Assistant Sociology Professor Dr. Stacy Smith has published three articles in what is some of the first Sociological work published on the COVID-19 Pandemic.
MSU Sociology PhD student Mark Suchyta has published research in Energy Research & Social Science which shows that a sense of place can predict beliefs about energy development in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale.
Dr. Aaron McCright, Department Chair and Professor of Sociology has been named one of the most highly cited researchers the world. Dr. McCright is one of 9 Michigan State University researchers to be recognized in the 2020 Highly Cited Researchers List compiled by Clarivate Analytics, and the only from the College of Social Science.
School of Human Resources and Labor Relations Associate Professor Dr. Maite Tapia and Sociology PhD student Anna Wilcoxson received a $25,000 grant from the Midwest Mobility from Poverty Network, a collaborative of universities engaged in data and analysis to improve economic mobility and reduce poverty across the Midwest, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
MSU Sociology's Drs. Ning Hsieh and Hui Liu, along with PhD student Wen-Hua (Zoey) Lai, have published a study showing lesbian, gay and bisexual people are more vulnerable to one of the fastest-growing health concerns in the country - dementia.
MSU Sociology PhD student Jihan Mohammed has published research on why the 2017 Kurdish independence referendum failed.
Dr. Tom Dietz, MSU University Distinguished Professor of Sociology, has published an article exploring what we can learn about the public responses to COVID-19 and how those lessons can be applied to global environmental crises.
Monique D.A. Kelly, MSU Sociology Dean's Research Associate, has published her research challenging long-held assumptions that marginalize race with regards to social inequality in Jamaica.
At the dawn of the 21st Century, we know more than ever that our work lives, labor markets, and seemingly local economies are integrated into a global economic system. As the leading state university and land-grant institution in Michigan, we must do all we can to provide our undergraduate and graduate students with challenging and effective learning experiences so that—whether they immediate enter labor markets and continue on with advanced training upon receipt of their degrees—we help them achieve success in fulfilling and impactful careers within the global economy.
Michigan State University Researcher Emilio Moran and Sociology Chair Aaron McCright will lead a team in the development of a convergent framework offering non-dam hydropower as a sustainable energy solution for off-grid communities while empowering and engaging residents throughout the process.
Diversity Champions epitomize unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They do this in their research and scholarly agenda, across our academic programs and at varying administrative levels. In short, “Diversity Champions” work to create a better future or world for all. Dr. stef shuster’s work in understanding transgender identity shows their contributions to recognizing LGBTQ+ communities for their distinctive gendered experiences and complexities.
Dr. Aaron McCright, Professor and Chair of Sociology, is part of a multi-disciplinary team awarded $3.2 million from the National Science Foundation to deliver renewable energy to off-grid communities.
Dr. Angela Johnson, MSU Sociology alumna, has been advocating breastfeeding and support, as well as increase health access for women and at-risk individuals.
Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, speculation about the virus’s origins has led many to question the safety and ethics surrounding worldwide wildlife trade and consumption. For example, the overcrowded and often unhygienic conditions present in wet markets have caused concern among experts for human health repercussions.
Teens who have a larger number of friends may be less likely to suffer from depression later in life, especially women, a new MSU/Duke University research study has found.
Dr. Soma Chaudhuri, Associate Professor of Sociology, is leading a team of seven interdisciplinary and international researchers to study how the COVID 19 pandemic has impacted the precarious existence of migrants in the international context. The goals of the research involve advancing theoretical and empirical scholarship in the area of migrant precarity across immigrants of different skill groups, along with developing an interdisciplinary methodological toolkit for academics and stakeholders.
MSU Sociology is proud to offer the expertise of Chair Aaron McCright and Professor Steven Gold regarding the 2020 election
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and graduate students in the Department of Sociology, I welcome you all—new and returning students alike—into our (virtual) Spartan Community!
According to Washington Monthly, Black Sociology graduates from Michigan State University are likely to receive among the highest salaries in the nation for that major. Using Department of Education data, the magazine ranked the top schools where majors were popular with Black students based on median first-year earnings. For Sociology, the rankings were Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Duke University, MSU and Georgetown (tied for fifth).
Please join us in congratulating Brittany Tucker and Mark Suchyta for successfully receiving a spring 2021 Dissertation Completion Fellowship! They each had a strong proposal, and they are well-deserving of this recognition and support.
