Department of Sociology
Set deep within the Blue Ridge mountains, far from Duke’s campus, a group of almost 40 campers huddled around the campfire ready to discuss the day’s activities. Archery, board games and hiking had kept them busy. But now it was evening, and they were tired and ready to eat s’mores and share typical campfire stories — like dealing with academic stress and deciding on a career path. Well, maybe not so typical, as these weren’t just any campers, but Duke sophomores on a meditative retreat. Soon, they would go back to their… read more about Students Explore Life’s Most Important Questions Through New Program for Sophomores »
Joseph Roso has been named the 2021-2022 Graduate Teaching Award Recipient. The Graduate Teaching Award is presented each year to a graduate student selected for excellence in teaching as an individual instructor or as a teaching assistant. read more about Roso Receives Teaching Award »
Em Maloney has been named the 2021-2022 Vorsanger-Smith Scholar. 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. The award consists of the honorary designation during the following academic year as the… read more about Maloney named Vorsanger-Smith Scholar »
Sociology Professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's acclaimed "Racism without Racists" examines in detail how whites talk, think, and account for the existence of racial inequality and makes clear that color-blind racism is as insidious now as ever. Click here to read full article. read more about Latest Edition of Professor Bonilla-Silva's "Racism Without Racists" Among Spotlighted Spring Books »
Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD), the international sociology honor society, began in 1920 to “acknowledge and promote excellence in the scholarship in the study of sociology.” In 1967, AKD became a certified member of the Association of College Honor Societies. Over the past 100 years, universities have established almost 700 AKD chapters. We welcome and honor the newest inductees to Duke’s chapter. Alberta Simmons Allessandra Reuben Ashley Russell Ashwin Subramaniam Bailey Davis Bates Crawford Carolina Paniagua… read more about Congratulations to the 2022 AKD Inductees! »
On April 21, Duke Sociology Honors students presented findings from their year-long research projects. Under the direction of Dr. Maria Febbo, students collected and analyzed data on a diverse range of topics, as indicted below. Thesis titles are listed in order of students in the picture, from left to right. Francesco Pucci: “Who Saves the Day?” Racial Messaging in Superhero Cartoons Malik Scott: “No Man is an Island”: Exploring Black Men’s Health Decisions… read more about 2022 Honors Symposium: Honors Students Present Findings »
Each year, Duke Service-Learning recognizes undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and community partners with the Betsy Alden Outstanding Service-Learning Awards. Betsy Alden was a pioneer in service-learning, beginning her work at Duke during the 1980s. Read more about the legacy of Betsy Alden HERE. Recipients are chosen because they represent an exceptional commitment to the ideals of service‐learning. Each winner receives $150 to further develop his/her community-building and leadership… read more about 2022 Alden Award Winners Represent the Best of Service-Learning »
On Thursday, March 31th, 2022, Joseph Quinn successfully defended his dissertation entitled, “Network Contexts and Social Identities Interact to Shape Beliefs and Behaviors.” His committee included James Moody and Lynn Smith-Lovin (co-chairs), Ashley Harrell, Craig Rawlings, and Sarah Gaither. Joe has accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina in the Department of Sociology, where he will study how social networks shape trust, cooperation, and inequality… read more about Joseph Quinn Defends Dissertation, Accepts Tenure-Track Position »
Duke senior Caroline Surrett is a Music minor with an interdepartmental major in Visual & Media Studies and Sociology. Her senior thesis combines sociology and music. Read the full article here. read more about Duke Senior, Caroline Surrett, Thesis Combines Sociology and Music »
Susan W. Jacobs successfully defended her dissertation Monday March 28, 2022, titled “Cultural Meaning, Stigma, and Polarization.” Her committee was comprised of Stephen Vaisey (chair), Ashley Harrell, Scott Lynch, and Lynn Smith-Lovin. Susan has accepted a position as Research Scientist at Amazon with the Customer Trust and Partner Support team. In this role, she will conduct research on employee growth and development and promote strategies for improving worker experience at Amazon. read more about Susan Jacobs Defends Dissertation, Accepts Position with Amazon »
