| The Endless Pursuit of Unnecessary Things |
 Sociology Professor Juliet Schor is quoted in a New York Times article that explores the implications of humanity’s growing numbers and resource thirst. more |
| Undergraduate Research Honors |
At the Feb. 1 Boston College Undergraduate Research Symposium, three
Sociology majors were among 12 students (of approximately 44 presenters) who
received special recognitions as "Award Winning Presenters." Congratulations to Nicole Picone, Sarah Popper, and Malak Yusuf! |
| Absolutely Safe |
| The Women's Studies Program had a screening of Absolutely Safe, a film devoted to the controversy over breast implant safety, on the BC campus. The screening was followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Carol Ciancutti Leyva, and Professor Abigail Brooks from the Sociology Department.. |
| Prof. Malec wins Distinguished Service Award |
 At the recent meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport, Michael Malec was presented with the Society's "Distinguished Service Award" in recognition of more than 25 years of service to the organization.
|
| Rich Kid Syndrome |
 America's burgeoning money culture is producing a record number of heirs, along with questions about how this treasury will be used. Center on Wealth and Philanthropy Director Paul Schervish discusses the subject with New York Magazine. |
| Climate & Consumption |
 BC sociologist Juliet Schor links global climate problems to 'incessant growth in consumption' in an interview with public radio's 'Marketplace.' more. |
| "Our Home Is Gone" |
 Abraham Cho (2007), a graduate of the Sociology Honors Program, recipient of the Scholar of the College designation, and winner of the William Gamson Award, helped found the Boston chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War. His thesis, "Our Home Is Gone: Homeless Veterans and the Road Back," is available here. |
| Amy Finnegan wins PON fellowship. |
 PhD candidate Amy Finnegan was awarded a summer fellowship with the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation. She used it to work on her dissertation, The Perception of Negotiation and Nonviolent Action in Northern Uganda . |
| Critics Choice Award Winning |
 The Handbook of Feminist Research: Theory and Praxis (Sage 2007), edited by Sharlene Hesse-Biber, is one several books selected as a Critics Choice Award Winner by the American Education Studies Association (AESA). |
| daddy does cybernetics: Diary of a Mental Patient |
 Jackie Orr performed a historical, somewhat hysterical, story of U.S. Cold War culture caught between the threat of contagious panic and the government sponsored imperative to "Keep Calm!" Part social history, part political theory, part schizophrenic poetry, this piece of "performance theory" attempts to evoke the reasoned madness of an era from which we perhaps have yet to fully emerge. daddy does cybernetics is part of the departmental seminar series. |
| Hidden Power |
 Thom Hartmann's Independent Thinker of the Month Review praises Sociology Professor Charlie Derber's Hidden Power as "the must-read book of the year. Buy three copies, at least, because you'll want to share a few with friends, and will never want to part with your own well-marked-up copy." Hidden Power was a top finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY). |
| Tattoo You? |
 Sharlene Hesse-Biber, a Sociology professor and widely published author with a specialty in body image, has recently been consulted in the media for her expertise on tattoos. The Boston College Chronicle interviewed her on the topic in an article entitled "Tattoo You?" |
| Michael Malec Receives Award |
 Professor Michael Malec has received a Professional Service Award from The Drake Group, a college reform group. |
| Juliet Schor Awarded Leontief Prize |
 The Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University has awarded Sociology Professor and Chair Juliet Schor the "2006 Leontief Prize for Expanding the Frontiers of Economic Thought", a distinguished prize designed to recognize outstanding contributions to economic theory that address contemporary realities and support just and sustainable societies. More. |
| Feedback, Fear, and Fascination |
On January 23, Stephen Pfohl presented
Feedback, Fear, and Fascination: Cybernetic Social Control and
Global Capitalist Power. This plenary presentation examined the
global politics of cybernetic forms of social control in the realms of
culture, economy, and war. It provided a critical sociological history
of information-driven rituals of power and resistance in an era
characterized by high-speed telematic communications, electronic
surveillance, and ultramodern technologies aimed at colonizing the
social imagination and body. Feedback, Fear, and Fascination
is part of the
departmental
seminar series.
|
| The Social Death of Stuff |
On November 21, Juliet Schor presented "The Social Death of
Stuff: Accumulation and Discard in the Global Economy, " examining
data on purchases of new apparel items and discards of
used apparel, and considering the the theoretical context
for understanding these trends. The Social Death
of Stuff is part of the
departmental
seminar series.
|
| How To Stay Married |
Sociology faculty member Natasha Sarkisian and fellow author
Naomi Gerstel, recently awarded for their research excellence, were
quoted in a London Times article on marriage.
