Sociology News & Events
Collective Action, Trusted Messengers, and UNITE HERE's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
“Fighting to Survive: Collective Action, Trusted Messengers, and UNITE HERE's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic,” co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Gretchen Purser, was published in Labor Studies.
See related: COVID-19, Labor, United States
Civil Lawfare
“Civil Lawfare,” co-authored by Assistant Professor of Sociology Gabriela Kirk-Werner, was published in Social Problems.
See related: Crime & Violence, Disability, Economic Policy, Law, State & Local, United States
Claiming Citizenship: Race, Religion, and Political Mobilization among New Americans
Prema Kurien, professor of sociology, examines the political mobilization strategies of people of South Asian and Indian descent in the United States. She also traces how immigrants reshape the host society, both conforming to aspects of that society while also transforming it to meet their unique needs. (Oxford University Press, 2025)
See related: Asian-American, India, U.S. Immigration, United States
Mothering in the Time of Coronavirus
Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology, and co-authors, two Maxwell alumni, focus on remote and essential workers in Central New York, exploring the evolving demands on mothers as well as public policies that may have hindered their ability to balance work and caregiving. Published by University of Massachusetts Press.
See related: COVID-19, Education, Gender and Sex, Parenting & Family
Sibling and Parental Military Service and Suicidality Among Adolescents in the United States
Professor of Sociology Andrew London and his co-author examine whether having a sibling and/or a parent on active duty in the military is associated with suicidality among 12- to 17-year-old adolescent girls and boys in the United States. Published in Military Medicine.
See related: Children, Adolescents, Mental Health, Parenting & Family, United States
Childhood Speech Impairment and Dementia Risks Among US Older Adults
In this study, Assistant Professor of Sociology Haowei Wang and co-authors investigate how the experience of speech problems before age 16 are associated with the risk of dementia among older adults aged 50 and older. Published in Innovation in Aging.
See related: Aging, Health Policy, Mental Health, United States
Research Studies by Engelhardt and Montez Cited in 2025 Economic Report of the President
Separate research studies by Professor of Economics Gary Engelhardt and University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez were referenced in Chapter 4 of the report, “Expanding and Strengthening U.S. Health Insurance Coverage.”
See related: Economic Policy, Federal, Health Insurance, U.S. Health Policy, United States
Intergenerational Relationships and Family Support: Implications for Health and Wellbeing
In this review, Professor and Chair of Sociology Merril Silverstein and co-authors summarize research projects supported by the National Institute on Aging that have contributed scholarship on intergenerational relationships and support provided to older adults that frequently precedes, and is often complementary to, intensive caregiving. Published in The Gerontologist.
See related: Aging, Gender and Sex, Longevity, Parenting & Family, Race & Ethnicity, United States
Maxwell Sociologist’s New Documentary Reveals Plight of Syracuse Tenants
Written and directed by Gretchen Purser, the film is the culmination of a research grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
See related: Grant Awards, Housing, New York State, Race & Ethnicity, Social Justice, Urban Issues
Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations
See related: Aging, Canada, Europe, Parenting & Family, Religion, United States
Reforming the Shadow Carceral State
Assistant Professor of Sociology Gabriela Kirk-Werner and co-authors examine the repeal of prison pay-to-stay policies in the United States. Published in Theoretical Criminology.
See related: Crime & Violence, Economic Policy, Human Rights, State & Local, United States
Purser Piece on the Need for Syracuse to Adopt the Good Cause Eviction Law Published on Syracuse.com
“Landlords would still be able to evict tenants who are behind on their rent or who have violated the terms of their lease, but this law would give tenants the presumptive right to stay in the property otherwise. It would be a mechanism for both contributing to housing stability and prohibiting landlord retaliation against tenants who play by the rules,” says Gretchen Purser, associate professor of sociology.
See related: Housing, Law, New York State, State & Local, Urban Issues
Older Adults’ Descendants and Family Networks in the Context of Global Educational Expansion
In this paper, Haowei Wang and co-authors examine the socioeconomic bifurcation of adults in midlife and beyond in terms of the existence of descendants and other kin. Published in Population and Development Review.
See related: Aging, Child & Elder Care
Yingyi Ma Cited in Nature Article on the Future of Science in the US
Although Chinese-student enrollment at U.S. universities has rebounded since the pandemic, China’s best and brightest might be shying away, says Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology. Soaring anti-China rhetoric probably plays a part, she says, but so do expanding opportunities for Chinese graduate students at home, and the growing challenges to obtain work visas.
See related: China, Education, Government, International Affairs
Silverstein Talks to NPR About China’s Economy Adapting to Serve the Aging Population
Professor of Sociology Merril Silverstein, who studies how infrastructure development is increasingly geared towards an older society in China, says, “Those in more developed villages have less aging anxiety about whether their needs will be met, whether they'll be, you know, happy or not as they get older.”
See related: Aging, China, Economic Policy
Differences in PTSD Between US Civilians and Military Veterans in Gulf War and Post-9/11 War Cohorts
See related: Mental Health, United States, Veterans
On Continuity and Exceptionality in Our Present Crisis: A Conversation with Silvia Federici
In this conversation with Associate Professor of Sociology Selina Gallo-Cruz and her co-author, Silvia shared her reflections on the human experiences that have shaped her scholarship, the continuities of capitalist discipline observed in her early advocacy, and how she makes sense of today’s compounding global crises. Published in Capitalism Nature Socialism.
Maxwell Honors 9 Students with Centennial Scholar Awards
The undergraduate and graduate students received the recognition at the school’s Syracuse Centennial Celebration.
See related: Academic Scholarships, Awards & Honors, Centennial, School History, Study Abroad
Estimated Pulse Wave Velocity Associated With Higher Risk of Dementia in Health and Retirement Study
In this study, co-authors sociologists Janet Wilmoth and Andrew London, find that ePWV may be a novel research tool and biomarker of vascular aging that can be used in large, population-representative studies to examine cognitive aging and dementia risk. Published in the American Journal of Hypertension.
See related: Aging
Montez Featured in American Prospect Article on State Policies and Differences in Health Outcomes
“You have two states that [we]re the same, were pretty middle-of-the-road in terms of life expectancy, but they take opposite trajectories,” says University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez. Some states, she says, took action to “invest in [the state] population’s overall economic well-being and health. And you had other states that took a...very different approach.”
See related: Economic Policy, Government, Health Policy, Political Parties, State & Local, United States