Scenes from throughout Oregon

Sociology News Archive 2012-2014

    see also: School of Public Policy Faculty and Student News

    2014

    2013

    • Mary Ellen Hurley, an e-campus Sociology student, was profiled by President Ray at Commencement and on the E-campus website.
    • Roger Hammer has commented on the rise of homes in the West in a New York Times article.
    • Sally K. Gallagher just released Making Do in Damascus, an analysis of how ordinary women navigate cultural ideals around gender, religion and family obligations. Based on nearly two decades of periodic fieldwork in Damascus, she assesses how gender strategies intersect with social class in women's choices and constraints regarding education, marriage, employment, childrearing and technology.  She has recently published a piece for the Huffington Post on the crisis in Syria.

      In addition to her work in the Middle East, Professor Gallagher’s research explores the real workings of gender ideals within conservative Protestant families in a series of articles and the book, Evangelical Identity and Gendered Family Life.

    • Sociology student Elizabeth R. Gonzalez, from Madras, OR, is one of only 30 students nationwide who has been selected to participate in the first GEAR UP Alumni Leadership Academy (GUALA) in Washington, DC in June. She will be receiving training in grassroots advocacy, social media advocacy, and leadership skills during the week-long retreat.

      OSU student Elizabeth Gonzales from Madras, Oregon
      The federally funded college access and success program GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) aims to increase enrollment of low-income students. Currently, it serves ca. 700,000 low-income students across 43 states and 3 territories. Within Oregon, this means more than 5,300 students in 36 schools.

      Elizabeth hopes that her studies in sociology "can help me improve my understanding of how to work with others in achieving my goal of working with the public".

    • A small group of people at a GEAR UP conferenceThe Alumni Award for Outreach & Engagement ($100) recognizes a Sociology major who has taken their study and application of the sociological imagination and perspective outside of the classroom and out into the community.  Students who have been active in the OSU, Corvallis, and global communities were nominated by faculty for work they did applying what they have learned in their study of sociology to activities and projects outside of a specific class.  A faculty committee reviewed the nominations and selected the student whose work using sociology in the community best exemplified the spirit of community outreach and engagement for the program.

      The award recipient this year is Lauren Morgenthaler for her involvement in community service and outreach as a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Council since 2009, a volunteer at Community Outreach in Corvallis and the Blaine County School District in Idaho, and through her work organizing the OSU 40th Anniversary Celebration of Title IX.  Lauren is graduating Summa Cum Laude this spring with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Spanish.  Lauren was nominated for this award by her Sociology Honors Thesis Advisor, Professor Steven Ortiz who wrote, "Lauren has devoted a great deal of her time and selfless effort to university service and altruistic involvement in the community…[and] in doing this, Lauren has taken to heart the sociological imagination and put it into action in her community service."?

    • The WIC Culture of Writing Award in Sociology ($100)OSU WIC Culture of Writing Award winner helps to create and promote a culture of writing at the university and in the Sociology Program and provides us with an opportunity to value and recognize excellence in writing in Sociology.  Student papers were nominated by faculty and a faculty committee selected the best student paper submitted in our undergraduate WIC Sociology course (Research Design) in the 2011-2012 school year.

      The award recipient for this year is Julie VanBlokland for a research paper she wrote on how factors such as gender and race contribute to unemployment, while controlling for marital status.  Julie plans to graduate Magna Cum Laude this coming fall term with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a minor in Political Science.  Julie’s professors in the Sociology Program faculty had the following to say about her, "She comes to class not only having read and considered the readings in great detail, but she brings with her a depth of knowledge about so many other academic fields that she can readily put the reading into a larger intellectual and historical context.  She is a rare bird and everyone in my…class, including me, has been the beneficiary of her presence."?  And, “In class, she was always well prepared…and showed that extra level of insight that made me think that her peers would sometimes [wonder], "why didn't I think of that?"

    • The Faculty Writing Award ($100) is awarded each year to an undergraduate sociology major who the faculty deem to have written the best paper as part of a Sociology class.  All papers considered for the award are nominated by faculty members, are not revised after selection, and are reviewed for writing skills, understanding of sociological principles and an ability to use sociological ideas in an analysis.
      The award recipient for this year is Sara Long for the essay she wrote about her experience interning with the Benton County Parole and Probation office.  Sara plans to graduate in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with an option in Crime & Justice and a minor in Ethnic Studies.  Sara’s essay on her internship was nominated by Kathleen Stanley and was deemed "excellent"? by the faculty on the Student Awards Committee.
      • Bill Jenné was a committed teacher and scholar.  He served the OSU student body for many years and was deeply committed to the quality of education.  His commitment to excellence in teaching and education continues to be part of the culture of the Sociology Program at OSU where the faculty are committed to rigorous scholarship; but as committed to the practice of teaching.  The William C. Jenné Award for Academic Excellence ($400) is given each year in recognition of overall excellence in the sociological enterprise.  We recognize this student for her outstanding intellectual ability to use a sociological perspective, as well as her application of that perspective within the OSU, Corvallis, and global communities.

        The award recipient for this year is Megan Dearden.  Megan is graduating Magna Cum Laude this spring with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, with an option in Crime & Justice, and a minor in Business & Entrepreneurship.  She spent the summer of 2010 in Cambodia teaching English in an orphanage.  Over the past two years, Megan worked as a Case Aide for a Guardian Ad Litems and then as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in Washington State.  Megan has displayed an ability to relate her work in the classroom to her work and experiences outside of the classroom, and had shown an exceptional ability to write about all of it.  Megan has secured a job which starts in the fall; she will be teaching English to elementary and middle school children in Thailand

      2012

      • Oregon Sea Grant researcher Lori Cramer discussed the effect of disasters such as tsunamis, particularly for poor and vulnerable groups on the Oregon coast, in "Who is Most Affected by Tsunamis."