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From left to right are: Cheng Shiqiang, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology in Central University of Finance and Economics, pre-doctoral fellow at Duke in 2014-15; Lynn Smith-Lovin and Nan Lin, faculty at Duke; Xueguang Zhou, faculty at Duke from 1994-2006, now Chair of Sociology at Stanford University; Dong Yunsheng, Chair of Sociology at Jilin University and visitor to Duke in the 1990s.  Wenhong Chen, Associate Professor in the Department of Radio-Television-Film at UT-Austin was also at the conference, but missed… read more about Duke Was Well-Represented at a Major International Conference in Beijing September 15-17 2017 on Changes in the Networked Society »

This year, Duke faculty and students dominated the awards and offices of the ASA Section on Mathematical Sociology.  From left to right: Kimberly Rogers (Duke PhD, now at Dartmouth College) won the award for best contribution for her ASR article (with Tobias Schroder and Jesse Hoey); Jaemin Lee (now ABD at Duke) won the Best Dissertation in Progress Award; Lynn Smith-Lovin (Robert L. Wilson Professor of Arts and Sciences) won the James S. Coleman Award for lifetime achievement; Ken Land (John Franklin Crowell Professor… read more about Duke dominates Mathematical Sociology Section at ASA in Montreal »

An article by Duke sociology professor Mark Chaves and David Voas, of University College London,  won the 2017 Distinguished Article Award given by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. The article, "Is the United States a Counterexample to the Secularization Thesis?", appeared in the March 2016 issue of the American Journal of Sociology. read more about Mark Chaves awarded "Distinguished Article" award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion »

From the award committee: “Lynn Smith-Lovin, the Robert L. Wilson Professor of Sociology at Duke University is the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Career Award for the ASA section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity. Two principle lines of empirical and theoretical work by Professor Smith-Lovin were felt by the Award’s committee to merit this award. One prominent line of research is Smith-Lovin’s long-term, collaborative effort to extend Affect Control Theory emphasizing that actors assess their own self and… read more about Lynn Smith-Lovin, the Robert L. Wilson Professor of Sociology at Duke University is the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Career Award for the ASA section on Altruism, Morality, and Social Solidarity. »

A study by Duke Sociology PhD student Jessica West has been published in a recent issue of Social Science & Medicine. The study, “Hearing Impairment, Social Support, and Depressive Symptoms among U.S. Adults: A Test of the Stress Process Paradigm,” finds that hearing impairment is a chronic stressor in individuals’ lives and that responses to hearing impairment vary by the availability of social resources. read more about Duke Sociology PhD student Jessica West has been published in a recent issue of Social Science & Medicine. »

The Department of Sociology at Duke University located in Durham, NC invites applications for a tenure-track position at the assistant professor level with expertise in social network modeling and research. Appointment begins July 1, 2018. We seek scholars who have an outstanding research program, strong potential for extramural funding, and evidence of excellence in teaching who can contribute to the rich, interdisciplinary network of scholars affiliated with the Duke Network Analysis Center (https://dnac.ssri.duke.edu/).… read more about Assistant Professor (Tenure Track) Position in Social Network Modeling »

Estimating the number of congregations in the US (and, by extension, estimating change over time) is surprisingly difficult. Using a method first used by Kirk Hadaway and Penny Long Marler in 2005, Simon used Mark Chaves’ National Congregations Study (NCS) data and precise congregation counts from 13 Protestant denominations to estimate the total number of congregations in the US in 1998, 2006, and 2012. The analyses indicate that  the number of congregations has (surprisingly) increased over that time frame, from 336,000… read more about Simon Brauer Published an article in The Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion entitled:"How Many Congregations Are There? Updating a Survey-Based Estimate" »

Professor Ruef won the Jane Addams Article Award from the American Sociology Association's Community and Urban Sociology Section for his article, "The Historical Demography of Racial Segregation,” published with Angelina Grigoryeva in the American Sociological Review.   The Jane Addams Award (formerly the Park Article Award) goes to authors of the best scholarly article in community and urban sociology published in the past two years. read more about Martin Ruef wins Jane Addams Award »

In a testament to their lasting impact on graduate education, Linda George and John Wilson are being honored with a chaired professorship, created in their names at the University of Texas - Austin. The Linda K. George and John Wilson Professorship will support a faculty member in the areas of community service, philanthropy, health and aging, or law. The professorship has been created by an endowment from Marc Musick and Mary Rose. Marc completed his Ph.D. in Duke sociology roughly twenty years ago and is now a full… read more about Professorship named for Linda George and John Wilson »

Linda Burton, the James B. Duke Professor of Sociology in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences and dean of social sciences, will become director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy effective July 1, announced Sanford School of Public Policy Dean Kelly Brownell. She will also hold a joint faculty appointment in the Sanford School. The full article is here. read more about Linda Burton to lead Duke Center for Child and Family Policy »

Achim Edelmann, James Moody and Ryan Light authored "When Scientists Take a Stand on Contentious Issues: Disparate Foundations of Scientists' Policy Positions on Contentious Biomedical Research" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America).  According to the study of 378 scientists who signed petitions either supporting or opposing “gain-of-function” research, where potentially pandemic pathogens are intentionally produced for study, the probability of a scientist supporting such… read more about James Moody Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America »

Bryce J. Bartlett has been named the 2016-2017 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 Bartlett Awarded Vorsanger-Smith Scholar Award »

Zimife Umeh was selected to receive a 2017 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship for her research titled: “Examining the Consequences of Maternal Incarceration”. The Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship is sponsored by the Ford Foundation and administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Fellowships are awarded in a national competition to doctoral-level students who have demonstrated scholarly competence as well as the promise for future achievement as a scholar,… read more about Zimife Umeh selected to receive a 2017 Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship »

Trenita Childers has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at the Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC-Chapel Hill. The program is intended to expand the pool of investigators capable of undertaking policy-relevant mental health services and systems research. Through this fellowship, Trenita will gain experience applying research methods to the systematic analysis of criminal justice and mental health service use. read more about Childers Accepts UNC Post-Doc Fellowship »