Department of SociologyChris Bail, Douglas and Ellen Lowey Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, and Friedolin Merhout, PhD candidate in Sociology, published a study using Google search data to examine the link between discrimination and radicalization. The paper “Using Internet search data to examine the relationship between anti-Muslim and pro-ISIS sentiment in U.S. counties", co-authored with Peng Ding (UC Berkeley), was published open access by Science Advances. In the paper, Bail and Merhout use data on the… read more about Bail and Merhout's Study of Radicalization Covered by National Media »
Jaemin Lee has accepted a postdoctoral fellow position in computational social science at Northeastern University's Network Science Institute and D'Amore-McKim School of Business, starting from September, 2018. He will join the Collaborative Social Systems lab and work on innovative projects using large-scale network data and experimental methods to study social influence processes in organizations and social media. Read more on the Collaborative Social Systems lab here. read more about Jaemin Lee Accepts Position at Northeastern's Network Science »
On Tuesday May 29, 2018, Jaemin Lee successfully defended his dissertation titled:“Structural Constraints in Intergroup Relations: A Contextual Approach to Polarization and Conflict in Social Networks”. His committee consisted of James Moody(Chair), Lynn Smith-Lovin, Christopher Bail, and Martin Ruef. read more about Lee Succesfully Defends PhD. »
Chris Bail has been awarded a 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He will spend six months conducting a study designed to disrupt social media "echo chambers". Bail is the Douglas and Ellen Lowey Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at Duke. Read More. read more about Christopher Bail awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship »
Patricia Homan and Lauren Valentino have been named the 2017-2018 Vorsanger-Smith Scholar(s). 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… read more about Patricia Homan and Lauren Valentino Receive Vorsanger-Smith Award »
On Monday, May 21, 2018, LesLeigh Ford defended her dissertation entitled: “That’s The Way Love Goes: An Examination of the Romantic Experiences of Black Middle Class Women” Her committee included Linda Burton(Chair), Tyson Brown, Jessi Streib, and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. read more about Ford Successfully Defends PhD. »
Guangyu Tong won a poster award at the Population Association of America at their annual meeting April 23-28, 2018. His poster entitled "Social Context Interacting With Birth Weight Gene Influences Life Course Outcomes" was presented on Thursday April 26, 2018. The entire list of winners is located here. His poster is in Panel 5. read more about Tong wins PAA Poster Award »
Felicia Arriaga accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor, in the Sociology Department at Appalachian State University. She will be teaching courses in the Criminology concentration. read more about Arriaga Accepts Position at Appalachian State »
“The rationale for this change is to recognize Prof. Nan Lin's pioneer and significant contributions to our association (NACSA) and the research on Chinese societies. Nan Lin is Oscar L. Tang Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Duke University. As a world-wide known and respected sociologist, he has published substantive seminal work and mentored multiple generations of scholars in and beyond the research field of Chinese societies for about four decades. He is the Inaugural President of the NACSA, and he played a vital role… read more about The ICSA “Graduate Student Paper Award” Renamed as “Nan Lin Graduate Student Paper Award” »
Congratulations to sociology major, Chandler McMillan, for her selection as Doctor Assistant in the Kuchnir Dermatology Bridge Year Program. Chandler was selected as one of the top 18 best future doctors to join this prestigious training program in Boston before she begins medical school in 2019. read more about Chandler McMillan selected as Doctor Assistant in the Kuchnir Dermatology Bridge Year Program »
On April 2, 2018, Brent H. Curdy successfully defended his dissertation titled: “Explaining Variance in Affect Control Theory: Cultural Consensus, Deflection, and Redefinition”. His committee consisted of: Lynn Smith-Lovin(Chair), James Moody, Bai Gao, and Stephen Vaisey read more about Curdy Successfully Defends PhD. »
On April 2, 2018, Carlos D. Tavares successfully defended his dissertation titled: “Dealing with Racism: Black Middle-Class Health in the 21st Century” His committee consisted of: Eduardo Bonilla-Silva(Co-Chair), Linda George(Co-Chair), William "Sandy" Darity, Jessi Streib, and Tyson Brown. read more about Tavares Successfully Defends PhD. »
On April 2, 2018, Bryce J. Bartlett successfully defended his dissertation titled : “Well-being across Changing Social Landscapes”. His committee consisted of: Linda K. George(Co-Chair), Scott Lynch(Co-Chair), Stephen Vaisey, and Kenneth C. Land. read more about Bartlett Successfully Defends PhD. »
