New Book: From Skepticism to Competence: How American Psychiatrists Learn Psychotherapy by Mariana Craciun

On By Neha JangetiIn Announcements, new book, PublicationsLeave a comment

Craciun, Mariana. 2024. From Skepticism to Competence: How American Psychiatrists Learn Psychotherapy. University of Chicago Press. 

https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo215859800.html

While many medical professionals can physically examine the body to identify and understand its troubles—a cardiologist can take a scan of the heart, an endocrinologist can measure hormone levels, an oncologist can locate a tumor—psychiatrists have a much harder time unlocking the inner workings of the brain or its metaphysical counterpart, the mind.  

In From Skepticism to Competence, sociologist Mariana Craciun delves into the radical uncertainty of psychiatric work by following medical residents in the field as they learn about psychotherapeutic methods. Most are skeptical at the start. While they are well equipped to treat brain diseases through prescription drugs, they must set their expectations aside and learn how to navigate their patients’ minds. Their instructors, experienced psychotherapists, help the budding psychiatrists navigate this new professional terrain by revealing the inner workings of talk and behavioral interventions and stressing their utility in a world dominated by pharmaceutical treatments. In the process, the residents examine their own doctoring assumptions and develop new competencies in psychotherapy. Exploring the world of contemporary psychiatric training, Craciun illuminates novice physicians’ struggles to understand the nature and meaning of mental illness and, with it, their own growing medical expertise.

Michigan Stone Center Call for Visiting Fellow Applications

On By Neha JangetiIn Announcements, Visiting FellowLeave a comment

The Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics (CID) at the University of Michigan is now accepting applications for a Visiting Fellow for the 2025-26 academic year. CID aims to produce cutting-edge research on social inequality, especially wealth inequality, train the next generation of inequality scholars, build data infrastructure, and increase data accessibility. The fellowship provides an early-career, tenure-track social scientist studying social inequality with funded time to pursue their research in an intellectual community defined by a culture of engagement and collaboration. 

Notably, we are committed to making this support equitably available to scholars, regardless of whether they are able to relocate to Ann Arbor for the year. Thus, we offer both a nonresidential and a residential option.

To learn more and apply, visit https://inequality.umich.edu/cid-visiting-fellowship/

Applications are due October 15. 

Call For Participants

On By JY LinIn Calls for ParticipantsLeave a comment

Many of you are familiar with the Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS) started by Paula England which has been used to study college hooking up, dating and relationships by many sociologists. Recently a team of researchers (Jennifer Lundquist, Celeste Curington, Arielle Kuperberg and Lisa Wade) have updated the survey, and are currently collecting a second wave of the survey.

We are now trying to find additional professors who are willing to give the survey as an extra credit assignment in their courses this Fall or Spring and then for a few years afterwards. We are also seeking survey participation from underrepresented universities such as HBCUs, Hispanic Serving Institutions, and community colleges.

If you are interested or could recommend a colleague who may be interested in hosting the survey in a class next year, please email me (ccuringt@bu.edu) and cc our amazing Research assistant, Ruby Haws (ocslsurvey@gmail.com). 

Keep reading below for details, including links for lecture-discussion slides and assignments that you are welcome to use in tandem with having your students fill out the survey. 

OCSLS2.0 New Wave of Data Collection

Background

The Online College Social Life Survey (OCSLS) was originally designed by Paula England and collected between 2005 and 2011 at 21 colleges and universities, measuring sexual history and attitudes regarding dating, hooking up, and relationships. Since then, she has freely shared the data with anyone who has asked. The data set  has resulted in many publications from many people studying college partnering. I’m excited to announce that we have made changes to this survey for a new phase of data collection, one that will collect new data about online dating and will draw from a more diverse population. We are calling it OCSLS2.0.

