A Message from the Chair
IT’S BEEN ONE FULL YEAR since I took up this position, and I am pleased to announce that there is simply insufficient space in this message to report all of the good things that have unfolded in the last 400-odd days. The short version: My colleagues and I have rolled up our scholarly sleeves – elbow patches and all— and set about building on the many strengths our department enjoys.
One of our more exciting accomplishments falls under the heading of departmental expansion. We’re thrilled to introduce five new faculty members in various roles. Linda Blum, author of numerous books and articles on gender, family life, and social inequality, joins us from the University of New Hampshire. Cultural anthropologist Jeffrey Juris, author of Networking Futures, comes to us from Arizona State University. Liza Weinstein, author of numerous articles and chapters on globalization, politics, and urban life, arrives via the University of Chicago. In addition, Berna Turam, political sociologist and specialist on Islamic social movements, arrives in a joint appointment with International Affairs. Finally, Chris Chambers, expert in the study of race, gender and sexuality, joins us as Visiting Assistant Professor. You can read more on these new colleagues below; in the meantime, please indulge my enthusiasm about the many contributions these scholars will make to our department, especially in the study of gender and sexuality, globalization, urban communities, social movements, and social inequality. It is a luxury for a department to expand at a time when other departments are contracting.
This past year we also launched a new Distinguished Lecture Series. Three distinguished scholars (Jeff Manza of NYU; Val Moghadam of Purdue University; and Mary Pattillo of Northwestern University) lectured on terrorism, on gender and Islam, and on class tensions within public housing developments. They did more than give well-attended public talks; in addition, they held workshops with graduate students, taught in our senior seminars, and participated in “Author Meets Critics” sessions as well. An obvious success, the Lecture Series will continue for the next several years and beyond. News about this year’s events can be found here. (Mary –insert link to lecture series?)
Other news to report: I am especially proud that the American Sociological Association honored Jack Levin for his many contributions to Public Awareness of Sociology, an award Prof. Levin received before several thousand attendees at the ASA meetings in San Francisco. Kathrin Zippel is co-Principal Investigator on a major NSF grant that holds great potential for theory, research, and policy on gender and academic careers. Arnie Arluke has won a prize for his book, Just a Dog: Understanding Animal Cruelty—and Ourselves. And Danny Faber’s book, Capitalizing on Environmental Injustice, was a finalist for the highly competitive C. Wright Mills Award. These are remarkable achievements that attest to the quality of our department’s faculty.
Not to be outdone, our students also registered some especially noteworthy accomplishments. Three recipients of the PhD this year (Paul Saucier, Trish Morris, and Stas Vysotsky) accepted tenure track positions this year, despite the difficult labor market. And at the undergraduate level, our graduating seniors received notable honors this year. Among numerous honors, let me mention only that Jessica Lockrem was accepted into Rice University’s PhD program in anthropology, and that Adina Koch was accepted into the sociology PhD program at Boston College. Lily Sturdivant was honored for her achievements as an anthropology major, as was Jon Harrington for sociology. For other student achievements, find your way to www.socant.neu.edu.
I could go on, but you get the point: This is a time of remarkable growth and innovation in our department. If anything, this academic year will be even busier, as we launch three additional faculty searches (the better to further expand opportunities for students), and welcome one of the largest entering class of graduate students in several years. Stay tuned, too, for news about new areas of concentration for our majors in sociology and other new academic opportunities. It is hard to avoid the obvious conclusion: It’s an exciting time to pursue sociology and anthropology at Northeastern University.