Morgan recently began a post-doctoral research position at the Fachhochschule Potsdam | University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam Germany. Morgan is working with an international team led by Jesse Hoey, Tobias Schröder, and Kimberly Rogers developing generative models of group interaction based on affect control theory. The team is modeling self-organized collaborations on GitHub using a variety of methods including agent-based modeling, social network analysis, and qualitative case studies. The goal of this research is to… read more about Jon Morgan Accepts Post-Doctoral Position at the Fachhochschule Potsdam / University of Applied Sciences. »
On March 22, 2018, Patricia A. Homan successfully defended her dissertation titled: "Structural Sexism and Health in the United States". Her committee consisted of: Linda K. George(Co-Chair), Scott Lynch(Co-Chair), Tyson Brown, Jen'nan Read, and Laura Richman. read more about Homan Successfully Defends PhD. »
On March 19, 2018 Felicia A. Arriaga successfully defended her dissertation titled "The Browning of Threat: The "Unintended" Aftermath of Immigration Enforcement in a New Destination Community". Her committee consisted of Eduardo Bonilla-Silva (Chair), Martin Ruef, Jessi Streib, and Amada Armenta. read more about Arriaga Successfully Defends PhD. »
On March 8, 2018, Jonathan H. Morgan successfully defended his dissertation titled: "The Duality of Identities and Groups: The Effects of Status Homophily on Social Interactions and Relations" His committee consisted of Lynn Smith-Lovin (Chair), James Moody, Christopher Bail, and Jesse Hoey. read more about Morgan Successfully Defends PhD. »
Carlos Tavares has accepted a tenure-track position as assistant professor of sociology at Lafayette College. He will be starting in the fall of 2018 in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology. read more about Carlos Tavares Accepts Position at Lafayette College »
From POLITICO: Tyson Brown is an assistant professor of sociology and director of the Center for Biobehavioral Health Disparities Research at Duke University. The most important decision we can make today to improve population health tomorrow is to address structural racism and its harmful health consequences. Structural racism—i.e., the systematic exclusion of some people from resources and opportunities on the basis of their race—limits access to health-promoting resources for racial minorities, such as… read more about Professor Brown featured in POLITICO on routes toward ending structural racism and achieving health equity »
Patricia Homan has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Department of Sociology at Florida State University. She will join the FSU faculty in the Fall of 2018. read more about Patricia Homan Accepts Position at Florida State University »
Center Director Linda Burton, James B. Duke Professor of Sociology at Duke University, was a featured plenary speaker at the 2017 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference on November 17, 2017 in Orlando, Florida. In her presentation, “When Ethnography Comes Home to Roost: Andre, the Life Course, and My Family’s Intervention,” Burton recounts the case study of 7-year-old Andre, a bi-racial respondent, whose family network she has followed in a 30-year ethnographic study of the family life course, race, and… read more about Linda Burton Featured at 2017 National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference »
Tony Bardo has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Department of Sociology at the University of Kentucky. He will join the UK faculty in the Fall of 2018. read more about Tony Bardo Accepts Position at University of Kentucky »
Keynotes Thursday November 9, 2017—Create ChangeGeneral Session 3:00 PM Angel Harris, Ph.D., Duke University Research shows that children from minority groups and living in poverty are 250% less likely to be identified for gifted programs, even when they are performing at the same levels as their peers. Dr. Harris, a renowned Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, will highlight the central role education plays in social and economic well-being,… read more about Angel Harris will be a keynote speaker at the National Association for Gifted Children in Charlotte, NC »
"Eduardo Bonilla-Silva represents the best of sociology. As the 2018 American Sociological Association President, we can be sure he will represent the discipline with both integrity and brutal honesty, paving the path for a more inclusive ASA." For more information please see the full article from Footnotes of the ASA. read more about Introducing Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, 2018 ASA President »
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 »
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… read more about Duke Was Well-Represented at a Major International Conference in Beijing September 15-17 2017 on Changes in the Networked Society »
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 »