The data from OCSLS has proven to be a great resource for faculty and student researchers who have interests in the area of sex and gender, intimate relationships, public health, college student life and sexual violence. It is also an especially interesting dataset to students, and, as such, faculty often assign exercises using the dataset in stats and research courses. It has resulted in impactful publications and is regularly cited in press outlets such as The Conversation, The Atlantic, the NY TImes and in journalist Peggy Orenstein’s NY Times bestselling book Girls & Sex.  Most importantly, any researcher may use the data that is collected from this survey. This is what makes this project so important and valuable. Currently, UMASS-Amherst is the IRB of record (under the direction of Dr. Celeste Curington and Dr. Jennifer Lundquist). 

What are the current data collection efforts?

We have already gone through IRB approval. We ask that faculty distribute the survey to their students (larger classes are better) and follow the approved steps for recruitment: we will provide faculty with an approved blurb that they can distribute to their class and/or include on their course syllabus and we also ask that faculty provide extra credit to students (not to exceed 2% of their final grade). We also require that an alternative extra credit assignment is offered to students who do not wish to participate (our experience is that very few will ask for this).

How do I get started? 

If you are interested or could recommend a colleague who may be interested in hosting the survey in a class next year, please email me (ccuringt@bu.edu) and cc our amazing Research assistant, Ruby Haws (ocslsurvey@gmail.com). 

For your information, the UMass IRB contact is Jorge Guzman at 413-545 5207, jaguzman@research.umass.edu.

What is the process like to start up the survey at your college/university? 

The good news is that most of the other participating colleges and universities (where faculty have agreed to share the survey link with their students) were not required by their IRB Office to submit a protocol or a reliance agreement, since the partners are not recruiting participants, aside from inviting their class to fill out the survey outside of class, and do not have access to the students’ responses or data.

There is also no cost. Participating faculty will give students who take the survey outside of class extra credit (at no more than 2% points) and also provide an alternative assignment for extra credit if they prefer, though there is no requirement that students participate at all. The survey takes 30 minutes.

Accompanying Classroom Activities

Click on this access link for:  

1.     Sample description of assignment that can be used in a class announcement of the survey or added to your syllabus   

2.     Slides that you are welcome to adapt to your class  

· Please note that the slides are a bit texty, so you may want to spiff them up a bit. If you decide to teach on the topic, it is best to show it to them after they have taken the survey so that it doesn’t bias how they go into the survey.  

·  Alternatively, you can refer to Lisa Wade’s excellent slides, the format of which inspired these slides:  https://lisawadedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/wade-pp-the-promise-and-peril-of-hook-up-culture.pdf

Lundquist’s and Curington’s article about this effort in Contexts (best for students to read after they have taken survey)

A member of our research team, Arielle Kuperberg, often uses it in her data analysis course on survey design and also in her family course on research methods.  

She pairs a youtube video by Paula England about many of the findings her report + leads a discussion on how they think trends will have changed in the new wave of data.  

Call For Proposals: SASE 2025 Mini-Conferences

On By JY LinIn Calls for ProposalsLeave a comment

SASE: 2025 Mini-Conferences

Call for Proposals

Inclusive Solidarities: Reimagining Boundaries in Divided Times

37th Annual SASE Conference Palais des Congrès, Montréal, Québec

9-12 July 2025

The Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) will hold its 37th annual meeting July 9-12, 2025 at the Palais des Congrès in Montréal. SASE is currently accepting proposals for Mini-Conference themes. Mini-conferences operate as separate theme tracks in the program, and are typically composed of 4-8 panels. They are included in the general call for submissions which will open in the fall of 2024. More information on this call can be found here. The mini-conferences from the 2024 conference are listed here, by way of example. 

Proposals for mini-conference themes are due by the 16th of September. General submissions will open shortly thereafter, with a deadline of December 16th. Should you have questions about mini-conferences or the application procedure, please reach out to SASE Executive Director Annelies Fryberger, saseexecutive@sase.org.

