SOCIOLOGY NEWS . VOLUME 4 . ISSUE 2

IMAGINE.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK?”— Patricio

LETTER FROM THE EDITRESS

Kathryn Buford

JUST IMAGINE.

Letter From the Editress

Welcome to Volume 2!

This volume represents what I think many of us wanted to see in this edition. Students at different levels in the program have contributed pieces on various topics including innovative research methods, balancing graduate work with family responsibilities and interesting

sociology, health and married life. There is even a special sociology comic strip!

Given the theme of Imagine, professors Melissa Milke and Jeff Lucas describe their ideal winter breaks.

Finally, keeping up with students who have completed the program is a trend that I would like to see continue. In this volume, Dr. Young Chun, former Maryland sociology student, discusses his current position at the University of Chicago.

It has been great working with everyone on this project. I happily pass the torch to Beverly Pratt who will be next semester’s editress.

Happy holidays!

Love, Kathryn Buford

On October 2, 2009 the Morris Rosenberg Forum welcomed Dr. Sudhir Venkatesh, the William B. Ransford Professor of Sociology at Columbia University. Our department – undergraduate and graduate students, staff, and faculty – all welcomed Dr. Venkatesh to a full-day’s schedule including: a screening of his documentary, a meeting with graduate students interested in qualitative methodologies, his Forum lecture, and a concluding reception.

Dr. Venkatesh’s documentary – Dislocation – provided a medium and an example of the potential for visual sociology; he suggested that

which sociologists can intellectualize. His lecture – “Law and Order in the Urban Ghetto” – provided an opportunity for the audience to understand the deeper complexities and situated knowledges – relationally- and spatially-framed – within the Chicago urban ghetto as described in his well-known ethnography Gang Leader for a Day.

faculty eager to meet and hear our discipline’s rising star. It was the Forum’s most well attended lecture.

REFLECTIONS ON THE 2009 MORRIS ROSENBERG FORUM

Beverly Pratt

Personally, it was Dr. Venkatesh’s meeting with graduate students interested in qualitative methodologies that was most illuminating. After having us each introduce ourselves and state our experience with qualitative methods, he enthusiastically answered each of our

work-ethics, identity categorization, and event analysis.

school.” His list was inspiringly balanced and included: write every day, do book reviews, write every day, send papers out for review and “feel the pain,” write every day, present at regional meetings, write every day, and to be sure to list positive attributes - not only negative attributes – of articles/books while reading and critiquing. And, to be sure you caught it, he advised to write every day.

Thank you, Dr. Venkatesh, for visiting our department.

As a vegetarian, Thanksgiving, is more about being with my family than eating food stuffed in other foods. I usually end up resentfully eating the side dishes-mashed potatoes, green beans and mustard greens (if not prepared with swine). This year, when I saw Tofurky on sale ($6.49 down from $12.99!) I decided to get in the spirit and treat

Miraculously, on Wednesday night, my sister invited me to accompany her to her boyfriend’s family celebration in Norfolk, Virginia. I am so happy I went because I had a ball! Everyone was welcoming and kind. The Halloway family made me feel right at home-putting me to work doing dishes and having me translate to English when the Spanish speaking couple had their lover’s spats.

My favorite part was when everyone held hands and we all shared what we were thankful for--there were a lot of tears and laughter. My second favorite part was the pleasant surprise of a vegan chef! There

were “traditional” courses that catered to the carnivores and then

The day after Thanksgiving, I thought, since I still had my Tofurky, why not keep the party going? I had just had one stupendous Thanksgiving experience. Initially, I didn’t intend to do all the extra stuff recommended on the box. You know, adding vegetables and including a basting sauce, but I guess the spirit moved me because I made a big production out of it. Here is how it all went down...

First, I cut up potatoes and one onion to complement the roast.

Then I made a basting sauce,

TOFURKY FOR 1

Kathryn Buford

from the following ingredients:

I basted my roast...

And baked according to the directions on the box. Here is how the cooked product turned out. From the side...

aerial...

and on the inside...

