Sociology Research Institute
Each year the Sociology Department celebrates student research at the Sociology Research Institute (SRI). This academic festival provides an opportunity for our graduate and undergraduate students to present their research in a professional meeting format and offers an occasion for all of us to appreciate the ideas and interests that capture the imagination of our students. In addition, we invite a nationally recognized scholar to present the keynote address and to participate in an open exchange of ideas with our students. SRI is also a time when we honor achievements in research, teaching and service; invite our alumni and friends to campus; and reflect on the accomplishment of a tremendous group of students, faculty and staff.
2008
Thank you to all who made the 18th annual Sociology Research Institute (SRI) is a fantastic event! On Friday, April 25th, Prof. Judith Stacey, New York University, provided the keynote address, "New Slants on the Slippery Slope: The Politics of Polygamy and Gay Family Rights in South Africa and the U.S." On Saturday, April 26th, over forty students received rave review for their presentations, posters, and panel discussions to an audience of faculty, alumni, guests, and fellow students. During our luncheon program, Interim Dean Jim Parente addressed the group and Department Chair, Chris Uggen, presented Sara Dorow (2002 Ph.D. alumni) the 2008 Public Sociology Award. Sara was recognized for greatly increasing service learning in the classrooms at the University of Alberta, mobilizing her University's resources to respond to issues identified by the local community, and for her engaged scholarship in transnational adoption. Also at the luncheon, we welcomed Edith Martindale, a longtime supporter of our department, who most recently established the Don A. Martindale Endowed Chair in Sociology to honor the legacy of her late husband and emeritus faculty member, Don Martindale. Prof. David Pellow, who will be joining the faculty in the fall, is the first recipient of this endowed chair. During the evening awards program we honored research, teaching and service as well as allowed our graduate students to poke a little fun at us with an unforgettable film and comedy sketch. Congratulations to the award winners listed below.
PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY AWARD
Sara Dorow
OUTSTANDING RESEARCH PAPER
Graduate: Anderw Halpern-Manners
Undergraduate: Corey Davis and Taylor Schey
OUTSTANDING TA AWARD
Graduate: Xinxiang Chen and Kelly Chermack
Undergraduate: Jeff Hunger
OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR
Wes Longhofer
OUTSTANDING SERVICE CONTRIBUTION
Ann Miller
FACULTY MENTORING AWARD
Phyllis Moen
MARTINDALE AWARD
Xinxiang Chen
RON ANDERSON TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL COHESION FELLOWSHIP AWARD
Jon Smajda
ANNA WELSCH BRIGHT MEMORIAL AWARD
Dahlia Mani and JinWoong Kang
Past SRI Speakers and Themes
2007 Community Connections
"Immigrant Rights and the Law”
Teresa Ortiz, Resource Center of the Americas
"The Politics of Sexuality”
Ann Marie DeGroot, OutFront Minnesota
"Justice in Action”
Tom Johnson, Council on Crime and Justice
2006 Carnal Sociology
"Carnal Connections: of Prizefighters, Painters, and Professors"
Loïc Waquant
Professor
Department of Sociology,
University of California-Berkeley
2005 Inequality and Change in a New Era
"The Gender System: What's Changing?"
Paula England
Professor of Sociology and Faculty Research Affiliate
Institute for Research on Women and Gender
Stanford University
2004 Technology & Inequality
"Digital Inequality: How Social Inequality Influences Who Has Access to the Internet and What They do Online"
Paul DiMaggio
Professor of Sociology, Princeton University
Special Presentation: "Public Sociologies"
Michael Burawoy
University of California Berkeley and current ASA President
2003 Sociology of Difficult Times: Traumatic Events, Collective Memory and the Self
"A Theory of Cultural Trauma"
Jeffrey Alexander
Professor of and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Yale University
2002 Celebrating 100 Years of Sociology
The Future of Sociology: Internationalization and Interdisciplinarity
Craig Calhoun
Professor of Sociology and History, New York University
Minnesota Contributions to Social Psychology
Sheldon Stryker
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Indiana University
100 Years Slide Presentation (HTML | Power Point)
2001 Paths and Pitfalls in a Globalizing Society
John Meyer
Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
2000 Values in Conflict: Culture, Politics, and Sociology
Sharon Hays
Associate Professor of Sociology and Studies in Women and Gender, University of Virginia
1999 The Countdown to the New Millennium
Douglas McAdam
Professor of Sociology, Stanford University and
Bernice Pescosolido
Professor of Sociology, Indiana University
1998 Law and Crime in Japan as a Testing Ground for Comparative Sociological Theories
Setsuo Miyazawa
Professor of Law, Kobe University, Japan
1996 Sex in America
Edward O. Laumann
Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago
1995 Altruism: The Root of Racial and Ethnic Loyalty
Herbert A. Simon
Professor of Computer Science and Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
1994 Hard vs. Soft Sociology: Cross-national Ethnographer Meets Cross-national Survey
Michael Burawoy
Professor, University of California, Berkeley
1993 Social Issues and Public Policy
Herbert J. Gans
Professor of Sociology, Columbia University
1992 Working on a Sociology for Women
Dorothy E. Smith
Professor of Sociology, University of Toronto
1991 Social Change in an Age of Uncertainty
Ivan Szelenyi
Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
1990 Futures of Sociology in the 21st Century
James S. Coleman
Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago