Graduate Student Awards
Department Recognizes 2008-09 Outstanding Graduate Students
On Thursday, April 9th, 2009, the Department held its awards reception honoring outstanding graduate students for the 2008-09 academic year. As stated by Professor Daniel Faber, Graduate Director, the purpose of this ceremony is “to celebrate the many wonderful individual and collective achievements of our graduate students, and to recognize the special contributions that students have made to enhancing the mission of the program, especially with regard to teaching, research and publications, and academic service.” Professor Faber noted that is was difficult to single out students in each of the categories, as there were so many strong contributions by our graduate students this past year. Nevertheless, some students did stand out.
Leandra Smollin & Andrea Hill--Outstanding Graduate Teachers
Leandra has gone beyond the call of duty by teaching five different preps for the department since the Fall of 2007, including Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of the Family, Gender in a Changing Society, Feminist Perspectives, and the Sociology of Popular Culture. Her student evaluations in these classes were outstanding, and refer to Leandra as being “very passionate about her subject,” and “this instructor knew her material and was able to teach different concepts with enthusiasm.” “She is welcome to any and all reflections in regards to the class.” She was given a 4.9 by her students in one class relating to whether lectures helped them to learn.
Andrea taught Social Theory II, Research Methods, and American Society this past year. Her overall teaching evaluations in these difficult courses were outstanding, with a cumulative score of 4.5, 4.4, and 4.5 on overall teaching effectiveness. Student evaluations say such things as “she gives great and interesting lectures;” “kept interest very well,” and “she thoroughly demonstrated her interest and knowledge in the subject,” and “integrated examples we can identify with,” and Andreas “goes at a great pace and is extremely nice and respectful.” Congratulations Leandra and Andrea!
Professor Faber also made note of the strong teaching performed by Tami Arford in American Society; Sarah Cope in the Sociology of Violence; Amanda Crabb in Gender in a Changing Society; Erid Madfis in Juvenile Delinquency; Corina Medley in Popular Culture; and Kat Rickenbacker in Intro to Sociology.
Lauren Nicoll and Chase Billingham--Outstanding Graduate Student Researchers
Lauren and Chase were recognized for their outstanding work as graduate students researchers at the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy over the past year. Each of them produced four research project reports. The titles convey a sense of the importance of their research, especially for foundation officials, government leaders, and policy makers and advocates in the Bay State. These reports included: "Somerville's Design Economy: Fostering the Creative Economy." for the City of Somerville's Mayor's Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development; "The Greater Boston Housing Report Card 2008: From Paradigm to Paradox: Understanding Greater Boston's New Housing Market." The Boston Foundation; "Staying Power: The Future of Manufacturing in Massachusetts." The Boston Foundation; "Elder Friendly Business Districts: A Survey of Neighborhood Seniors." Boston Main Streets Foundation; and “Local Option Taxes and Local Economic Development: The Case of Connecticut.
Sean Brown--Outstanding Graduate Publication
Sean Brown was recognized for his new edited collection with Boria Majumdar entitled Football Fans Around the World (Routledge, 2008), which is part of their series of Sport in the Global Society. The book contained three contributions by Sean, including “Fleet Feet: The USSF and the Peculiarities of Soccer Fandom in America.” According to Professor Alan Klein, who accepted the award on behalf of Sean (who now resides in Texas and is working on his dissertation), the book has “done very well, and has garnered Sean a great deal of attention in the field.” Congratulations Sean!
Stanislav Vysotsky--Best Dissertation
Stas was recognized for his hard work in producing the Best Dissertation of the Year, which was entitled, “The Good Fight: Variations in Explanations of the Tactical Choices Made by Activists Who Confront Organized White Supremacists.” Jack Levin accepted the award on behalf of Stas, who has now started a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Willamette in Oregon, one of the top undergraduate liberal arts programs in the country.
Amy Lubitow--Outstanding Graduate Student
While there are many outstanding graduate students in the program, Amy contribution’s are exemplary, and garnered her recognition as the Most Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year, Over the last year and a half, Amy taught five different courses for the department (Social Problems, Family Violence, Soc of the Family, Intro, and Env and Society). Her teaching evaluations were outstanding, and among the highest in the department, including 4.6 and 4.5 ratings.
Amy has had 3 publications, including a co-authored paper with Silvia, and served as a paid research Silvia and Danny. She also presented five papers at academic conferences; served as the Graduate Student Representative to COGS and Secretary of the Graduate Sociology Society; worked as a Project Coordinator with the Environmental Health Fund and with Health Care Without Harm; and served as a Project Manager with the Dow Accountability Network. She was also a Research Associate with the Northeastern Environmental Justice Research Collaborative, and played a fundamental role in helping to design the NEJRC website. She is the only graduate student ever elected to serve on the Board of the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow. She also volunteered with the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and for Planned Parenthood. In short, Amy’s work has garnered her tremendous professional visibility, and demonstrates her unlimited academic potential. Congratulations Amy!
And finally,
Paul Saucier--Distinguished Graduate Service Award
Paul was awarded the Distinguished Graduate Service Award for his outstanding contributions over the span of his entire graduate career. Paul is the most highly ranked graduate student teacher that the department has ever produced. Over the years he has taught courses on African-American history and political thought, race and ethnic relations, social theory, and cultural studies at Northeastern, University of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island College. In fact, on Rate my Professor, one student stated that: “RIC should be lucky to have someone like him. I have learned more from him in two semesters than I have in four years at RIC from any other professor. Everyone needs to have at least one person like him in their lives.”
In addition to his teaching, Paul has proven to be an outstanding scholar. His work on hip-hop, social movements, race, and social theory has appeared in numerous edited books, reference works, and journals. For example, his new book, The Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cape Verde (Rowman & Littlefield, in May of 2007) with Richard A. Lobban, Jr. (Professor and Chair of Anthropology and former Director of African Studies at Rhode Island College), has been hailed as offering “a comprehensive and interdisciplinary history of the country, linking the pre-colonial and colonial past with postcolonial events. The book is the most extensive and up-to-date assessment of Cape Verde history available.” Paul has completed his dissertation, and is now serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Rhode Island College in Providence. Newly married and happily living close to home, Paul is also a heck of a basketball player. Congratulations Paul and good luck!