It looked and smelled delicious out of the oven. My taste-buds, however, were ultimately disappointed. The package says: “Gourmet, meatless and delicious.” As I was certain that the third

doesn’t compare to brands like Quorn or Gardein (one of Oprah’s favorites). Tofurky was a little to “wheat glutenny” for me-I don’t know how to explain that to the non-vegetarians because I think the only thing that tastes like wheat gluten is wheat gluten.

and even at the risk of setting the race back, I added bar-b-q sauce. When that didn’t work, I tried hot sauce. Finally, I surrendered and let the food bio-degrade on my lawn. The next day, the remains of my roast were in tact--even the ants didn’t want it! (Just kidding.)

One thing I am thankful for is that there are plenty of vegetarian food options that are delicious and nutritious. Plenty of which can be found in Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen cook book.

WINTER BREAK PLANS

Given the upcoming break (YAY!) we asked some professors the following question:

What would be the ideal break for you? How would you make the most of the break if time, money or publishing was not an issue?

Here is what Melissa Milke and Jeff Lucas had to share:

Melissa Milkie…

I do love “winter break,” for the space it makes to be able to focus on a project.

If time, money or publishing were not an issue....Does this mean I’m not a professor? Hmmm. I’d love to travel....to revisit places I’ve been long ago (such as Heidelberg, Germany, Toledo, Spain, Finale Ligure in Italy) and (how much time do I have? maybe 2-3 years? because this is really fun)...um....I would want to go to whole continents I’ve never been to. It also would be neat to spend the time embracing something totally different from sociology, like learning more about wine, modern art, guitar, etc. And I’d want

projects with the directors of “Little Friends for Peace” a local non-

Jeff Lucas…

winning a BCS bowl. Beyond that, ideal would be lots of time with my kids, chunks of time that I can dedicate to writing, and a chance to see family who live outside the area. If money and publishing were not an issue, I imagine my ideal break would look more or less the same, with perhaps a few days for a ski trip thrown in.

AUDIO ETHNOGRAPHY

Contrary to academic protocol, I begin this article by positioning myself as a non-expert. Indeed, in many ways I’m writing on a topic I know nothing about. Well… not nothing. It’s not as though this is a subject about which I’ve never thought. Quite the opposite, I’ve

non-expertise speaks to the fact that I’m writing about something I’m not even sure exists.

So, when the Editress of our new (and very cool) Sociology Newsmag invited me to contribute a piece to the upcoming newsletter on the seemingly vague topic of “methods,” I immediately knew what she was suggesting, yet nonetheless avoided her invitation for days. How was I to write a piece on audio ethnographic methods when I wasn’t convinced such a method was real?

It all started when our Editress and I had the privilege of taking Dr. Patricia Hill Collins’ class, Sociology of Knowledge. In that class, I centered my intellectual attention at the intersection of knowledge production, power and methodology. I was particularly interested in placing the idea of audio ethnography – that is, how sociologists might use sounds to create analyses about the social world – in dialogue with scholarship on the power to create, document and legitimate knowledge.

My seminar paper explored why, given the methodological precedent

research (e.g., see the work of Hurston and Boder), why have such methods received so little attention within the disciplines? I argue that the types of knowledge conducive to audio ethnographic documentation are often subjugated knowledges, and the producers

dominant or elite paradigms.

Yet, despite my own argument, I still push myself for further is audio ethnography? For the moment, I

documentary (for an example of audio documentary, think National Pubic Radio’s

Your browser may not support display of this image.

This American Life

audio ethnography as an approach to storytelling that uses sounds to convey information; these sounds can include voices, music, ambient sounds, and any other type of audible information that can be recorded. However, I argue that audio ethnography differs from

to studying human, social and cultural phenomena. As a social

documentary, is associated with a methodological tradition, which engages a broader theoretical context, philosophical rationale for method-related decisions, critical application of individual methods, and ontological or epistemological questions.

Valerie Chepp

AUDIO ETHNOGRAPHY CONT.

