Department of Sociology
Duke Sociology Major, Syann Cadogan, was selected as one of five undergraduates to represent Duke at the 2021 ACC Meeting of the Minds Conference in April. This annual meeting celebrates stellar, student-directed undergraduate research projects. Syann will present empirical results from her senior honors thesis, “An International Comparison of COVID-19 Rates and Policies in Prisons in the United States, China, and England.” Mass testing has documented widespread transmission… read more about Duke Sociology Major, Syann Cadogan, to represent Duke at the 2021 ACC Meeting of the Minds »
On March 11th, 2021, Andrew Carr successfully defended his dissertation, "The Measurement and Social Consequences of U.S. Income Inequality." His committee consisted of Martin Ruef (chair), Lisa A. Keister, Christopher A. Bail, and Scott M. Lynch. read more about Andrew Carr Defends Dissertation »
On Monday March 8, 2021, Jessica West successfully defended her dissertation entitled, “Stress Proliferation and Disability Over the Life Course.” Her committee consisted of Scott M. Lynch (co-chair), Jen’nan G. Read (co-chair), Tyson H. Brown, and Matthew E. Dupre. West has accepted a postdoctoral position within the Duke Center for the Study of Aging under the mentorship of Matthew E. Dupre (Department of Population Health Sciences) and Sherri L. Smith (Department of Head and Neck Surgery and Communication Sciences). read more about Jessica West Defends Dissertation, Accepts Postdoctoral Fellowship »
Research by Christopher Bail, professor of Sociology and director of the Polarization Lab, was cited in a New York Times article about "technopessimism." read more about Democracy Is Weakening Right in Front of Us »
About Liann I’m from the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, CA and attended UC Davis as an undergraduate. I knew as an undergrad I wanted to get my PhD, so my senior year I applied to doctoral programs, accepted my offer of admission, graduated in June, and was in Durham by August. My mentor was a little concerned I was taking on graduate school a bit fast, but I knew this was the right decision for me. My mentor in undergrad introduced me to the topic of networks and I immediately knew that was my focus. Choosing Duke… read more about Liann Tucker Uses Network Analysis to Study Adolescent Mental Health and Health-Risk Behaviors »
Professors Jen’nan Read, Scott Lynch, and PhD candidate Jessie West recently published the lead article in a special issue of Population Research and Policy Review. In the article, they challenge the conventional approach to treating non-Hispanic Whites as the comparison group to gauge racial and ethnic health disparities. Instead, they use nationally representative data to examine the extent of diversity in health among Whites and find that health disparities within the White population are almost as large as… read more about Duke Sociologists challenge prior research, find ethnic diversity in health among Whites »
Christopher Bail, Duke Professor of Sociology, is quoted in New York Times article, Democracy Is Weakening Right in Front of Us. Is technopessimism our new future? A decade ago, the consensus was that the digital revolution would give effective voice to millions of previously unheard citizens. Now, in the aftermath of the Trump presidency, the consensus has shifted to anxiety that online behemoths like Twitter, Google, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook have created a crisis of knowledge — confounding what is true… read more about Christopher Bail Quoted in New York Times Article »
Exoduster Entrepreneurs: Creating Black Business Communities in the West Join the Keller Center at Princeton University in welcoming Dr. Martin Ruef from Duke University and Ihsan Beezer from Rutgers University for a talk on black businesses in the west. Their lecture is part of the Keller Center's initiative to understand the history and legacy of black entrepreneurship in the United States. Click here for the full article. read more about Join Martin Ruef and Ihsan Beezer for Princeton's series on Black Entrepreneurship History and Legacy in the United States. »
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology, co-authored an article for The Bulwark, arguing that "Allowing freedom to become synonymous with the cultural right will make it harder to address a range of public challenges, and will degrade the concept of freedom itself." read more about Eduardo Bonilla-Silva: Reclaiming Freedom from the Right Wing »
Eight Duke University faculty groups shared updates on the work supported by their 2019 Intellectual Community Planning Grants (ICPG). Although many groups’ plans were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, they logged a number of accomplishments and intend to further their collaborations. Big Data and Social Interactions Jillian Grennan (lead), Chris Bail, Ines Black, Ofer Eldar, Sarah Gaither, Sharique Hasan, Rachel Kranton, David Robinson The group held a kick-off event featuring Amir Goldberg of… read more about From Marine Medicine to the Economics of Education, Faculty Build New Collaborations »
