Seeking subject-matter expert nominees on the future of human welfare and societal change. Please send confidential nominations about the most relevant, prolific, and well-respected experts in your field who study issues related to the future for humanity and societal change (e.g., economic conditions, public health, freedoms, happiness, life expectancy, functional institutions, technological innovations, peace, education, social capital). Self-nominations are welcome. Top nominees will be invited to share their insights and eventually share a distillation of these expert opinions with the academic community and society at large. For more information and the online nomination form, visit the website.
In honor of sociologist Richard Lachmann, who died this fall, we are soliciting papers that address the issues of elite and nonelite influences on political and social processes and outcomes. The question of the power of elites, and the conditions under which that power might be tamed, happened to lie at the heart of the historical sociology of Lachmann. We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers. Submissions could be, for example, reprises of elite theory, critical summaries, critiques, discussions of class versus elite power, developments of alternatives (i.e., nonelite influences, people power), empirical evaluations of the relative power of elites and nonelites, or concrete investigations into the processes that maintain and undermine that power. Possible topics include the origins of capitalism, empires, elites and contemporary capitalism, social movements and elite conflict, and popular culture and influencers. Abstracts are due to Rebecca Jean Emigh and Dylan Riley on January 28, 2022, and should be no longer than 500 words. We are collecting papers with an eye to publishing them as an edited volume for a major university press.
The Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research book series is seeking research for two upcoming volumes. The first volume, "Conjugal Trajectories: Relationship Beginnings, Change, and Dissolutions," will delve into relationship formation and change over time. This volume is being edited by Ana Josefina Cuevas Hernández of the University of Colima, and Sampson Lee Blair of the State University of New York-Buffalo. The second volume, "Resilience and Familism: The Dynamic Nature of Families in the Philippines," focuses upon the ever-changing structures and norms within Filipino families. This volume is being edited by Clarence M. Batan of the University of Santo Tomas (Manila), Sampson Lee Blair of the State University of New York, and Veronica L. Gregorio of the National University of Singapore. The submission deadline for both of these volumes is April 15, 2022. Additional information about the book series can be found here.
The new book series Higher Education and the City, from Johns Hopkins University Press, is seeking scholarly, book-length manuscript submissions that examine higher education ecosystems through the lens of urban change, with an emphasis on the past and future of cities and metropolitan areas. Contribute to ongoing dialogues about relevant cultural and social issues, the pursuit of innovation, and the relationship between higher education and economic and community development. For information on contributing to the series, visit the website or contact book series editor Costas Spirou.
The Fifteenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum will be on the theme of “Rethinking the Museum,” and will take place at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia April 22–24, 2022. The Inclusive Museum Research Network is brought together by a shared concern for the future role of the museum and how it can become more inclusive. Proposals are invited on several themes. The deadline is January 22, 2022. For more information, visit the website.
The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics invites papers for its 34th annual conference, “Fractious Connections: Anarchy, Activism, Coordination, and Control,” hosted by the University of Amsterdam, July 9–11, 2022. The deadline for submissions is January 25, 2022. Find more information here.
The Twelfth International Conference on the Constructed Environment will be held on the theme of “Design Reset: Constructing New Environments for Living, Work and Play,” at the University of Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, April 28–29, 2022. The Constructed Environment Research Network is brought together by a common shared interest in human configurations of the environment and the interactions among the constructed, social, and natural environments. The network invites proposals on several themes. The proposal deadline is January 28, 2022. For more information, visit the website.
The 23rd Conference on the Small City and Regional Community, to be held March 23–24, 2022, at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, is seeking presentations. The theme is “Building Infrastructure in Small Cities, Towns, and Rural Areas.” Infrastructure is defined broadly to include the social as well as the physical dimensions. The deadline is February 1, 2022. Additional information about the conference and the submission process can be found here.
