sociology

New & Noteworthy

Our new Discovery by Mallory Harrington, Disease Stigma Through the Media covers research by Rachel Best and Alina Arseniev-Koehler. In this piece, the different levels of stigmatization of diseases are investigated via the media coverage and stereotyping that accompanies them. They find that the level of overall disease stigma has decreased over time, but it remains high for behavioral and infectious diseases.

In case you missed it, we posted some new TikToks on the value and importance of sociology via Nicole Schmitgen. Give them a watch, like, and share!

From the Archives

Trump’s trial continues to capture headlines. Take a look back on contexts’ Winter 2018 issue (trump365) on a time where Trump’s policies impacts on society were taking place real-time.

Wars in the Middle East and Eastern Europe continue to leave millions harmed and the impacts will continue far beyond when the bullets stop flying. Read our 2019 Discovery on veteran’s mental health by Allison Nobles to learn more.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

The latest from contexts includes:

• the case for grandmothers by Neda Maghbouleh on the critical roles and resilience of elder matriarchs in multigenerational Syrian migrant households in Canada, despite immigration policies that often overlook their value.
• from the corner to the digital street by Parker Muzzerall on research by Yuan Hsiao who finds that real-world interactions and proximity among Chicago’s Latino gangs significantly influence their online conflicts, demonstrating the complex interplay between offline realities and online behaviors.

Council on Comtemporary Families has a new piece:

• 3Q with Elissa Strauss When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others with Alicia M. Walker interviewing Elissa Strauss on her new book “When You Care: The Unexpected Magic of Caring for Others”

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

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.

New & Noteworthy

Mallory Harrington has a new Discovery on work by Joss Greene on some of the history of gender boundaries in men’s prisons. Covering 1941-2018, this Discovery provides a succinct summary of the development of addressing gender in prisons.

Our media report this week includes The Amsterdam News coverage of Elizabeth Ross Haynes, an African American social worker, sociologist, and author during the early 20th century, Jess Carbino in The New York Times on young, dating adults’ preference to not pay for dating apps, Gaëtan Mangin in The Conversation covering the opinions of older car owns maintaining their old cars as a means of sustainability, Pepper Schwartz in ABC News on the rising use of Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonists for weight loss, and Eric Klinenberg was interviewed by The American Prospect about COVID-19 and some of the impacts social isolation on society.

From the Archives

Vice President Kamala Harris visited an abortion clinic in Minnesota, the first VP to do so. Read this piece from Contexts to learn more about some of the challenges surrounding abortion care.

Dartmouth’s basketball team unionized and Darthmouth has refused to enter into negotiations. Check out our ‘There’s Research on That’ on public opinion on the topic “and revered tradition of amateurism in college sports”, preventing payment of college athletes.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Give Theory a Chance with Kyle Green has a new episode, with Ugo Corte on the work of Gary Alan Fine.

Contexts‘ latest includes an interview with Dr. Sofya Aptekar by Colter Uscola on her recent article in Contexts, Green Card Soldiers.

Council on Contemporary Families has a new interview with Alicia M. Walker and Bella DePaulo on her new book challenging misconceptions about single life.

New & Noteworthy

This week we have a new Discovery from Mason Jones on Self-Help Books from work by Amber Gwynne. The research found that readers learned that the books were not a “quick fix” and they still needed “to do the heavy lifting”.

Valentine’s Day was this past week and we reposted some pieces from us and our partners to acknowledge the holiday. This includes recent coverage of some sociology by Lauren Harris on ABC’s The Golden Bachelor, Valentine’s Day in Japan, and more.

Our media report from this week includes Scott Schieman (Professor of Sociology at the University of Toronto) in The Conversation on how accurate the ‘unhappy worker’ narrative is, coverage of Boris Kagarlitsky’s (prominent Russian sociologist and editor-in-chief of the Marxist online publication Rabkor) sentencing to five years in prison for his critical view of the war in Ukraine, Tina Fetner‘s (Professor of Sociology at McMaster University) new book, Sex in Canada: The Who, Why, When, and How of Getting Down Up North, in Brighter World and Vancouver is Awesome, and Christina Ciocca Eller in The Harvard Gazette on educational institutions rankings.

From the Archives

Orthodox Greece recently legalized gay marriage. Read Louisa L. Roberts‘s Special Feature on research of international attitudes toward same-sex marriage to learn more.

Russia has made advances in space-based nuclear weapons. Learn about some of the history of testing nuclear weapons from 1945-1998 from this Sociological Images piece by Gwen Sharp.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Context’s Winter 2024 is out and ready to read! This issue includes pieces on eviction, “Green Card Soldiers”, race and drug addiction, Q&A with Malcolm Gladwell, and much more!

Council on Contemporary Families has two pieces to read. First, Richard Petts and Daniel L. Carlson write up some of their research on domestic labor in Society and Mental Health and how this work extends far beyond childcare. And second, Jennifer Randles and Megan Carroll write up their different research studies on the societal and cultural beliefs surrounding the role of fathers.

First Publics‘s latest includes Calvin John Smiley‘s work on building trust and using practical applications of sociological concepts in education to address the prison-industrial complex.

New & Noteworthy

In case you missed it, the Super Bowl was this weekend. Read up on some of TSP’s Super Bowl-related sociology here. We also have a new Discovery on the NFL’s Rooney Rule by TSP board member Nadia Jackson-Fitch from work by Christopher I. Rider, James B. Wade, Anand Swaminathan, and Andreas Schwab in the American Journal of Sociology, using promotion data on NFL coaches from 1985-2015.

From the Archives

Does Blindness Beat Bias? by Evan Stewart in Sociological Images on one dating reality show, Love is Blind, that eliminates visual cues (new season coming out this Valentines’ Day).

No presidential debates for the 2024 election? Polls may indicate little impact, but remember polls aren’t always the most reliable representations of data. Read this piece from Contexts on who chooses to participate in online political polls by Danielle Koonce.

More from our Partners & Community Pages

Contexts latest:

• How does parenting impact happiness? Read how different groups experience happiness and parenting differently by Parker Muzzerall.
• Stephanie Ternullo interviewed over 50 residents of Motorville Wisconsin about how local organizations’ contexts, organized labor, and other aspects of rural America strengthen progressive politics or shifts towards populism.

First Publics has two new Class Notes:

• Anna Rogers writes about the importance of incorporating popular culture in the classroom to engage, enhance learning, and encourage critical thinking.
• Shelby Clark discusses her using Community-Based-Learning in a sociology class and how it can further involve students to get engaged in their communities.

Sociological Images has a new piece on how Large Language Models can have an impact on society and religion by Evan Stewart.

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

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

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