MSU Sociology Associate Professor Sarah Prior is the winner of the 2026 Charles Horton Cooley Award for Distinguished Scholarship by the Michigan Sociological Association.
The award was presented to Dr. Prior by fellow MSU Sociology faculty, Dr. Jodi Yelinek who is currently the president of MSA. The Cooley Award recognizes distinguished contributions to sociological scholarship.
" Sarah's current work investigates the institutional culpability and institutional betrayal in issues related to campus sexual violence as well as campus sexual culture more broadly. In addition to her work on gender-based violence, Sarah is also cultivating a research agenda that investigates the sociology of joy, specifically joy and leadership. Her work is interdisciplinary in nature and seeks to create social change at the personal, institutional, and societal levels. As a teaching-scholar, Sarah focuses on strong and inclusive pedagogy," Yelinek said.
The presentation took place during the MSA Fall 2026 Conference "Sociology in Michigan: Understanding Society and Shaping the Future" at Grand Valley State University earlier this month.
" It is such an honor to be recognized for my scholarship. Work on gender-based violence, and campus sexual violence more specifically is relevant and important. And what a joy to be presented the award by an incredible colleague! " Prior said.
Dr. Prior presented her research "Sexual Violence and Campus Sexual Culture" in the Gendering Precarity: Sexual Cultures, Identity Legibility and Economic Exclusion" session. She also attended with several students who are part of her Campus Sexual Culture Lab. These students presented their research including:
Carolina Mercado “Analyzing How Finances Affect Belonging at MSU”
Tori Bush “Joyful Leadership in Higher Education”
Ada Tussing and Trevin Bathgate “Consent and Sexual Health Education on College Campuses”
The award is named after Charles Horton Cooley, a University of Michigan professor who taught the first class bearing the name “sociology” at UM, teaching both Principles of Sociology and Problems of Sociology in 1894‐95. Although Cooley taught out of the more established political economy department, he was instrumental in laying the groundwork for sociology at Michigan and beyond, becoming a co‐founder of the American Sociological Society and one of its early presidents.