But again, I return to more question-asking: How would I go about

unique from more traditional ethnography? Doesn’t most ethnography already contain an audio component? And, what does a sociological audio ethnographic research project look (or sound) like?

To help guide me through such questions, I turn to other thinkers who are contemplating similar ideas, as well as individual projects that might articulate with an audio ethnographic tradition. I haven’t settled on any answers but, taking advice from the forever-brilliant

and methodological techniques help me formulate my thoughts around the contours of an audio ethnographic method. Even after surveying these sources, I still don’t entirely know what

that there’s something there that is in fact real... or has the potential for becoming real. Importantly for me, this project stems from a belief that the decisions we make around our research methods are always political. In our efforts to document new or test existing knowledges, we tend to rely upon a limited set of methodological techniques. As social scientists, we must consider the implications of such decisions and ask ourselves whether, by retracing the same fractal paths, do we fail to study and thereby legitimate alternative bodies of knowledge (Abbott 2001)? As graduate students and researchers-

revised, inspired, and creative ways.

inquiry and documentation. Appearing in Fast Capitalism’s special

the word.

TIPS & TECHNIQUE* Become a radio diarist* Audacity* Sound portraits* Radio College

SITES / PROJECTS * Quiet American* Studs Terkel: Conversations with America* Radio Diaries* Association for Recorded Sound Collections* Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University* Crossing the BLVD* See also the work of Zora Neale Hurston and David Boder, cited above

SCHOLARS* Audrey Sprenger, Harvard University, Sociology | Methods of Audio Ethnography and Personal Audio Field Notes* Eliot Bates, University of Maryland, Ethnomusicology* Karen Nakamura, Yale University, Anthropology | Photoethnography* Digital Media Project, Catherine Braun, Ben McCorkle, Amie Wolf, Ohio State University, English

Languages and Criminology | Auto-audio ethnography*John Szwed, Yale and Columbia, Anthropology | Syllabus: The Anthropology of Sound* Claudia Engel and Miyako Inoue, Stanford, Anthropology | Interview re: City and Sounds course

FILE: AUDIO ETHNOGRAPHY

I fell into sociology after I discovered some books on feminism in one of my classes on the sociology of gender. I had never felt comfortable with gender norms or the various masculinity rituals prescribed by our society, so feminism became my point of entry to

when I realized that there were studies that helped validate my “anti-masculinity” identity.

At the time, I was an Asian Studies major and was very interested in the challenges faced by women of color, especially immigrants to the United States. Then after reading Susan Faludi’s “Backlash” and Patricia Collins “Black Feminist Thought,” I knew I had found

books to me, and I read constantly, mostly because I worked almost full-time at a coffee shop and didn’t really go out much. In fact, I met one of our colleagues, Beverly Pratt, while I was managing the coffee shop and she recommended the works of Joe Feagin to me. I began a working relationship with him and started reading many of his books, along with the works of David Baldwin, W.E.B. DuBois, and Tim Wise (*swoon*). I would eventually take one of his graduate courses during my senior year and also perform a self-guided interview study of the 2008 Presidential Election under his guidance.

undergraduate career. I still keep up with him today and occasionally write for his blog RacismReview.com

But back to my intellectual development…

The more I read on racism in the United States, the more I became disillusioned with what I had been taught in school and what I saw everyday in the media. I guess you could say I was “unlearning my white privilege” and beginning to see things that Black Americans

saw everyday. Not only was I surprised at the level of racism I found within myself, I was disgusted with the level of anti-Black bias I discovered in mainstream media, literature, and popular culture.

racism and white privilege, I became more outspoken and vocal in my attacking of white institutions all around me. I started to use my knowledge for the betterment of my social circles and social environments around me, something I know alienated a lot of my former white friends. In fact, I made just about as many enemies as I did friends when I began verbally criticizing the systemic racism, gender bias, and prejudice I saw around me. I started to spend most of my time on progressive blogs, where I could commit to my new lifestyle and learn from others on issues of race, gender, and LGBT issues. But I need to state that this change didn’t happen overnight,

activist over the course of 3 years reading books on issues relating to racism, social policy, pop culture, gender, and LGBT issues.

