Faculty News: Laura Brashears
View Laura Brashears contribution to "Student, Mexican American Student, or White Student? The Relative Influence of Identity Prominence on Academic Performance, Educational Aspirations, and Academic Self-Esteem."
Congratulations to Instructor Erin Davenport!
Instructor Erin Davenport won the 2023 Wilson Teaching Award for her years of teaching in her graduate department at UNC. The award "recognizes graduate students that have demonstrated an excellence in teaching. Award winners have full responsibility for teaching an undergraduate course and are nominated based on official course evaluations, creative and innovative teaching methods and content, and promise as an educator." Dr. Davenport graduated from UNC in May with her PhD in sociology and looks forward to continuing to teach at USC, after joining the department in January.
Check out Kathleen Brossard's new publication!
Assistant Professor Kathleen Broussard has a new open access article in JAMA Network Open.
jimi adams will join the department in Spring 2024!
We are very excited to announce that jimi adams will join our department as Full Professor in Spring 2024! Professor adams is an expert in social networks, health, and diffusion processes, and will add to our teaching and research clusters in social networks and health.
Congratulations to Instructor Erin Davenport!
Erin Davenport has successfully defended her dissertation and will be graduating with her Ph.D in May!
Dueling Demands
Assistant professor of sociology Jaclyn Wong's book "Equal Partners?" dives into relationship inequality within dual-professional couples.
Check out Joe Quinn's new article in Social Forces!
Assistant Professor Joe Quinn recently co-authored an article entitled "Shared Identities and the Structure of Exchange Distinctly Shape Cooperation"
View our exciting employment opportunities!
The Sociology Department is seeking two new faculty: an Assistant Professor and an open rank professor (Assistant, Associate or Full professor) who use Social Networks in the study of Family & Gender, Health and Wellbeing and Methods.
Department will welcome Jun Zhao as Assistant Professor!
We are very excited to announce that Jun Zhao will be joining us Fall 2023! Jun's research interests include social networks, social psychology, race, gender and health.
Congratulations to Ph.D student Nick Heiserman!
Nicholas Heiserman has accepted an Assistant Professor position at Oklahoma State University beginning Fall 2023!
Congratulations to Instructor Laura Brashears!
Laura Brashears has been awarded $9000 through a College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Research Incentive grant to conduct joint research with Steven Wahle, a Social Work Ph.D student, examining the effects of student veterans' identities and networks on their willingness to utilize student veteran resources on college campuses.
Professor Jaclyn Wong's new book will be available April 2023!
Professor Jaclyn Wong's book titled "Equal Partners? How Dual-Professional Couples Make Career, Relationship, and Family Decisions" is scheduled to come out in April 2023 and is available for pre-order now
Check out Professor Brent Simpson's new research on radical protest tactics!
Professor Brent Simpson's new research on radical protest tactics covered in an article in the Guardian and other outlets about protesters throwing soup on Van Gogh painting.
Professor Mathieu Deflem's work on the political abuse of Interpol discussed in news report!
Professor Mathieu Deflem's ongoing work on the political abuse of Interpol by authoritarian regimes was discussed in a news report about China targeting dissidents to its communist regime who are located overseas.
Check out Professor Jaclyn Wong's new paper!
Professor Jaclyn Wong just published a paper in Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project COVID-19 Study to explore how the pandemic changed relationship quality among partnered older adults.
Check out Sociology's new research lab launched by Professor Jennifer Augustine!
The Sociology Department now has a new research lab called Family Inequality Research Lab (FIRL). FIRL aims to provide fresh scientific knowledge on inequalities in and between American families.
View our exciting employment opportunities!
The Sociology Department is seeking two new faculty: an Assistant Professor and an open rank professor (Assistant, Associate or Full professor) who use Social Networks in the study of Family &Gender, Health and Wellbeing and Methods.
Kudos to PhD student Victoria Money!
Victoria Money's manuscript titled "Demonstrating anticipatory deflection and a preemptive measure to manage it: An extension of Affect Control Theory" will be published in the current release of Social Psychology Quarterly.
Check out Professor Jennifer Augustine's article posted in Demography!
Associate Professor Jennifer Augustine's article "Gender Disparities in Increased Time During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Research Note" was recently published in research journal Demography.
Professor Mathieu Deflem interviewed about Paris Syndrome
An article in Live Science, featured Professor Deflem discussing the so-called Paris syndrome, whereby visitors to the French capital feel disappointed. It has been found to be more common among tourists from Japan, because of the confrontation of Japanese exceptions with French reality.
Sociology has been awarded McCausland Grant for summer minor creation!
Under the lead of instructor Hanne van der Iest, Sociology has been awarded $25,000 by the College of Arts and Sciences McCausland Innovation Fund (Track IV Phase 2) for setting up Summer of Sociology, an accelerated minor program!
Kudos to PhD student Nik Lampe!
The American Sociological Association Sociology of Sexualities Martin P. Levine Memorial Dissertation Fellowship Award Committee has selected Nik's dissertation proposal, "Healthy Aging Beyond Sex and Gender Binaries," to receive an honorable mention for this year's award!
Professor Jaclyn Wong interviewed for article in the MIT Technology Review
Check out Dr. Wong's interview featured in article "Chore apps were meant to make mothers' lives easier. They often don't."
PhD student Nick Harder will be awarded a Bilinski Dissertation Fellowship for the 2022-2023 academic year for his project "Heuristics and Cultural Competition: How the Status of Cultural Objects are Formed and Status Influences Survival."
Using music as a cultural object, Nick's dissertation project proposes that individuals use status value as a cognitive shortcut during interaction, and that status value's function as a cognitive shortcut has consequences for the success of music genres in terms of gaining listenership and maintaining listenership investment. The project utilizes a series of 3 studies (a survey and two simulations of music consumption over time) to expand existing knowledge about music consumption and listenership, test new theory, and provide grounds for a wider research program on cultural objects and their valuation.
Great news! Sociology has been awarded the College of Arts and Sciences McCausland Innovation Fund!
Sociology has been awarded $30,000 by the College of Arts and Sciences McCausland Innovation Fund (Track IV, Phase 1) to develop three stellar online courses over summer 2022. The team consists of Hanne van der Iest (Project Lead), Dr. Andrea Henderson, Dr. Jaclyn Wong, Dr. Matthew Brashears (Faculty Experts), and Nick Heiserman, Nick Harder, Meg Routh, Samantha Moser, Morgan Koziol, Valerie Barron, and Atticus Wolfe (Graduate Assistants and Course Developers). Be on the lookout for our online, new and / or improved SOCY 360 Medicine and Health, SOCY 561 Integrative Research Experience, and SOCY 392 Elementary Statistics for Sociologist courses.