Sociology Professor Emeritus Dr. Carl Taylor has extensive experience in field research aimed at the reduction of violence involving American youth. He has worked with communities, foundations and government agencies in understanding gangs, youth culture, and violence. Dr. Taylor has established a national reputation as an ethnographer and takes pride in having worked in some of the most isolated and distressed communities in the nation, giving him a strong understanding of the problems facing many neighborhoods in urban America.
Dr. Sarah Prior, Assistant Professor of Sociology, has published an article on "Women's Pornography Consumption, Alcohol Use, and Sexual Victimization" which explores female sexual victimization and its relationship with pornography consumption and alcohol use.
Sociology professor Amanda Flaim is leading a team of interdisciplinary researchers working to foster environmental justice in Southeast Asia with a $1 million grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Faith Bradley is joining the MSU Sociology Doctoral Program starting in Fall 2020. Faith studies systems of oppression in the food system and is interested in queer theory, intersectionality, food security, emergency food providers and the nonprofit industrial complex, and how foodwork is divided along lines of gender, race, and class.
In the newly announced Global Rankings of Academic Subjects 2020, MSU Sociology has improved 7 positions to No. 29.
Phil Hart earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in sociology in 1970 and 1974 respectively from MSU’s College of Social Science. Hart has dedicated his career to studying race in America through the lenses of sociology, urban planning, and social justice. He's authored more than 100 books and articles on race in America and has served as a leader both on campus and around the country on race-related initiatives.
Sociology Professor Sandy Marquart-Pyatt is this year’s winner of the American Sociological Association Section on Environmental Sociology’s Teaching and Mentorship Award.
In refugee camps and urban settlements throughout the Middle East and North Africa, the threat of COVID-19 is high in the minds of the non-governmental organizations. In some cases, items as simple as soap can be hard to find. In others, the volunteers themselves are scarce as fear of infection spreads.
Social science research requires innovation and critical thinking. This is why, despite only being at Michigan State University for two years, sociologist Dr. stef shuster has emerged as a campus leader studying the intersection of sexual and gender minority experiences and health.
While observing recent protests, a voice explained to me, "This is the new world order." It was a young denizen from the third city, an underground culture invisible to the mainstream. Is this the world order that I had heard of? Conspiracies and all, storm troopers, dictators, and worse. The end of democracy.
We are appalled at the recent wave of police brutality and police-involved killings of Black people across our country. We know these are not a new occurrence. We also know that the violence visited on Black and Brown people at the hands of police is but one form of a pervasive structural violence that threatens their economic livelihoods, social well-being, and physical and mental health.
MSU Sociology PhD alumni Kelly Birch Maginot (2019) and Breanne Grace (2013) both have publications in the recent journal Ethnic and Racial Studies.
I would like to offer the following thoughts on the current moment in our country’s history.
Dr. Ning Hsieh, a Michigan State University sociologist, is dedicated to knocking down barriers keeping LGBTQ+ Americans from accessing and receiving quality health care. Through exposing disparities and creating solutions, she plays an instrumental role in creating a better healthcare system for sexual and gender minorities.
Mark Suchyta has been awarded the Jane Goodall Award for Graduate Student Scholarship for his paper "Environmental Values and Americans' Beliefs about Farm Animal Well-Being." Also winning an ASA award is MSU Sociology alumnus Cameron Whitley.
How different nations and states have responded to the COVID-19 crisis and how those responses have impacted their populations are among the topics explored by a new research project by MSU Sociologists Drs. Xuefei Ren and Stephen Gasteyer.
MSU Sociology professors Drs. Ning Hsieh and stef shuster are investigating how COVID-19 is creating different kinds of risks, health concerns and coping strategies for sexual and gender minorities and comparing those risks for people of color with their white sexual and gender minority counterparts.
Dr. Cedric Taylor, who earned his PhD in Sociology from MSU in 2011, was featured in the PBS NewsMakers interview for his movie "Nor Any Drop to Drink" which follows the Flint water crisis.
Maria Isabel Ayala, Associate Professor, Sociology and Director, Chicano/Latino Studies Program, College of Social Science has been named a 2020-2021 Academic Leadership Program Fellow.
Mirzoyan's research focuses on what happens to migrants after they leave their home countries. She will be working both in Armenia and then in Los Angeles' Armenia-American communities.