Click here for the article.
|
| Frontline Feature |
Assistant Professor Shawn McGuffey's research on parental responses to
child sexual abuse was featured in Frontline,
a media outlet for MCASA (Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault).
|
| Ranking Corporate Money |
Recent Sociology graduate Christian Gilde (M.A. 2006) and
Associate Professor Michael Malec presented their paper,
"Ranking Corporate Money: College Basketball and Corporate
Giving," as part of a symposium on Sports & Organizational
Dynamics at the 2006 Academy of Management Annual Meeting in
Atlanta, August 11-16.
|
| Hidden Power |
|
Hidden Power, written by Sociology Professor Charles Derber,
was selected as a top finalist for the 2006
Independent
Publisher Book Awards
(IPPY) in the category of Current Events. The IPPY Awards are designed to bring increased recognition to the
deserving but often unsung titles published by independent authors and publishers. |
| Model Research |
An editorial in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has declared
that a recently published study by Associate Professor of Sociology
Eva Garroutte and Assistant Professor of Sociology Natasha
Sarkisian on disparities in health perceptions between Indian
patients and their doctors represents a significant advance and
should serve as a model for future research. Read their
study here. |
| Paul Schervish speaks on Bill Gates |
|
Sociology Professor and Center on Wealth and Philanthropy Director Paul Schervish
discussed Bill Gates' decision to step back at Microsoft and step
up in philanthropy on Tuesday's edition of NPR On Point,
heard locally on WBUR-FM. Listen online here.
|
| Craig Smith on cover of Sports Illustrated |
 Sociology major Criag Smith is on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Read about his journey to the NCAA tournament here. |
| Fund raising for water filters in San Juan del Sur |
An open mic evening of entertainment was
held in the cabaret room at Vanderslice Hall on Tuesday, May 2nd. Funds
support construction and installation of water filters in poor
rural schools and communities near San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Read
more about the water filter project here. |
| Lord of the Games |
 Long
before the founding of Rotisserie League Baseball, BC sociologist
Bill Gamson dreamed up a primitive forebear of the addictive fantasy
game in 1960. More on the National Baseball Seminar, now in its 46th
year, from the Boston
Globe. |
| Critical Sociology |
 Culture, Power, and History: Studies in Critical Sociology,
written by several BC Sociology professors, graduate students, and
alumni, and edited by Professor Stephen Pfohl and PhD students Aimee
Van Wagenen, Patricia Arend, Abigail Brooks and Denise Leckenby, has
just been published by Brill Academic Publishers (Leiden, The Netherlands). More... |
| Working Longer in America |
 Sociology
PhD student Esteban Calvo Bralic's brief on financing retirement in
America is available on the Center for Retirement Research website. |
| Sociology Speaks 2004-2005 |
| Distinguished Visiting Scholars Tricia Rose, Alondra Nelson, and Prudence
Carter on Black Social Thought and Research; New Hires Zine Magubane,
C. Shawn McGuffey, and Natasha Sarkisian; Charles Derber's Hidden
Power; Bioterrorism: Fear, History, and Reality; the Geneology
of Cyberpunk; and more. |
| Sociology Speaks 2003-2004 |
 Richard Swedberg on Economic Sociology, Sarah Babb interviews
Juliet Schor on the commodification of childhood, James Holstein on
publishing, Eva Garroutte on identity and survival of Native America,
Mike Malec on service trip to Nicaragua, Michael Moore visits BC campus,
and more. |
| Eva Garroutte Awarded NIA Grant |
|
Associate Professor Eva Garroutte
was recently awarded a $4
89,780 grant
from the National Institute on Aging for her research on "Health
Communication with American Indian Elders." |
| Sev Bruyn Wins William Foote Whyte Distinguished Career award |
 Sociology
Professor Emeritus Severyn
Bruyn has been selected by
the ASA Section on Sociological practice to receive the 2005
William Foote Whyte Distinguished Career Award. The award was
presented during the ASA Anniversary meeting in Philadelphia.
For more information see the ASA website. |
| Jeanne Guillemin on Bioterrorism |
 "Think Global," a national
public radio collaborative
initiative,
features Jeanne Guillemin of Boston College on biological weapons.
Access the program on the WGBH Forum Network. |
| Sarah Babb Wins Woodrow Wilson Fellowship |
 Associate
Professor Sarah Babb has
been awarded a
prestigious Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for AY 2005/06. This award will
enable Babb to pursue research on the complex ways in which global
economic ideas rise and fall from historical prominence within a context
of powerful multi-national economic and political institutions. |
| Paul Schervish Awarded Grant |
Director of the C
enter on Wealth and Philanthropy (CWP) and Sociology Professor Paul Schervish was
awarded a $100,000 grant from the T.B. Murphy Foundation, "The Material
and Spiritual Dynamics of Wealth; Dilemmas and Decisions Surrounding the
Accumulation and Distribution of Financial Resources." See article in The Chronicle. |
| BC's Most Wanted Instructors |
 Denise
Leckenby (Ph.D. student
and Teaching Fellow) is one
of BC’s “Most Wanted” instructors. Based on the Undergraduate
Student Government’s Professor Evaluation Profiles (PEPs), Leckenby’s core course
Love, Intimacy and Human Sexuality was rated 10 out of a maximum score of 10. The Heights
|
| Eastern Sociological Society Merit Award |
|
 Sociology
Professor Bill Gamson has just been awarded the 2005 Recipient of Merit
Award from the Eastern Sociological Society. Gamson received this award on March 19 at the ESS Meetings in Washington, DC. |
|
Research Professor Lisa Dodson presented her study on 
On March 27, Zine Magubane discussed the recent upswing in interest about Africa and Africans in popular culture. Her talk addressed how Africa has historically been represented in popular culture and compare it to what is happening today. Movies, Madonna, and Malawi is part of the 
On Thursday March 29, the 
Assistant Professor Shawn McGuffey won the Sally Hacker award of the Sex and Gender section of the ASA for his remarkable article 
Michelle Gawerc, Ph.D. candidate and Presidential Fellow in Sociology, has been selected as a 2006 Graduate Student Fellow of the 