I have committed myself to anti-discriminatory and progressive issues because I want to be a friend to those who feel alienated or marginalized by mainstream society. I am an anti-racist, not so I can hold it over other people’s heads, but so that I can help root out the evil that I found latent within myself and within all the social institutions around me. I hope to take my studies further and become

sociology. I want to be an inspiration to students from marginalized

class, Christian, hetero-normative male biases in America, because I think we all have things to gain from a more inclusive, diverse, and tolerant society.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MY SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION…

Dave Strohecker

Regarding my research interests:

particularly tattooing and other forms of formerly “primitive” body projects that have been appropriated by mainstream (white) middle-class America. I have been reading mounds of books on “modern

work” in post-modern America. I an interested in this topic due to

because of the growing popularity of the practices with American youth.

I would like to perform a qualitative study of tattooing and other

class white youth. I would like to show how such appropriations are a continuation of colonialist discourse between the modern/the primitive, the familiar/“the other,” and white/nonwhite peoples. I would also like to show how such appropriations are now used by white youth for identity work and self-construction in an era of post-modernity and change.

Finally, I am happy to be here at Maryland, where I have encountered some of the kindest, tolerant, and accepting faculty and students I have ever seen. I am grateful to be in such a progressive department, where I do not feel alienated by my appearance or my political views. I look forward to working with the faculty here and developing a

around us.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF MY SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION…CONT.

On October 22nd we decided to take a short academic excursion to New York City where NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge (IPK) was hosting a panel entitled “Rethinking Secularism: The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere.” The panelists - each academic stars - included Jürgen Habermas - yes, he’s still alive, Charles Taylor - from McGill University in Canada, Judith Butler - from the University of California, Berkeley, and Cornel West - from Princeton University, who of course wore his signature 3 piece suit. Habermas began the discussion by presenting his lecture: “’The Political - The Rational Sense of a Questionable Inheritance of Political Theology.” Due to Habermas’ German accent and because he wasn’t speaking into the microphone, however, it seemed that much of the audience - ourselves included - had a hard time understanding much of what he said. How do we know? Well, let’s just say heads buried in reading and people nodding off was a small indication. But thanks to a recap of the panel on the IPK website we

voices are needed within a constitutional democracy - which is a process in itself as well as a learning process - as “the political” has a strong basis in political theology. Therefore, he calls for reciprocity between religoius and secular citizens in order for decision making - with a diversity of voices - to occur. Taylor followed with his lecture: “Why We Need a Radical

opinion, secularism is not really about religion but rather the response of the democratic state to diversity. He suggested that conceptions of the divine have shifted from realms of authenticity to realms of law and argued that citizens must shape political institutions that “maximize the basic goals of liberty and equality between basic beliefs.”

After a thirty minute break Butler restarted the panel with her lecture: “Is Judaism Zionism? Religious Sources for the Critique of Violence.” She began by examining the quandary of the critique of Israeli state violence by Jews being viewed as anti-Semitic or un-Jewish as an attempt to understand the relationship between Judaism, Jewishness, and Zionism. Drawing on Said, Arendt, and Benjamin, Butler introduced the concept of “co-habitation.” She stated, “it is not only that we may not choose with whom to co-habit, but that we must actively preserve the non-chosen character of inclusive and plural co-habitation: we not only live with those we never chose and to whom we may feel no social sense of belonging, but we are also obligated to preserve those lives and the plurality of which they form a part.” Butler argued for the importance of critical remembrance and that remembrance may be a way for religion to enter the public sphere. West ended the panel discussion with a characteristically rousing academic discussion/sermon: “Prophetic Religion and the Future of Capitalist Civilization.” Similar to Butler’s calls to critical remembrance, West called the audience to bear witness to the catastrophic - including individual and societal failure - by alluding to Benjamin’s Ninth Thesis which focused on history as catastrophic. He also spoke of the importance of empathy as a “genuine love and willingness to celebrate with the wretched of the earth” and a need for righteous indignation against issues rather than persons. In doing so, West alluded to Habermas’ discussion by suggesting that “prophetic imagination” is necessary - among both religious and secular individuals and organizations - in order for social justice to occur. To close, we are both grateful to have attended this great session at NYU’s IPK. For us, it was a once-in-a-graduate-student-lifetime

