Department of Sociology
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology, has been awarded a Pitt Professorship of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University, England, for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Pitt Professorship was established in 1944 with the goal of bringing US-based historians and sociologists to teach at Cambridge’s American History program. Each academic year, a new Pitt Professor is selected from the most distinguished scholars of American history and sociology in the country.… read more about Bonilla-Silva Awarded Pitts Professorship of American History and Institutions at Cambridge University »
Duke class of 2026 students Luna Abadia, Dylan Cawley and Henry Stephens IV have received the Voyager Scholarship. Also referred to as the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, the program offers funding and leadership training to students committed to serving their communities.From Portland, Ore., Luna Abadia is a public policy major interested in emerging tech policy, political economics and climate mobility. She has served as an intern for the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East… read more about Three Duke Students Awarded the Voyager Scholarship »
Four Duke Sociology and Markets & Management Studies faculty were identified as the Top 5% of all undergraduate instructors teaching in the Social Sciences in Spring 2024: Jenifer Hamil-Luker, Lisa Keister, Ed Tiryakian, and George Grody. The achievement is based on receiving a top 5% rating in at least two of the following three categories: Overall Quality of Course, Overall Quality of Instructor, and/or Intellectual Stimulation of Course. read more about Four Faculty Named in Top 5% of Undergraduate Instructors »
Tony Cheng, Jean Philippe Gibert and Masayuki Onishi received NSF Early Career Awards this spring. (Photos courtesy of John West/Trinity Communications, Gibert and Onishi) Three Trinity faculty are among the recipients of the 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Career Awards. Tony Cheng, assistant professor of Sociology, Jean Philippe Gibert, assistant professor of Biology, and Masayuki Onishi, also an assistant professor of Biology, are this year’s awardees.… read more about Three Trinity Faculty Receive NSF Early Career Award »
Access to financial services, such as bank accounts, credit, cryptocurrency, and insurance, allows people to save, invest, and manage resources, leading to improved income levels and reduced poverty. Financial inclusion, however, varies greatly across the globe. To better understand the relationship between financial inclusion and economic inequalities across and within well-developed, developing, and under-developed countries, Farris Khan worked on an independent study with Professor Hamil-Luker over the summer of… read more about Faris Khan Studies Global Disparities in Financial Inclusion »
Aidan Combs received the Best Graduate Student Paper Award from the ASA Section on Social Psychology and ASA Methodology Section for her paper entitled, "Disagreement and Entropy: Operationalizing Uncertainty in Cultural Meaning Between and Within People”. read more about Aidan Combs Receives Two 2024 ASA Awards »
The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) has announced the recipients of the 2024 DeJoy-Woś Scholarships. The 2024 Scholars receive full scholarships to spend the summer interning in Washington, D.C., and attending courses at George Mason University. To be eligible for the DeJoy-Woś Scholarships, students must attend college in North Carolina or be residents of the state. One scholarship is reserved for a student from Estonia. The 2024 DeJoy-Woś Scholars are: Simon Cook, Caitlin Kaus, and Lauren Zola of the University of North… read more about Duke Sociology Student One of Eight in North Carolina to Receive Prestigious DeJoy-Woś Scholarship »
No one likes to feel like they’re not getting the respect or courtesy they deserve. Think about the last time you felt talked down to, or treated as inferior, or got worse customer service than another person in line. But by the time most Americans reach adulthood, Blacks may have developed better coping skills for these disappointments than their white counterparts, potentially limiting the toll such experiences take on their mental health. That’s one of the key takeaways of a Duke University study looking at how… read more about Black Americans Develop Mental Resilience to Discrimination Early »
Tony Cheng has received an NSF Career Award for his project entitled, “The Psuedo-State Entities of Street-Level Bureaucrats” (abstract below). This is an impressive achievement that recognizes Tony’s unique and timely contributions to our understanding of policing—both at the macro, organizational level and at the micro, individual level. He has been on an upward trajectory since receiving the 21st Century Dissertation Prize at Yale University (2021), and we are so pleased to have him continue that journey… read more about Tony Cheng Receives 5-Year National Science Foundation Career Award »
Duke Sociology hosted an honorary dinner to mark the naming of the “Gary and Pela Outstanding Alumni Award.” The award recognizes Gary Gereffi’s many outstanding achievements and contributions to Duke University and his family’s ongoing commitment to excellence at Duke. The award will be given annually to an outstanding undergraduate alumnus at the Department of Sociology’s commencement ceremony. Pictured: Pela Gereffi, Jen'nan Read, Gary Gereffi (L – R) read more about Gary and Pela Gereffi Honored at Sociology Dinner »
“When was the last time you thought — who is white?” asked Jen’nan Read, chair and professor in the department of Sociology, whose newly published study in the “Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health” examines the data integrity of using the “white” racial category as a benchmark when comparing racial and ethnic health disparities. “It’s the group to which all other groups in the U.S. are compared,” Read said. With the release of her new study, Read is working to fill a gap in the… read more about New Study Becomes First to Examine Health Outcomes Among Foreign- and Native-Born U.S. Whites »
The Department of Sociology has awarded Lindsay Harding, head coach of the NBA G League team Stockton Kings, the inaugural Gary and Pela Gereffi Outstanding Alumni Award. Harding received the award at Sociology’s graduation ceremony on May 12th, where she also delivered the departmental commencement address. The Department of Sociology established the award this year to recognize outstanding undergraduate alumni. The award, which will be given annually at the department’s commencement ceremony, is named after emeriti… read more about Lindsey Harding Receives Inaugural Alumni Award »
In high school, Amber Smith planned to become a physician. “Before college, I had no intention of studying Sociology and barely even knew what the discipline was about,” said Smith, who is graduating this Spring with a major in Sociology, concentration in medical sociology, and a minor in Global Health. “During my first semester at Duke, I took an introductory class, SOCIOL 110: Sociological Inquiry, with Professor Craig Rawlings. I quickly found myself deeply interested in the material.” Smith enrolled in more Sociology… read more about Amber Smith Analyzes Abortion Care Access as a Social Network »