The 16th Junior Theorists Symposium (JTS) invites submissions of précis for the annual symposium, which will be held in person on August 4, 2022, prior to the ASA 2022 Annual Meeting. The JTS is a conference featuring the work of up-and-coming sociologists, sponsored in part by ASA’s Theory Section. We invite all ABD graduate students, recent PhDs, postdocs, and assistant professors who received their PhDs from 2018 onward to submit up to a three-page précis (800–1000 words). The précis should include the key theoretical contribution of the paper and a general outline of the argument. Successful précis from last year’s symposium can be viewed here. For more information on submission guidelines, contact Tara Gonsalves (University of California-Berkeley) and Davon Norris (The Ohio State University) at [email protected]. The deadline is February 25, 2022, and information about symposium sessions can be found on the website.
The Eighteenth International Conference on Technology, Knowledge, and Society will be held on the theme of “Trust, Surveillance, Democracy,” and will take place at the National Changhua University of Education, Changhua City, Taiwan, on April 15–16, 2022. The conference will explore the complex and subtle relationships between technology, knowledge, and society, and invites proposals on several themes. The proposal deadline is March 15, 2022. For more information, visit the website.
The Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) program is accepting proposals for innovative research projects that contribute to understanding what fosters, hinders, or challenges ethical STEM research in all STEM fields, including interdisciplinary, interinstitutional, and international contexts. ER2 research projects will use basic research to: produce knowledge about what leads to responsible or irresponsible research; create just or unjust scientific cultures, practices, and sociotechnical systems and why; enable responsible and ethical conduct of research; and instill this knowledge in faculty and students. Full proposal due February 17, 2022. Information about the program can be found here.
The Criminology Explains… book series, published by the University of California Press, invites proposals for future volumes. Each volume in this series of coursebooks provides a concise, targeted overview of criminology theories as applied to specific criminal justice-related subjects. The goal is to bring to life for students the relationships among theory, research, and policy. More information about the book series, possible topics, and easy-to-follow proposal guidelines and a manuscript template are on the website. Proposals accepted on an ongoing basis.
The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies invites candidates to apply for postdoctoral research positions in political economy and economic sociology, which will be offered for a period of two years. Applicants must hold their doctoral degree or be scheduled to receive it before the contract begins. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2022. For more information, visit the website.
The South Carolina Sociological Association 2022 Annual Meeting, University of South Carolina Upstate, Spartanburg, SC, will be held February 25–26, 2022. The theme is “Paying Sociology Forward: Lessons We Want Others to (Un)Learn.” For more information, visit the SCSA website.
The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) will hold its 82nd annual meeting March 22–26, 2022, in Salt Lake City, UT. The meeting offers researchers, practitioners, and students from diverse disciplines and organizations the opportunity to discuss their work and consider how it can contribute to a better future. SfAA members come from a host of disciplines—anthropology, geography, sociology, economics, business, planning, medicine, nursing, law, and more. The annual meeting provides a fertile venue for trading ideas, methods, and practical solutions, as well as an opportunity to enter the lifeworlds of other professionals. For information, visit the SfAA website.
The Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) will hold its 93rd annual meeting April 7–10, 2022, in Sacramento, CA. The theme of the meeting is “Telling Our Stories: Collective Memory and Narratives of Race, Gender, and Community Identity.” The study of collective memory is an interdisciplinary and intersectional nexus of several disciplines. As sociologists, how do we use the canon of our discipline, the theories that engage our discipline into that of memory, and the collective consciousness of our society? Pending status of the COVID-19 pandemic, the conference is planned to have both in-person and virtual components. For more information, visit PSA website.
The Twenty-ninth International Conference on Learning, on the theme of “Intercultural Learning in Plurilingual Contexts” will be held at the University of Valencia in Valencia, Spain, on July 13–15, 2022. The Learner Research Network is brought together around a common concern for learning in all its sites—formal and informal—and at all levels, from early childhood, to schools, colleges and universities, and adult, community and workplace education. More information can be found on the website.
The Fifteenth Global Studies Conference will be held on the theme of “What to Make of Crises: Emerging Methods, Principles, Actions,” at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens—School of Philosophy in Athens, Greece, July 21–23, 2022. The Global Studies Research Network is devoted to mapping and interpreting past and emerging trends and patterns in globalization. More information can be found on the website.
The Seventeenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences will be held on the theme of “At the Crossroads of Paradigms: Considering Heterodoxy in the Social Sciences,” at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens—School of Philosophy in Athens, Greece, on July 21–23, 2022. The Interdisciplinary Social Sciences Research Network is brought together by a common interest in disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches, within and across the various social sciences, and between the social, natural and applied sciences. More information can be found on the website.
The Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD) is seeking applicants for its State Policy Fellowship Program. This post-doctoral fellowship is a full-immersion experience, where fellows work as resident scholars in state executive branch agency offices. Fellows will receive support from a state supervisor and an academic mentor during the fellowship experience. Visit the SRCD website for application requirements and to access the application portal. The application deadline is January 24, 2022.
The American Philosophical Society is accepting new applications for the Phillips Fund for Native American Research. Information and application instructions can be accessed on the website. The deadline is March 1, 2022. Direct questions to Linda Musumeci, director of grants and fellowships.
The Rachel Tanur Memorial Prize for Visual Sociology recognizes students in the social sciences who incorporate visual analysis in their work. The contest is open worldwide to undergraduate and graduate students (majoring in any social science). It is named for Rachel Dorothy Tanur (1958–2002), an urban planner and lawyer who cared deeply about people and their lives and was an acute observer of living conditions and human relationships. The 2022 Rachel Tanur Memorial Prize is now open for applications. Entries for the 2022 competition must be received by March 1, 2022. For more information and to apply, visit racheltanurmemorialprize.org.
Kathleen Blee and Peter Simi provided an Expert Report and testimony in the landmark civil case Sines v. Kessler. The trial resulted in a more than $25 million judgment against the individuals and organizations who planned the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA. Both the report and testimony relied heavily on sociological research and key sociological constructs such as front and backstage behavior.
Glenn Bracey, Villanova University, and Joe R. Feagin, Texas A&M University, are quoted in the preface to Nikole Hannah-Jones’s The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.
Andrew Cognard-Black, St. Mary's College of Maryland, was named a lifetime Fellow of the National Collegiate Honors Council.
Theodoros Fouskas was elected as an assistant professor at the Department of Public Health Policy of the University of West Attica (Greece) in the field of sociology, with an emphasis on migration and public health.
Kenneth Sebastian León, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, was awarded the 2021 Young Career Award by the American Society of Criminology, Division on White Collar and Corporate Crime.
Mary Rose, University of Texas-Austin, was promoted to full professor in its Department of Sociology.
Chris Smith, University of Toronto, and Sharon Oselin, University of California-Riverside, received a two-year grant from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (Canada) for their new project Vice for Sale: Illicit Markets and Neighbourhood Change.
Tara Sutton, Mississippi State University, was selected as the New Scholar Award recipient for the Division on Women and Crime of the American Society of Criminology.
Dikla Yogev, University of Toronto, was awarded the Richard Ericson Paper Award 2021 for her article “Social Capital Transformation and Social Control: What Can We Learn from the Changing Style in Communication between Religious Communities and the Police during COVID-19,” published on August 14, 2021, in Policing and Society.
Christina Ergas, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, authored the article “An Environmental Sociologist Explains How Permaculture Offers a Path to Climate Justice, ” in the November 17, 2021, edition of The Conversation. She was also interviewed for the September 23, 2021, “How Gender Equality Can Save The Planet” episode of the podcast A Matter of Degrees and the September 23, 2021, “We Can’t Solve the Climate Crisis Without Gender Equality. We’ll Prove It to You.” episode of the podcast How to Save a Planet.
Eric Grodsky, University of Wisconsin-Madison, coauthored the article “Why Student Absences Aren’t the Real Problem in America’s ‘Attendance Crisis’,” in the October 27, 2021, edition of The Conversation.
A recent study by Chris Knoester, The Ohio State University, and Evan A. Davis, St. John Fisher College, on “Patriotism, Competition, Nationalism, and Respect for the Military in U.S. Sports: Public Recognition of American Institutionalized Sports Nationalism” was featured in an analysis of militarism in sport in the November 19, 2021, issue of the Charlotte Observer.