RETHINKING SECULARISM: THE POWER OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

Kendra Barber & Beverly Pratt

RETHINKING SECULARISM: THE POWER OF RELIGION IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE CONT.

in such classes as Sociology of Knowledge, Critical Race Theory, and Intersectionality. As we are each interested in social justice and religion research, witnessing this discussion provided a boost to our professional framework and goals. Anyone can attend these free lectures provided by the institute. Go

encourage folks to take advantage of the knowledge production occuring on the East Coast, especially if you’re not from the area.

In what follows I’ll be sharing a hint of scandal about my marriage and my wife, Julie. Introductions are an appropriate place to begin. Julie is an educational administrator at Howard University and epitomizes the busy DC professional. By day, she is known among her colleagues as a shrewd pragmatist, but this characteristic

noteworthy is that English is Julie’s third language, and although her command of it is impeccable, she scrambles the occasional idiomatic expression. Her residual professionalism coupled with her dynamic use of idioms led to a recent conversation where Julie

relationship with future colleagues. The conversation was stuffed full of remarks about “contingency plans” and possible “anonymity measures.” She was skeptical of the wisdom behind my consent to write the piece, and pointed out that “If push comes to worst”—a novel combination of the expressions “if push comes to shove” and “if worst comes to worst”—I can always take a leave of absence and live with my mom in Montana until things cool over. She had a point, but in the end, I convinced her the exercise might prove cathartic for

relationship. In the end, she consented on the condition that she has editorial discretion.

So I sat down to write and recalled the warnings I had received when after divulging my plan to begin graduate school. A close friend told me plainly that graduate school would likely pose a challenge to my marriage. I believe I was stirring my morning coffee at the workplace lunch counter when it happened and bragging that I would soon tender my resignation for the more noble pursuit of education. His message was that graduate school was a hornet’s nest and that

is a habitual whiner and tends to go through the day hanging his

FORGETTING BALANCE: RELATIONSHIPS AND GRADUATE SCHOOL

Les Andrist

head and shaking it from side to side, as if warming it up to reject the entire day. “Life is a travesty,” he would say. “There is a new outbreak of Ebola in Africa.” “More and more polar bears are drowning.” “Marriage can’t survive graduate school.”

I didn’t take his warning seriously, and anyway, by this time, Julie and I had already transcended a number of struggles together. I’m talking about real epic triumphs, like the time I screamed at Julie for

the sum of my experiences as a serial monogamist had prepared me for this single moment in time. I was a gladiator poised to be

aided by a few pulleys and levers. I had my own weapons, and I had honed my own method. This was not going to be a problem.

By 2002, Julie and I had already been in DC for a year, and graduate school was beginning to loom large on the horizon for both of us. Julie had announced that she would soon begin working toward her Ph.D. in education. That year, I remember the theatrical release of the movie “About Schmidt,” starring Jack Nicholson. The previews seemed to loop endlessly for a few weeks, and they always featured Nicholson’s character as narrator. “Helen and I have been married 42

woman who lives in my house?” How I pitied Nicholson’s character, particularly his feelings of unfamiliarity with his partner.

the right person for the right reasons, and anyway, I know myself! I would never just idly sit by like soggy-shorts Schmidt and play witness to the dismantling of my marriage. The instant I perceived

Julie and I would sit down and work to articulate what the hell is going on—name it and banish it from our island!”

