlight on Rachel Dodson.

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New and Noteworthy

Differing social norms make Helsinki playgrounds a site where ethnic segregation is (re)inforced among Finnish and immigrant mothers according to research from Paula Paajanen and colleagues.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

Black gamers’ nostalgia and desire for representation, not their social conservatism, has them turning to the new Hogwarts legacy video game despite calls for a boycott suggests sociologist Steven Dashiell for The Conversation.

Citings and Sightings

Morality and ethics animate both sides of the porn debate according to Kelsy Burke speaking to The Los Angeles Time about her new book The Pornography Wars. (Read our coverage of Burke’s work on “pornography addiction” here).

Backstage with TSP

As we prepare to wrap up the semester, we’re making plans for our end-of-year celebration. We’ve received a wide variety of suggestions (laser tag or paintball, anyone?) While we’ll likely have a humble get together, we also know from sociological research the importance of rituals such as this for our individual and collective lives. We look forward to the chance to celebrate our hard work together (31 pieces published this academic year and more than a dozen zooming alone our pipeline!) before we scatter to the winds for the summer.

From the Archives

Yesterday the woman who falsely accused Emmett Till died. For context, read this archive piece from Aisha Upton on how Till’s death was not an isolated incident but, rather, representative of pervasive racial terror that did not go unopposed.

More from Our Partner & Community Pages

Book bans prevent students from discovering new ways of thinking and understanding the world, particularly in conservative states according to Alyssa Lyons‘ analysis of book ban data for partner Contexts’ blog.

Women who keep their last names or hyphenate when they get married are viewed as less committed according to recent research from Kristin Kelley that she wrote up for partner Council on Contemporary Families’ blog. (Read our own coverage of Kelley’s research here).

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New & Noteworthy

Even though sporting events often include the national anthem, color guards, American flags, and even tributes to the military, most Americans don’t believe sports teach nationalistic and militaristic values. This discovery from Chris Knoester and Evan Davis written up by Mason Jones is now on the site.

Worth a Read (Sociologically Speaking)

China’s increasing global importance has shifted how Chinese women view Western men, according to sociologists Monica Liu‘s new book, which she wrote about for Sixth Tone. As Liu explains, although in the past Western white men were considered more masculine and desirable than Asian men, Liu found that the Chinese women in her sample preferred more refined, corporate Asian men to the rough, working-class American men who came abroad looking for love.

From the Archives

This week, like many weeks in the U.S., brought news of a staggering number of gun deaths and injuries. For more context, read this piece from our archives on what strategies social science research tells us may be effective for reducing gun violence.

Backstage with TSP

In Minnesota, the end of the semester creeps closer and closer, although the weather is hardly a herald of summer. With this in mind, we’re turning our attention to making *summer plans* (insert jazz hands). Although we don’t meet regularly as a board over the summer it’s a nice time to get organized and excited about new projects without the frenetic schedule of the academic year. This summer, given the ongoing crisis unfolding at a certain social media site, we’re thinking about new platforms to disseminate our public sociology. Our undergraduate board members, in particular, have both the energy and expertise to help us think about how to promote our content on newer, more multimedia focused, sites. We’ve done some work translating our content into short-form video in the past, see this recent example, and we’re excited to continue thinking about how to expand our audience on these more visual social media platforms. If you have any hot tips, drop us a line at tsp@thesocietypages.org.

More from our Partner and Community Pages

When parents separate they are less likely to offer support to their children in adulthood and this is especially true for fathers according to new research from Anna Manzoni and Sergi Vidal written up by Manzoni for Council on Contemporary Families’ blog.

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Leonardo LaBarre wrote up new research from Michelle Phelps and colleagues that finds that new offenses, not parole violations, make up the majority of prison populations.

Citings and Sightings

This time for something a little different, check out this comedic sketch by Jeff Steal featuring sociologist Cristobal Young discussing his work on the myth of millionaire tax flight.

Backstage with TSP

As a student board, we divide up responsibilities to make sure the work of The Society Pages gets done. One such responsibility is compiling a “media report” each week, noting where and how sociologists are cited in news coverage. We use this media report to help us understand how a broader public views sociology, to generate ideas for pieces, and much more. One benefit of our media reports that we’ve been especially grateful for lately is its focus on international news coverage. Board members S Ericson and Mallory Harrington have included international news publications that are often citing their local sociologists. This perspective helps us understand the diversity of sociology globally, and pushes us to think beyond the U.S. in our own coverage.

From the Archives

Tax Day is next Tuesday, check out this piece on social science research that helps us understand the complex role of taxes, highlighting their relationship with inequality, public opinion, and social control.

More from Our Partner and Community Pages

For Council on Contemporary Families’ blog Nik M. Lampe wrote about their research on how trans and non-binary older adults dynamically managed their healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contexts’ blog spoke with Jennifer Randles about what she hopes readers get out of her recent Contexts piece on diaper need.

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