Call for Abstracts : ISA 2025

On By JY LinIn Calls for AbstractsLeave a comment

ISA Forum of Sociology 2025 – Call for Abstracts

Vth ISA Forum of Sociology

Rabat, Morocco

July 6 – 11, 2025

Deadline for submissions (max 300 words): October 15, 2024

We are delighted to invite you to submit your abstracts for Vth ISA Forum of Sociology. The ISA Forum of Sociology of the International Sociological Association offers a unique opportunity to discuss current research with a global scholarship.

The Research Committee on Sociology of Organizations (RC17) calls for submissions. All streams accept submissions in English, many also in French and Spanish (live translation into English subtitles will be provided!).

Link: https://organizational-sociology.com/isa-forum-of-sociology-2025-call-for-abstracts 

New Books

On By JY LinIn PublicationsLeave a comment
  1. Laboring in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Gender, and Care Work in Portugal

by Celeste Vaughan Curington

Laboring in the Shadow of Empire: Race, Gender, and Care Work in Portugal examines the everyday lives of an African-descendant care service workforce that labors in an ostensibly “anti-racial” Europe and against the backdrop of the Portuguese colonial empire. While much of the literature on global care work has focused on Asian and Latine migrant care workers, there is comparatively less research that explicitly examines African care workers and their migration histories to Europe. Sociologist Celeste Vaughan Curington focuses on Portugal—a European setting with comparatively liberal policies around family settlement and naturalization for migrants. In this setting, rapid urbanization in the late twentieth century, along with a national push to reconcile work and family, has shaped the growth of paid home care and cleaning service industries. Many researchers focus on informal work settings, where immigrant rights are restricted and many workers are undocumented or without permanent residence status. Curington instead examines workers who have accessed citizenship or permanent residence status and also explores African women’s experiences laboring in care and service industries in the formal market, revealing how deeply colonial and intersectional logics of a racialized and international division of reproductive labor in Portugal render these women “hyper-invisible” and “hyper-visible” as “appropriate” workers in Lisbon.

  1. Handcrafted Careers: Working the Artisan Economy of Craft Beer

by Eli Revelle Yano Wilson

As workers attempt new modes of employment in the era of the Great Resignation, they face a labor landscape that is increasingly uncertain and stubbornly unequal. With Handcrafted Careers, sociologist Eli Revelle Yano Wilson dives headfirst into the everyday lives of workers in the craft beer industry to address key questions facing American workers today: about what makes a good career, who gets to have one, and how careers progress without established models.

Wilson argues that what ends up contributing to divergent career paths in craft beer is a complex interplay of social connections, personal tastes, and cultural ideas, as well as exclusionary industry structures. The culture of work in craft beer is based around “bearded white guy” ideals that are gendered and racialized in ways that limit the advancement of women and people of color. A fresh perspective on niche industries, Handcrafted Careers offers sharp insights into how people navigate worlds of work that promote ideas of authenticity and passion-filled careers even amid instability.

More information on the book via a Q&A with the Author:  https://www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/65971-qa-with-eli-revelle-yano-wilson-author-of-handcrafted-careers

Job Postings

On By JY LinIn Job PostingsLeave a comment
  1. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Colby College

The Department of Sociology at Colby College is hiring a tenure-track Assistant Professor starting September 1, 2025. Colby is a highly selective liberal arts college in a spectacular setting with a rich sociological history: it was here that Albion Small taught some of the first sociology courses in the country. We are searching for an early career scholar who aims to make an impact through high-profile research, excellence in teaching, and meaningful student engagement. Areas of specialization are open, although we particularly welcome applications from candidates able to offer courses in the sociology of race and ethnicity. The ideal candidate will have a publication track record, ample experience with teaching—including course design—and a record of success advising and mentoring individuals from groups under-represented in higher education. 

Materials must be submitted electronically to: http://apply.interfolio.com/149849. Candidates may be A.B.D., but Ph.D.s must be in hand prior to September 1, 2025. Questions about this search should be directed to: sociologysearch@colby.edu.