Professor of Sociology, Lisa Keister, discussed her recent paper, “Net Worth Poverty in Child Households by Race and Ethnicity, 1989-2019” on the podcast, This Week in Sociological Perspective. The paper was published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, and is co-authored by Christina Gibson-Davis and Lisa A. Gennetian. Click here for the audio version of the podcast. Click here to read the online article. read more about Paper coauthored by Christina Gibson-Davis, Lisa Keister, and Lisa Genettian appears in Journal of Marriage and Family. Keister interviewed on podcast »
A group of investigators at Duke University is embarking on an innovative research study that will draw upon expertise and insight from across campus to detect active, undiagnosed cases of coronavirus infection and shed light on how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spreads through communities in Durham, North Carolina. The study, called “Snowball” for short (the full name is “Duke RDS2: Respondent-Driven Sampling for Respiratory Disease Surveillance, the Snowball Sampling Study”), officially opened to enrollment on Friday,… read more about Learning to See the Whole Picture during the COVID Pandemic: Duke University’s Snowball Study »
This is the first in an occasional series of essays by Duke faculty members whose normal fall 2020 class routines were disrupted by the pandemic. These essays will examine how faculty adapted. DURHAM, N.C. — This fall, I knew my Immigration and Health (SOC 250) class would be different. How could it not? I would teach it in person, twice a week to 27 students, socially distanced, wearing masks, in a large campus auditorium. Click here to read full article. read more about Jen’nan Read on Teaching During a Pandemic »
Postdoctoral Associate Samuel Fishman's recent research, published in the American Journal of Sociology, observes a distinct education pattern among Asian Americans. The analysis reveals extremely very high levels of offspring education and no association with parents’ education among Chinese, Indian, Korean, and Vietnamese immigrants. The unique mobility pattern is partially driven by high levels of internal and familial achievement pressure. In contrast, the paper finds that parents' education strongly predicts offspring'… read more about Samuel Fishman, Postdoctoral Associate, Publishes in American Journal of Sociology »
Duke Sociology Professor James Moody quoted in New York Times article "With 11 Million Cases in the U.S., the Coronavirus Has Gotten Personal for Most People." The article references calculations from Professor Moody’s NSF-funded research with Professor Lisa Keister and Dana Pasqual. Probability of knowing someone who Died from COVID-19 in your county. Click here to read full article. read more about James Moody’s research on COVID-19 cited in the New York Times »
Professor of Sociology, Mark Chaves and his research was prominently featured in the New York Times article, Preaching or Avoiding Politics, Conservative Churches Walk a Delicate Line. Click here to read the article. Professor Chaves was also quoted in the New York Times article, New Spirits Rise in Old, Repurposed Churches. He spoke to them for a story about the re-use of old church buildings. Click here to read the article. read more about Mark Chaves Prominently Featured in New York Times Article »
Research by Professor of Sociology Mark Chaves provides the foundation for this New York Times article about how conservative churches engage in politics, even though pastors can’t endorse or oppose candidates from the pulpit. read more about Preaching or Avoiding Politics, Conservative Churches Walk a Delicate Line »
Drawing on the National Congregations Study led by Professor of Sociology Mark Chaves, this New York Times article covers eight churchs that closed before reopening as different kinds of buildings and instutions, including a cafe, a music studio, and an internet archive. read more about New Spirits Rise in Old, Repurposed Churches »
The COVID-19 pandemic has made technology essential to collective religious life. Livestreamed services, viewed from home, are the new normal. But a new study from Duke University shows the number of congregations employing technology during worship services was on the rise even before the pandemic struck. The 2018-19 National Congregations Study, conducted on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, found, among other things, broad use of smartphones during worship services. Congregations encourage their audiences to use their… read more about Going to Church? Bring Your Smartphone! »