Social-media reform is flying blind Redesigning social media to improve society requires a new platform for research. As Russia continues its ruthless war in Ukraine, pundits are speculating what social-media platforms might have done years ago to undermine propaganda well before the attack. Amid accusations that social media fuels political violence — and even genocide — it is easy to forget that Facebook evolved from a site for university students to rate each other’s physical attractiveness. Instagram was founded to… read more about Chris Bail Commentary Published in Nature »
On Wednesday, March 23rd, 2022, Crystal Peoples successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “The Significance of Racialized Networks in Contemporary American Sociology.” Her committee consisted of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (co-chair), Craig Rawlings (co-chair), Scott Lynch, Jessi Streib, and Yasmiyn Irizarry (UT-Austin). read more about Crystal Peoples Defends Dissertation »
Congratulations to Pamela Zabala Ortiz, Sociology PhD candidate, for being profiled in Diverse: Issues In Higher Education magazine. To read full article, click 2022 Diverse Rising Graduate Scholar read more about Pamela Zabala Ortiz Sociology PhD Candidate Profiled in Diverse Magazine »
On Wednesday, March 16th, 2022, Colin Birkhead successfully defended his dissertation entitled, “Shareholder Value Minimization? How Some US Corporations Avoid Institutional Pressures.” His committee consisted of Martin Ruef (chair), Lisa Keister, Jen’nan Read, and Craig Rawlings. Colin has accepted a tenure-track position as an assistant professor at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management at Willamette University. There, he will study employee-owned companies and corporate myopia. read more about Colin Birkhead Defends Dissertation, Accepts Tenure-Track Position »
Senior Sociology major, Kacia Anderson, is a finalist for the Young Trustee Position Kacia is a senior from Fort Lauderdale, Florida studying Sociology with a minor in Chemistry. She focuses her studies on health policy and inequities from a comparative lens. At Duke, Kacia is a David M. Rubenstein Scholar (DMRS) and Questbridge Scholar, mentoring for both DMRS and DukeLIFE. She is a proud first generation Jamaican-American. On campus Kacia spends most of her time devoted to Duke University Union,… read more about Senior Sociology Major, Kacia Anderson, Finalist for the Young Trustee Position »
Congratulations to Kiersten Hasenour on being selected as the winner of the Graduate Student Odum Award given by the Southern Sociological Society. For more information on the SSS, click here. read more about Kiersten Hasenour Wins Southern Sociological Society Award »
On Tuesday, February 15, 2022 Christina Kamis successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Childhood Adversities and Adult Mental Health: Conceptualizing and Measuring Heterogeneity in Adversity Experience.” Her committee consisted of Scott Lynch (chair), Tyson Brown, Jen’nan Read, and Matthew Dupre. Christina has accepted a position as a T32 Postdoctoral Trainee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the Center for Demography of Health and Aging. There, she will examine how early life conditions shape later… read more about Christina Kamis Defends Dissertation, Accepts Postdoctoral Position »
What are Healthcare Researchers Doing to Address Health Equity? Dr. Tyson Brown, associate professor of Sociology at Duke, highlighted his research into structural racism to stress the fact that structural racism is toxic for population health and disproportionately affects people of color. Click here to read full article. read more about Tyson Brown, Associate Professor of Sociology featured in Duke Today »
Bass Connections Team Explores Need for Better Jail Data in North Carolina Local law enforcement and governments usually oversee their respective jails in the United States, making the system very divided with little oversight by state or federal entities. In North Carolina alone, there are 100 counties, 97 jails, and over 100,000 incarcerated people each year. This figure may be even greater due to the high frequency and short stays of people who cycle through the system. Because the counties lack a… read more about Sociology Graduate Student, Ruth Wygle, Work Featured in Duke Law »
On Monday, November 22, 2021, Anna Holleman successfully defended her dissertation entitled, "Inequality within Congregations and Congregations’ Response to Inequality: Studies of Gender and Mental Health, Race and Mental Health, and Participation in the Sanctuary Movement.” Her committee consisted of Mark Chaves (chair), Tyson Brown, Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell, and Jessi Streib. Anna has accepted a position as a Post-Doctoral Associate with Duke University’s Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research. There, she… read more about Anna Holleman Defends Dissertation, Accepts Postdoctoral Fellowship »