  1. Assistant Professor of Sociology, Duke University

The Department of Sociology at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning July 1, 2025. We seek scholars who have an outstanding research program and the ability to teach in our undergraduate and graduate programs. Candidates should apply online at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28065 by October 1, 2024 to receive full consideration.

  1. Associate or Full Professor of the Practice, Duke University

The Department of Sociology at Duke University in Durham, NC invites applications for a non-tenure track faculty position at the rank of Associate or Full Professor of the Practice beginning July 1, 2025. The successful applicant will have a track record of excellence in undergraduate teaching and will contribute to the Department of Sociology’s Markets and Management Studies (MMS) program. Candidates should apply online at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/28071 by October 1, 2024 to receive full consideration.

  1. Assistant Professor of Sociology at Southern Methodist University

Position No. 6330. The Department of Sociology at Southern Methodist University invites applications for an assistant professor with specializations in economic, urban, global or transnational sociology, to begin August 1, 2025. The teaching load is typically 2 courses per semester.

As one of ten tenure-line positions associated with Southern Methodist University’s faculty cluster in urban research, this position also offers opportunities for rich interdisciplinary connections among new and existing SMU faculty [https://www.smu.edu/dedman/research/clusters].

Please address inquiries to Search Committee Chair Matthew Keller (mkeller@smu.edu). Applications must be submitted via Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/150739.

  1. Assistant Professor of Sociology at William & Mary

The Department of Sociology at William & Mary, a public university of the Commonwealth of Virginia, seeks applications for a tenure track position at the Assistant Professor level in the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity. Appointment will begin August 10, 2025. We are interested in individuals with research and teaching expertise in the sociology of race and ethnicity, including the way racial inequalities intersect with health, educational, economic, criminal justice, or other disparities. Duties include research, teaching, and service to the University.

Applicants must apply online at https://jobs.wm.edu.For full consideration, submit application materials by the initial review date of October 1, 2024. Applications received after the initial review date will be considered if needed. Information on the degree programs in the Department of Sociology may be found at https://www.wm.edu/as/sociology/. For more information about the position see https://jobs.wm.edu/postings/61460.

The link to the job ad (#1310082) on the ASA career center website is: https://careercenter.asanet.org/job/1310082/assistant-professor-of-sociology-race-and-ethnicity-/?LinkSource=HomePage

New Publications & Website

On By Julia DessauerIn PublicationsLeave a comment

Protasiuk, E. (2024). “Unsettled Times: The Contestation and Reproduction of Flexible Scheduling in Pandemic-Era Restaurant Work.” Work and Occupations. https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884241265477

Chow, T.Y. (2024). “Doing Gender, Undoing Race: Token Processes for Women with Multiple Subordinate Identities.” Gender & Society. https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/RQQPTQY9XDRJVGMVVCN2/full

New Website hosting Songs about Work: Interested in songs about work and employment? Stephen Barley and Matt Beane at the University of California, Santa Barbara have developed a website where you search for over 500 songs about work by title, artist, occupation and genre. For most songs, the site provides a link to an artist performing the song (when available the original recording) as well as a link to the song’s lyrics. Through the website you can also submit songs for Steve and Matt to add to the website’s database: www.work-songs.org

New Publications

On By Julia DessauerIn PublicationsLeave a comment

Ghaziani, Amin and Seth Abrutyn. 2024. “Renewal without replication: Expanding Durkheim’s theory of disruptions via queer nightlife.” British Journal of Sociology. Open access: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-4446.13134

Ghaziani, Amin. 2024. “Emplaced bars and episodic events: Reflections on nightlife forms.” Mediapolis 9(2). Online and open access: https://www.mediapolisjournal.com/2024/06/emplaced-bars-and-episodic-events/

Joseph C. Hermanowicz.  2024.   “The Therapeutic University.”  Minerva.  https://rdcu.be/dNhvi

Joseph C. Hermanowicz.  2024.   “Interrogating the Meaning of ‘Quality’ in Utterances and Activities Protected by Academic Freedom.”   Journal of Academic Ethics.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-024-09512-z