News

On April 3rd, Jacob C. Fisher successfully defended his dissertation: "Latent space and social psychological models of diffusion" His committee was: James Moody, Chair, Steve Vaisey, Martin Ruef, Ken Spenner, and David Banks read more about Fisher Awarded Ph.D. »

On March 24th, E. Paige Borelli successfully defended her dissertation: "Investing in the Homeland: Foreign Assets and Patterns of Immigrant Economic Incorporation" Her committee was: Lisa Keister, Chair, Bai Gao, Jen’nan G. Read, and Martin Ruef read more about Borelli Awarded Ph.D. »

Trenita Childers was selected for a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for her dissertation research titled: " 'We Are Not Foreigners': Immigrant Status and Mental Health Among Haitian Descendants in the Dominican Republic".  Trenita's project is an ethnographic examination of how perceived discrimination, ethnic identity, and documentation status impact the lives of people of Haitian descent in the D.R.  The Ford Dissertation Fellowships are awarded in a national competition to individuals who… read more about Childers Awarded Ford Fellowship »

Robert L. Reece was awarded first place in the Mid-South Sociological Association's 2015 graduate student paper competition for his paper "Legacies of Slavery: Racial Transition Points and Racial Wealth Inequality." The paper analyzes how the legacy of slavery shapes racial disparities in homeownership and home value across the history of the American South. It takes a detailed look at whether the effect weakens over time and whether the mechanisms change.  read more about Reece Wins Award from Mid-South Sociological Association »

Trenita Childers' piece "The question of birth citizenship" has been published as an Op-Ed piece in the July 15th edition of the Raleigh News & Observer.  Trenita looks at unfortunate immigration reforms and changes in birthright citizenship status in the Dominican Republic, and sees a similar problem as the US potentially heads in a similar direction. Her opinion piece has also been published by The Providence Journal and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. read more about Childers Published in Several Newspapers »

The most recent Duke Chronicle has highlighted the Department of Sociology newest Minor in Medical Sociology.  This Minor is for students who are interested in medicine, health care, and inequalities in access to medical care. Requirements: One of the following core courses (the other course can also be used as an elective) SOC 250:  Medical Sociology SOC 361:  Social Determinants of US Health Disparities And four of the following electives: SOC 49S:  Freshman Seminar – Inequality and Mental… read more about New Sociology Minor highlighted in the most recent Duke Chronicle »

Robert Reece's article, "How the Legacy of Slavery and Racial Composition Shape Public School Enrollment in the American South" was recently accepted for publication by "Sociology of Race and Ethnicity" and is now available online. This research explores how the legacy of slavery shapes county social structures in ways that facilitate racial differences in public school enrollment in the American South. read more about Reece Published in "Sociology of Race and Ethnicity" »

On July 14th, 2015, Regina Baker successfully defended her dissertation: "Poverty and Place in the Context of the American South." Her Committee consisted of: Linda Burton, Co-Chair, David Brady, Co-Chair, Kenneth C. Land, and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva read more about Baker Awarded Ph.D. »

On June 4th, Cyrus Schleifer successfully defended his dissertation: "Family Formation, Educational Attainment, and Religion: Longitudinal Approaches to Religious Change" His committee consisted of: Mark Chaves, Chair, Lynn Smith-Lovin, Edward Tiryakian, and Steve Vaisey. read more about Schleifer Awarded Ph.D. »

Robert Reece's article, "What are You Mixed with: the Effect of Multiracial Identification on Perceived Attractiveness" was recently accepted for publication by "The Review of Black Political Economy" and is now available online. This research explores how multiracial identification shapes perceived attractiveness of black people in the United States. The results show that even when controlling for skin tone and other phenotypic characteristics, like hair and eye color, black people who identify as multiracial are perceived… read more about Reece's article accepted by "The Review of Black Political Economy" »

Jake Fisher is this year's recipient of the department's Vorsanger-Smith award. The Vorsanger-Smith Scholar Award is presented annually to recognize overall excellence in the graduate program. Excellence is assessed for all areas of performance in the programs, including coursework, examinations, professional presentations, publications and awards, evaluated contributions as teaching and/or research assistants and departmental citizenship.  read more about Fisher Wins Vorsanger-Smith award »

On May 7th, 2015, Hang Young Lee successfully defended his dissertation: "Network Disadvantages of Immigrants: Social Capital as a Source of Immigrant Disadvantages in the Labor Market". His committe consisted of: Lisa A. Keister, Co-Chair, Nan Lin, Co-Chair, James W. Moody, Martin Ruef, and Steve McDonald read more about Lee Awarded Ph.D. »

LesLeigh Ford was awarded a Predissertation Fellowship to attend the Penn SSPF Summer Institute on Inequality. The Penn Social Science and Policy Forum (SSPF) is the university hub for scholarly research on key social, economic, legal, and policy problems confronting the United States and the world, fostering cutting edge scholarship across the social sciences. Penn SSPF hosts a Summer Institute on Inequality every year.  This program furthers SSPF’s mission of fostering policy-relevant… read more about Ford Accepted to the SSPF Summer Institute on Inequality at Penn »

Yueran Zhang, one of our majors, was admitted in all top departments and decided to go to Harvard to pursue a PhD in Sociology. Congratulations Yueran!   He plans to study fiscal sociology and comparative- historical sociology.  Yueran broke a record in our department history for receiving admissions from all eight top sociology Ph.D programs that he has applied, including Princeton, Chicago, Michigan, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley and Northwestern.   Yueran has joint an elite group in this year’… read more about Zhang, Soc major, was admitted in all top departments to pursue a PhD in Sociology »

Trenita Childers was awarded the Katherine Goodman Stern Fellowship. This competitive fellowship is awarded by The Graduate School at Duke University. Trenita was selected from nominations submitted by Duke programs offering the Ph.D. degree. The Stern Fellowship provides an annual stipend of $22,030 plus payment of tuition and fees for the fall and spring semesters. read more about Childers awarded the Katherine Goodman Stern Fellowship »