In the midst of the international trend towards social isolation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are finding themselves feeling lonely. For those already struggling with loneliness, this can be an especially trying time.
Kayleigh Ward's research interests focus mainly on community development and sustainability in post-disaster communities, especially in Miyagi, Japan.
Images from the 2020 Health, Medicine and Society Forum hosted by MSU Sociology on Feb. 13, 2020. Photography by Jackie Hawthorne.
The MSU Department of Sociology is pleased to offer a wide variety of completely online summer courses for undergraduates.
This is a newly codified set of behavioral expectations in the College and a recently revised University protocol for how key units/leadership coordinate when there is a reported violation of our Policy on Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct or our Anti-Discrimination Policy.
Sociology Chair Dr. Aaron McCright has provided an update on the operation of the Department in regards to the coronavirus.
Effective at noon March 11, MSU is suspending face-to-face instruction in classroom settings and moving to virtual instruction. We are continuing to work with faculty and staff on laboratory and performance classes, and the university will provide additional guidance. This suspension of in-person classes will last until April 20.
The belief that “real men” must be strong, tough and independent may be a detriment to their social needs later in life. A study co-authored by stef shuster, Michigan State University sociologist, found that men who endorse hegemonic ideals of masculinity — or “toxic masculinity” — can become socially isolated as they age, impacting their health, well-being and overall happiness.
MSU Sociology is pleased to announce a number of awards, fellowships and accolades for our community this spring.
Since he was an undergraduate at MSU in 1970, Dr. Bill O’Hare has played an active role in the U.S. Census, the national effort every 10 years to count each person in the United States. The Census is more than just a data lover’s dream – it determines how federal taxes and Congressional seats are apportioned.
Sociologist Dr. Carl Taylor has served as a professor with the Michigan State University College of Social Science for over 15 years, and is a three-time winner of the Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award in Sociology.
The Sociology Academic Advisor will be honored at a ceremony with MSU President Stanley and Provost Sullivan on Thursday, Feb. 13.
The proposal "Whose City? Urban Redevelopment in China, India, Brazil and the U.S." was selected for $25,000 in funding.
Dr. Denton "Spud" Morrison was Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University from 1964-1990 as well as serving at the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. Prior to his death in December, 2019, Dr. Morrison had penned his own obituary to share with his colleagues and professional networks.
Dr. Xuefei Ren writes about China's response to the recent Coronavirus outbreak for The Urban Now: International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.
Announcing the 2020 Sociology Research Symposium Call for Presenters! We invite all faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students to give a five-minute TED-style talk on ongoing or completed research at our symposium April 17.
MSU Sociology is pleased to announce the hiring of a new assistant professor in our Health and Medicine signature area. Ms. Molly Copeland is currently a PhD candidate in Sociology at Duke University and expects to receive her PhD in May 2020. Her research examines how connections with others relate to health disparities through gendered processes.
The essay "Carving Out a Niche or Finding a Place at the Table? The Sociology of Transgender Studies" was published in Contemporary Sociology and highlighted by the American Sociological Association's January newsletter.
Students in the U.S. and Finland participating in a new project-based learning model are not only learning more, but becoming more engaged in class, research from Michigan State University shows.
Dr. Cameron Whitley, Sociology PhD alumnus and assistant professor of Sociology at Western Washington University has been awarded a grant from the American Sociological Association for work he will do in Uruguay.
Dr. Barbara Schneider, John A. Hannah University Distinguished Professor of Education and Sociology, is among five Michigan State University faculty who earned national recognition for their influential research in the field of education.
Three of the seven substantive papers in the current issue of Human Ecology Review are by MSU Animal Studies current or former students, two of those are Sociology PhD alums.
Dr. Denton "Spud" Morrison served as Professor of Sociology at Michigan State University from 1964-1990. As a sociologist, Dr. Morrison specialized in the study of environmental sociology, social movements and research methods.
With close family by his side, Dr. Lawrence “Larry” Busch, longtime University Distinguished Professor of Sociology, passed away in the evening of Saturday December 28, 2019 from long-term illness.
In a “Nature” cover story, Dr. Tom Dietz, Professor of Sociology and Dr. Jianguo "Jack" Liu of MSU’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability use groundbreaking methods to discover sustainability, like politics, is local.
Mohammed is travelling to Qatar for an intensive 10-day training program designed for PhD candidates and early career scholars.