The research of Brian Levy, George Mason University, and Nolan E. Phillips and Robert J. Sampson, Harvard University, was featured in the article “Where White People Go, Where Black People Go: Cellphone Data Reveals How Segregated Bostonians Are in Their Movements,” in the October 29, 2021, edition of the Boston Globe.
Jonathan Mijs, Boston University, was quoted in the article “Another Truth About Remote Work,” in the September 20, 2021, online edition of the Atlantic and was interviewed on Wisconsin Public Radio (NPR) for the piece “How the Growing Economic Divide Prevents Us from Learning about Others' Lives, ” on September 30, 2021.
Amanda Jayne Miller and Colleen E. Wynn, University of Indianapolis, authored the opinion piece “The Affordable Housing Crisis Is Destroying Relationships and Families,” in the October 21, 2021, online edition of Newsweek.
Martyn Pickersgill, University of Edinburgh, authored the article “To Tackle Covid, Politicians Need to Be Radical,” in the November 25, 2021, edition of the UK broadsheet The Herald.
Louise Seamster, University of Iowa, discussed America’s student debt crisis with Tressie McMillan Cottom on the November 2, 2021, episode of the New York Times podcast, The Ezra Klein Show.
Anthony J. Spires, University of Melbourne, authored a commentary on the question of “What Future for International NGOs in China?” in the November 24, 2021, edition of ChinaFile. Spires was also quoted in the article “As Amnesty Joins Groups Quitting Hong Kong, NGOs Worry Their Funding, Activities May Cross ‘Red Lines’ of National Security Law,” in the October 30, 2021, edition of South China Morning Post.
Colleen E. Wynn, University of Indianapolis, authored the op-ed “More Than a Home: Housing Is a Human Right,” in the October 5, 2021, online edition of U.S. News & World Report.
Elizabeth Ziff, University of Indianapolis, authored the op-ed “Finding Better Ways to Ensure Safety for LGBTQ Young People,” in the November 15, 2021, edition of the Chicago Sun Times and the op-ed “Reproductive Health Care is a Human Right,” in the October 7, 2021, edition of The Progressive Magazine.
Christina Ergas, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Surviving Collapse: Building Community toward Radical Sustainability (Oxford University Press 2021).
Theodoros Fouskas, University of West Attica (Greece), Precarious Lives of Maids, Nannies, and Caregivers in Greece: Perceptions of Migrant Filipina Live-in Domestic Workers on Labour, Community Associations, and Healthcare (Nova Science Publishers 2021).
Kenneth Sebastian León, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Corrupt Capital: Alcohol, Nightlife, and Crimes of the Powerful (Routledge 2021).
Leslie Paik, Arizona State University, Trapped in a Maze: How Social Control Institutions Drive Family Poverty and Inequality (University of California Press 2021).
Richard N. Pitt, University of California-San Diego, Church Planters: Inside the World of Religion Entrepreneurs (Oxford University Press 2021).
Harland Prechel, Texas A&M University, Normalized Financial Wrongdoing: How Re-regulating Markets Created Risks and Fostered Inequality (Stanford University Press 2021).
Mikaela Rabinowitz, San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, Incarceration without Conviction: Pretrial Detention and the Erosion of Innocence in American Criminal Justice (Routledge 2021).
Poulami Roychowdhury, McGill University, Capable Women, Incapable States: Negotiating Violence and Rights in India (Oxford University Press 2020).
Robert K. Schaeffer, California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, After Globalization: Crisis and Disintegration (Routledge 2021).
A. Javier Treviño, Wheaton College, The Emerald Guide to C. Wright Mills (Emerald 2021).
Mark R. Warren, University of Massachusetts Boston, Willful Defiance: The Movement to Dismantle the School-to-Prison Pipeline (Oxford University Press 2021).
Pauline Bart, second-wave feminist sociologist, died on October 8, 2021. She was 91. Bart trained in sociology at the University of California at Los Angeles, where she received a bachelor’s degree in 1950, a master’s degree in 1952, and a doctorate in 1967. Bart helped organize a 1969 caucus of female sociologists to promote the work of women in the field. The gathering spurred the creation of Sociologists for Women in Society, an international feminist organization. Bart taught at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Bart’s books include The Student Sociologist’s Handbook (Schenkman, 1971), coauthored with Linda Frankel, and Stopping Rape: Successful Survival Strategies (Pergamon Press, 1985), coauthored with Patricia H. O’Brien. Bart’s obituary in the Washington Post can be read here.