But I was soon to learn that the mischievous workings of graduate

work load, and insurmountable expectations abound. Reasons to forgo such indulgences as stretching the legs, spending time in rooms with windows, and unwinding are easily found. In the beginning the assault is obvious, but soon it begins feeling blunted and appears to fade. I suspect this is because we learn to cope, but it must also be because that which is omnipresent appears mundane, normal and unremarkable. In the same way we fail to

effects of our stress and the routines we’ve casually adopted as a means of coping.

myself becoming inexplicably resentful about Julie’s allergies. Her quirky penchant for bringing random pamphlets home despite my protest suddenly seemed to be a direct statement about her failing commitment to the marriage. I remember feeling exasperated one evening when she demanded equal space for her own books on our book shelf. “Who is this woman?” There was a malignant dissatisfaction growing within me, and I watched myself—as though a spectator—take it out on Julie. Time spent on classes, getting papers ready for publication, socializing with classmates, and navigating department politics – the cumulative effect of these changes in this new graduate world had the effect of a wayward

made sense.

FORGETTING BALANCE: RELATIONSHIPS AND GRADUATE SCHOOL CONT.

“Editorial discretion” urges caution at following the narrative any further, but I’ve already shared plenty. What’s imperative of any cautionary tale is that the author state in unambiguous terms precautions one can take or a list of pitfalls to avoid, something

the Atlantic with sharks nipping at my heels.” Ten tips to save your relationship while in graduate school would be admirable, but I’m partial to the humor of a good anticlimax so I offer only one.

Most enduring relationships require a measure of time and attention; yet graduate school nibbles away at the graduate student’s schedule

the brain-on-drugs egg in those commercials from the Reagan administration. Aiming for balance, people attempt to schedule time for their relationships, but once classes begin, time slips away and they feel they’ve lost their balance. I think we should dispense with this notion of balance. The metaphor suggests a teeter-totter or seesaw held level by two discrete entities of equal weight. Eight hours of graduate school is answered with eight hours devoted to relationships. Thinking about these spheres as separate and balanced is inaccurate and unhelpful. The distinction between what is work and what is personal often collapses, especially when important relationships are formed with one’s classmates and professors. Thinking in terms of balance is also a problem because it encourages us to regard our relationships as entities opposed to work. We are enticed to cultivate our careers and relationships as though they were distinct spheres, hermetically sealed from each other. In building our careers we exit our relationships.

FORGETTING BALANCE: RELATIONSHIPS AND GRADUATE SCHOOL CONT.

The gravity well that is graduate school makes all this talk about striking a delicate balance sound a bit disingenuous. We would do well to forget balance, and instead allow or even encourage our relationships to be folded into graduate school’s gooey goodness. To this end, baking metaphors might be more useful. This integration of spheres will likely look different for different people, but for Julie and I, it has meant that we recognize scheduling evening time will not always be enough. To keep our lives integrated, I’ve begun attending more of her professional conferences, and for her part, she has begun hanging out with my graduate friends more often. I’ve learned far more about the

comments about the conversation (lol, snort).

WHAT EVERY GRADUATE STUDENT NEEDS- GOOD HEALTH

Kathryn Buford

I was originally going to write an article about making some extra money during the holidays. I would have titled it, “What every graduate student needs—A Side Hustle.” Then, I went to the hospital. I think the greatest gift every student can give him or herself this season, if you haven’t already done son, is a check-up.

Many graduate students tend to glorify the worst aspect of being a graduate student. Some laugh and brag about how little sleep and exercise we get as well as how poor their diets are. This is funny, until it catches up to you.

Earlier this semester I was chatting with Paul Dean in the computer lab. We started to joke with each other and I laughed so hard that my chest hurt. Paul asked what was wrong. Naturally, I thought I had eaten my Chinese food too fast. I begged Paul to stop making me laugh because the harder I chuckled the more it hurt. In reality, the problem was not my general tso’s tofu. My chest hurt because I am anemic. My blood count was so low that my poor little heart was tired from working overtime to make sure enough blood was

I also learned that all my blood indicators—iron stores, red blood count and hemoglobin, to name a few—were “dangerously low” (the doctor’s words). They do not know exactly what is causing this in my case. I have no family members that have similar issues with their blood. Of course, I am certain somewhere in my family history there are people who have suffered from high blood pressure. I think every American knows that is caused by a condition called, “being black.”

