Tag: healthcare

ASA Thematic Session: How Can Sociology Disrupt the Status Quo in U.S. Health Policy?

On By Jessica UrzúaIn Announcements, ConferencesLeave a comment

OOW members attending the 2026 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting may be interested in the following thematic session:

Session 20834: How Can Sociology Disrupt the Status Quo in U.S. Health Policy?

Saturday, August 8, 2:00–3:30 p.m.
Sheraton, Second Floor, Metropolitan Ballroom East

Description: Under the current presidential administration, we have seen significant threats to healthcare access, public health, and health promoting social policies in the U.S. Despite our discipline’s theoretical frameworks and methodological tools, sociologists have often ceded health policy leadership opportunities to adjacent fields. This session asks: How can sociologists more meaningfully impact health policy? What core sociological insights can animate research agendas to disrupt the status quo in health policy? How can we position existing scholarship and produce new knowledge to meet this political moment? This panel will feature scholars working across multiple areas to invite a conversation on how our discipline can catalyze change in health policy.

Presider: Emily Parker, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Moderator: Sorcha Brophy, Columbia University

Panelists:

  • Tiffany Joseph, Northeastern University
  • Jennifer Karas Montez, Syracuse University
  • Josh Pacewicz, Brown University
  • Megan Reynolds, University of Utah

Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Sloan — AI in Healthcare

On By Jessica UrzúaIn Announcements, Job Postings, postdocsLeave a comment

The MIT Sloan School of Management, in collaboration with the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC) program in the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, invites applications for a Postdoctoral Associate to join a participatory action research project on worker-centered AI implementation in healthcare. The project — a partnership between MIT researchers, a large healthcare system, and the union representing its frontline workers — develops and evaluates concrete strategies for engaging frontline workers in decisions about how AI technologies are adopted and implemented in their workplaces.

The appointment is for one year beginning September 1, 2026 (or an earlier mutually agreed date), with the possibility of renewal contingent on funding. The Postdoctoral Associate should expect to work from Cambridge, MA, with regular travel to the field site in Central Massachusetts. The position is eligible for MIT benefits.

The Postdoctoral Associate will be mentored by Professors Erin Kelly, Kate Kellogg, and Zana Buçinca, and will collaborate with the broader project team, the SERC postdoctoral fellow cohort, and the MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research (IWER) community. Requirements include strong qualitative research skills and demonstrated experience working with multiple stakeholders. See full description at https://apply.interfolio.com/188620.