It is with heavy hearts that the sociology faculty and the greater Georgetown University community mourn the loss of Associate Professor Timothy Wickham-Crowley, who passed away on October 30, 2021.
Wickham-Crowley earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton University (AB magna cum laude, 1973) and a PhD from Cornell University (1982). He taught at Georgetown from 1986 to 2020, where he was an associate professor of sociology. He chaired that department from 2011 to 2016. From 2002 to 2007, he served as the MA program director for Latin American Studies. For more than 25 years, he taught a broad range of courses, covering topics on political sociology, Latin American societies, population dynamics, and social inequality.
Wickham-Crowley was an acclaimed teacher. In 1991, he was nominated by Georgetown students and selected to become an honorary faculty member of Alpha Sigma Nu, the Honor Society of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. He was twice nominated by seniors in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service for teaching awards. In 2008, he received from the College of Arts and Sciences the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Wickham-Crowley’s scholarly interests included Latin American guerrilla movements and social revolutions, and development and underdevelopment in the Americas since 1500. He authored more than a dozen articles and chapters on guerrilla movements and revolution, with articles appearing in Social Forces, Comparative Studies in Society and History (twice), Social Science History, Politics & Society, International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Political Power and Social Theory, Theory and Society, Latin American Research Review, and (in translation) Revue Internationale de Politique Comparée and América Latina Hoy. Several of his articles and book chapters have been reprinted in English or Spanish in collected writings on revolution.
In addition, Wickham-Crowley was a contributor and member of the editorial board for The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions (Congressional Quarterly 1998). He also contributed the essays and reviews on "Central America—Sociology" for the Handbook of Latin American Studies (nos. 57, 59, 61), and authored two monographs, Exploring Revolution: Essays on Latin American Insurgency and Revolutionary Theory (Routledge 1991) and Guerrillas and Revolution in Latin America: A Comparative Study of Insurgents and Regimes since 1956 (Princeton University Press 1992). The latter book was nominated for several awards, including LASA’s Bryce Wood Book Award. In addition, he served as program chair of the Latin American Studies Association's (LASA) 21st International Congress (1998), and subsequently served a three-year term on LASA's Executive Council and was nominated to run for vice-president of LASA in 2012.
Wickham-Crowley will be deeply missed by his colleagues, students, and the Georgetown community.
Georgetown University
Humboldt State University (HSU) is saddened to share the loss of Samuel P. Oliner, professor emeritus of sociology. Born in Zyndranowa, Poland in 1930, Oliner endured the Holocaust, surviving with the help of a Polish family who risked their lives to save him. After the war, Oliner immigrated to England and then to New York City. He fought in the Korean War and received the Bronze Service Star, National Defense Service Medal, and Presidential Unit Citation for his service.
In 1956, Oliner married his wife, Pearl. They pursued their PhDs at the University of California-Berkeley and later became professors at HSU. A central theme throughout Oliner’s scholarship has been the importance of kindness and courage. He authored many publications on the Holocaust, altruism, prosocial behavior, and race/ethnic relations, and lectured widely in the United States and other countries on the topic of rescuers of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. In 1982, together Oliner and his wife launched the Altruistic Behavior Institute at HSU, dedicated to seeking out ways to enhance altruism and prosocial behavior in society. Oliner’s latest book, What Kind of Future Will Our Children Inherit?,wascoauthored with Ronnie Swartz and published by Humboldt State University Press in January.
“With the passing of my friend and colleague Sam Oliner, we have lost a person who, despite his own life experiences, always offers us a very hopeful vision of the future. I will miss him,” says Sing C. Chew, professor emeritus of sociology.
Pearl Oliner, an HSU professor emerita of education, died earlier this year. Humboldt State University is honored and privileged to have known the Oliners. Their friendship, compassion, and wisdom brought light to our world and helped us all better understand and improve humanity.
The family’s obituary can be read here.
Humboldt State University