Although, this semester I have tried to do better at taking care of myself, last year I had many problematic lifestyle behaviors that I’m still correcting. There are four areas in particular that I think many

already guessed which ones they are…

1. Eating—I think many students have diets that consist of excessive alcohol, coffee and ibuprofen. I remember last year beginning my day with coffee and later painkillers. Basically, drugs as breakfast and a snack. Breakfast is such an important meal. If I do not have a big appetite for breakfast, it tends to be because I had too much to eat in the evening the previous day. I’m working on that now.

I simply spent the night. One night is too many—and crazy. If work does not get done by 2am is it really going to make a difference if the person who assigned it does not get it until 10am the next day? I am convinced that it is better (and saner) to wake up early than stay up late.

3. Stress—This may seem obvious. Pressure to get things done can be stressful. However, I think if we can really get the concept of “Good Enough” down, this does not have to be so problematic. Also, to de-stress, we can do as Kendra said and take up something “completely un-related to academia,” like swimming or pole dancing.

4. Exercise—I actually think there are a good amount of students in our department who exercise regularly. However, I think it’s easy to think that if you cannot make it to the gym you cannot exercise.

approximately equivalent to a mile. Doing that once or twice a day is not that much time out of the day to get the blood pumping. Of course, it can also help to de-stress.

WHAT EVERY GRADUATE STUDENT NEEDS- GOOD HEALTH CONT.

Finally, I think it’s important that students de-romanticize the notion of killing themselves. In the past, I have joked with students about who had the least sleep and consumed the most empty calories. Given the changes I have made, I actually having fun discovering and preparing iron-rich meals (like spinach and tempeh stew or soymilk with molasses–yumm!).

Being a graduate student feels like being hazed into a sorority in so many ways already, we do not need to torture our own minds and bodies. You don’t want to be writing this article next semester…

WHAT’S NEXT FOR FORMER STUDENT YOUNG CHUN?

Young Chun has joined the National Opinion and Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, as a senior survey methodologist.

The National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago

social science research in the public interest.” NORC is a leading research institution where SPSS was developed in 1969, the General Social Survey was developed in 1972 and continued today, and computer-assisted personal interview (CAPI) was implemented for

call centers in the nation with about 1,500 telephone interviewers at its peak. Today NORC researchers at the University of Chicago conduct studies on a wide range of topics including criminal justice, education, energy and environment, health and substance abuse, international, labor and employment, organization, security, society and culture, and technology.

Young defended his dissertation about nonparticipation behavior of 12th graders in the National Assessment of Educational Progress last May. His advisor and committee chair was Professor Katharine Abraham; his committee co-chair was Professor John Robinson.

As a senior manager at NORC, Yong leads large-scale complex research proposals and projects with his expertise in non-response, measurement errors, and social psychological underpinnings of survey research methods. He works for a variety of large-scale surveys in education, substance abuse and mental health, establishment, and international surveys, following about two decades of a track-records of his research for federal agencies.

Young has an invited session recently accepted for the 2010 Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM) in Vancouver, Canada. JSM is the largest gathering of statisticians and methodologists held in North America. He organized an invited session focused on innovative use of para-data in complex surveys across continents by recruiting and partnering with a score of leading researchers of survey para-data in Europe, Canada, and major federal statistical agencies of the United States. It was acclaimed as “one of the best invited session proposals” for the 2010 JSM.

If you would like to congratulate, or speak with him in general, before his graduation this December, Young can be reached at:

Chun-Young@Norc.UChicago.Edu.

LOVE AND SOCIOLOGY, “ THE DILEMMA”

Kathryn Buford

CONTRIBUTORS:LES ANDRIST

KENDRA BARBER KATHRYN BUFORD

VALERIE CHEPP

JEFF LUCAS, PHD

MELISSA MILKIE, PHD

BEVERLY PRATT

DAVE STROHECKER