Landfall After the Perfect Storm: Cohort Differences in the Relationship Between Debt and Risk of Heart Attack Abstract Analyses of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) between 1992 and 2014 compare the relationship between different levels and forms of debt and heart attack risk trajectories across four cohorts. Although all cohorts experienced growing household debt, including the increase of both secured and unsecured debt, they nevertheless encountered different economic opportunity structures and crises at sensitive… read more about O’Rand and Hamil-Luker article published in Demography »
Coming to Duke from Cornell University, Wildeman is a leading scholar of the consequences of mass imprisonment for inequality, with emphasis on families, health, and children. He is also interested in child welfare, especially as relates to child maltreatment and the foster care system. “Historically, scholars of the criminal justice system were focused almost exclusively on how prison and jail incarceration rates affected one thing: crime rates. As the American incarceration rate is now an extreme outlier relative to… read more about Welcome Christopher Wildeman, New Sociology Faculty »
Here are recently published and forthcoming books by Duke authors, from September and October: Marc Zvi Brettler, co-author: “The Bible With and Without Jesus: How Jews and Christians Read the Same Stories Differently” Annotated Edition (HarperOne, Oct. 27, 2020) Avshalom Caspi and Terrie E. Moffitt, co-authors: “The Origins of You: How Childhood Shapes Later Life” (Harvard University Press) Samuel Fury Childs Daly: “A History of the Republic of Biafra: Law, Crime, and… read more about New Great Reads from Duke Authors »
The benefits of friendship Teen social networks linked with levels of adult depression. Teens who have a larger number of friends may be less likely to suffer from depression later in life, especially women, a new MSU research/Duke University study has found. For female adolescents, popularity can lead to increased depression during the teen years, but can provide lasting benefits of fewer depressive symptoms later in life. Teens who reported fewer friends show higher rates of depression in adulthood, found MSU Sociology… read more about Christina Kamis, Doctoral Candidate Publishes Article »
Duke University’s Board of Trustees passed a Resolution of Tribute and Naming to honor Linda K. George’s many contributions to Duke University. The resolution includes the naming of a new space in the Rueben-Cooke Building on West Campus to foster intellectual and social camaraderie in the Department of Sociology. The new space will be called the Linda K. George Faculty Commons. Read the full text of the resolution here. read more about Board of Trustees pass Resolution in Honor of Linda K. George »
THE PURPOSE PROJECT AT DUKE ANNOUNCES RACE AND THE PROFESSIONS FELLOWS The Purpose Project at Duke has announced the inaugural cohort of the Race and the Professions Fellowship, a year-long program that will explore the challenges of racial inequities and the work of antiracism in the professions, the broader community, and the world. Click here to read entire article. read more about Peoples Wins Race and the Professions Fellowship »
Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke came to Duke in 1963 as one of the “First Five” Black undergraduates, breaking barriers and entering classroom buildings that had previously been closed to Black students. Now, her legacy as a pioneer at Duke and as a leading lawyer, law professor, university administrator and trustee for both Duke University and The Duke Endowment, will be celebrated by the renaming of one of those classroom buildings after her. The Duke Board of Trustees voted Saturday to rename the Sociology-Psychology Building… read more about Iconic West Campus Building Named After a Duke Pioneer »
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there were lots of stories about scrappy manufacturers promising to revamp their factories to start making personal protective equipment in the U.S. Back in the spring, fuel-cell maker Adaptive Energy retooled part of its factory in Ann Arbor, Mich., to make plastic face shields. Now, 100,000 finished shields are piling up in cardboard boxes on the factory floor — unsold. Click here to read the entire article. read more about Why Can't America Make Enough N95 Masks? 6 Months Into Pandemic, Shortages Persist »
The willingness of left-leaning religious congregations to engage in political activity has spiked in the Trump era, new research shows. In particular, many American congregations report becoming substantially more involved in immigration issues, likely in response to the administration’s controversial, hardline stances. And Black Protestant congregations report a surge in political activity since 2012, perhaps in reaction to the ongoing and increasingly visible abuse of Black men by police, the article found. “… read more about In Trump Era, More Progressive Churches Get Politically Active »