Sociology News & Events
Silverstein Quoted in New York Times Article on Seniors and Housing Decisions
“Among older people there is a reluctance to project negativity into their future,” says Merril Silverstein, professor and chair of sociology. “There’s research that they tend to put on rose-colored glasses about things like their own aging trajectory so it’s keeping up their ego integrity to want to be independent and stay in their home.”
See related: Aging, Housing, United States
RSF Grant Supports Research on Youth Poverty, Housing and International Migration
Maxwell sociologist Sean J. Drake is exploring the neighborhood and school experiences of refugee and other migrant youth in Syracuse and New York City.
See related: Children, Adolescents, Grant Awards, Housing, Income, New York State, Parenting & Family, Refugees
Sandwiched in Later Life: Consequences for Individuals’ Well-Being, Variation Across Welfare Regimes
"Becoming sandwiched in later life: Consequences for individuals’ well-being and variation across welfare regimes," co-authored by Professor and Chair of Sociology Merril Silverstein, was published in The Journals of Gerontology.
See related: Aging, Child & Elder Care, Mental Health, United States
Senior Erykah Pasha Strives to Uplift Others
They have taken advantage of opportunities to learn and help others, including work with the local organization Layla’s Got You.
See related: Centennial, Student Experience
Montez Cited in Washington Post Article on the Impact of States’ Policies on Life Expectancy
The differences in state policies directly correlate to those years lost, said Jennifer Karas Montez, director of the Center for Aging and Policy Studies and author of several papers that describe the connection between politics and life expectancy.
See related: Longevity, Political Parties, State & Local, U.S. Health Policy, United States
Maxwell Sociologists Honored and Elected to Leadership Positions at ASA Annual Meeting
Prema Kurien and Janet M. Wilmoth received awards, and several faculty colleagues were elected to roles in the American Sociological Association.
See related: Awards & Honors, Promotions & Appointments
Health Equity for People With IDD Requires Vast Improvements to Data Collection
"Health equity for people with intellectual and developmental disability requires vast improvements to data collection: Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic," co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Scott Landes, was published in Disability and Health Journal.
See related: COVID-19, IDD, Research Methods, United States
Did Gender Egalitarianism Weaken Religiosity in Baby Boom Women? A Developmental-Historical Approach
"Did Gender Egalitarianism Weaken Religiosity in Baby Boom Women? A Developmental-Historical Approach," co-authored by Professor of Sociology Merril Silverstein, was published in Sociology of Religion.
See related: Gender and Sex, Religion, United States
Maxwell Sociologists Receive $1.8 Million From the NIA to Study Midlife Health and Mortality
The research team led by Jennifer Karas Montez and Shannon Monnat hopes to better understand how state policies and local economic conditions impact health and mortality rates.
See related: Longevity, Rural Issues, U.S. Health Policy, United States, Urban Issues
Benanav Talks to CNBC About AI and the Future of Work
“I think about academics having to write grants all the time,” says Aaron Benanav, assistant professor of sociology, as an example. Those can be formulaic and would take far less time with the help of a machine. In programming, it’s helping engineers “write up basic outlines of code or sometimes like whole sections of code,” he says.
See related: Autonomous Systems, United States
Kurien Quoted in Texas Standard Article on Immigrant Churches in Diaspora Network, US Church Growth
Prema Kurien, professor of sociology, says there is a logical reason why immigrant groups exhibit higher rates of religiosity. “Immigration and relocation from a familiar context to something completely unfamiliar is a theologizing experience,” Kurien says. “It raises existential questions—things that people don’t think about when they are in their home country with a familiar community.”
See related: Religion, U.S. Immigration, United States
Explaining the US Rural Disadvantage in COVID-19 Case and Death Rates During the Delta-Omicron Surge
"Explaining the U.S. rural disadvantage in COVID-19 case and Death rates during the Delta-Omicron surge: The role of politics, vaccinations, population health, and social determinants," co-authored by Professor of Sociology Shannon Monnat, was published in Social Science & Medicine.
See related: COVID-19, Rural Issues, United States
Maxwell School Announces Recent Faculty Additions
See related: Promotions & Appointments
Research by Gallo-Cruz Cited in Salon Article on the Human Costs of Global Warming
Citing the work of organizations like Global Witness in conflict zones worldwide, Selina Gallo-Cruz, associate professor of sociology, points out that a significant part of the violence on this planet comes from the North's "extraction of natural resources through mining or deforestation—palm oil plantations are a big one—and mega-, mega-agricultural projects," all of which lead to "outbreaks of very violent conflict."
See related: Climate Change, Conflict, Natural Disasters, Natural Resources, Wildfires
Students, Faculty Receive Spring 2023 SOURCE and Honors Research Grants
The awards support undergraduate research projects.
See related: Awards & Honors, Grant Awards, Student Experience
Junko Takeda and Merril Silverstein Named Chairs at Maxwell School
Takeda is leading the citizenship and civic engagement program on an interim basis, while Silverstein has taken the helm of the Sociology Department.
See related: Promotions & Appointments
Yingyi Ma Speaks to The World About Declining Number of Chinese Students Studying at US Universities
Yingyi Ma, professor of sociology, says that around 2018-2019, American universities began to see a slight decrease in the number of Chinese students. “And then the pandemic hit,” Ma says. “And with the rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China...[it] made Chinese students hesitate to come to the United States to study.”
See related: China, U.S. Education, United States
Electoral Democracy and Working-Age Mortality
"Electoral Democracy and Working-Age Mortality," co-authored by University Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and social science Ph.D. student Kent Cheng, was published in The Milbank Quarterly.
See related: Longevity, U.S. Elections, United States
Silverstein Weighs In on America’s Religious Shift in New York Times Article
One of the main qualifications people seem to be looking for in their new spiritual communities is something that is less exclusionary than the denominations they were raised in. But it’s precisely the more “dogmatic” denominations and religious sects that are better able to keep adherents, says Merril Silverstein, professor of sociology.
See related: Religion, United States
Service-Connected Disability and Poverty Among US Veterans
"Service-Connected Disability and Poverty Among US Veterans," co-authored by sociologists Andrew London, Scott Landes and Janet Wilmoth, was published in "The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Disability."
See related: Disability, Longevity, U.S. Health Policy, United States, Veterans