News
Sociology Program News
Sociology Major Chosen as 2012 Graduation Speaker
May 2012 — Sociology major Grecia Sanchez has received the prestigious honor of serving as the Commencement Student Speaker for UC Merced at this year's graduation ceremonies.
Sociology Student Selected for Program at Harvard University
April 2012 — Sociology major Stephanie Toledo was selected as one of five UC Merced undergraduates to participate in Harvard University's Latino Leadership Intiative this summer.
Sociology Student Wins SSHA Undergraduate Research Award
April 2012 – Rubinpreet Kaur, a sociology major, was awarded the Best Undergraduate Research Poster Award in the School of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) at UC Merced as part of the campus-wide Research Week poster competition. Her research is entitled, "Parental Social Control and Gender Differences in the Choice of a STEM Major in College." The research is in collaboration with Professor Irenee Beattie in the UCM Sociology Program.
Sociology Undergraduates Attend Regional Conference
March 2012 – The UC Merced Sociology Club sponsored the participation of 8 undergraduate students at the Pacific Sociological Association (PSA) Annual Meetings in San Diego. Students attended several professional talks, networked with peers about diverse experiences, and learned about potential graduate programs. UCM Sociology Club Officer, Anna Schoendorfer, presented her own research on the funding of higher education. The Sociology Club officers are planning to attend next year's conference in Reno, and strongly encourage all sociology majors to present their research papers.
Sociology Students Win National Scholarship
November 2011 –Two UC Merced Sociology Majors, Joselyn Delgado and Stephanie Badillo (along with Economics Major Lauriano Bucio), were awarded a national scholarship from the Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) scholarship competition for their team research on marketing within Latino Populations.
Almeida’s Paper on Local Opposition to Neoliberal Reforms Accepted for Publication
September 2011 –Almeida’s study, “Subnational Opposition to Globalization,” has been accepted for publication at Social Forces. The paper examines local variation in mobilization levels in response to neoliberal reforms in the global South.
Sociology Faculty Member Publishes Updated Version of Book in Spanish
September 2011 – Paul Almeida’s book, Waves of Protest (University of Minnesota Press, 2008), was published this month in Spanish by the Central American University (UCA) Press in El Salvador. The updated and translated edition is entitled, Olas de Movilización Popular: Movimientos Sociales en El Salvador, 1925-2010. San Salvador: UCA Editores 2011 (504 p.).
Sociology Student Presents Research at ASA Annual Meetings
August 2011 - UCM Sociology major Rafael Maravilla presented a paper entitled, "Collective Efficacy in Multiple Communities in California’s Central San Joaquin Valley" at the American Sociological Association’s 106thAnnual Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. His research was conducted while a member of the UC Merced Center of Excellence for the study of Health Disparities Undergraduate Research Training Program. Sociology Professor Simón Weffer serves as Maravilla’s advisor on the project.
Hamilton Receives Recognition from the American Sociological Association
July 2011 — Laura Hamilton has received an honorable mention from the American Sociological Association for the best dissertation in Sociology in 2010. Her dissertation is entitled, Strategies for Success: Parental Funding, College Achievement, and the Transition to Adulthood.
Almeida Awarded UC MEXUS-CONACYT Collaborative Grant
July 2011 — Paul Almeida and his Co-PI María Inclán (CIDE Mexico) have been awarded a research grant to survey political participation in Mexico.
Beattie Receives Hellman Research Award
May 2011 — Beattie's proposal, "Academic Interactions and Educational Outcomes among First Generation College Students," was chosen by the Hellman Family Faculty Research Fund, University of California ($20,000).
Sociology Students Selected for Harvard Leadership Program
April 2011 — Sociology majors Patricia Paredes and Stephanie Badillo were chosen as two of six UC Merced undergraduates to participate in Harvard University's Latino Leadership Intiative this summer.
Hamilton's Article on Marital Name Change Published in Gender and Society
April 2011 — Laura Hamilton and her co-authors (Claudia Geist and Brian Powell) recently published their article, "Marital Name Change as a Window into Gender Attitudes," in Gender and Society 25: 145-175. Using quantitative analyses from a national survey, the article shows that views on name change reflect expected sociodemographic cleavages and are more strongly linked to a wide array of other gender-related attitudes than are views regarding gendered separate spheres—even net of sociodemographic factors. The study also interlinks qualitative data to illustrate three reasons why name-change measures so effectively capture broader beliefs about gender.
Dodson Paper on the Movement Society Accepted for Publication
March 2011 — Kyle Dodson's paper, "The Movement Society in Comparative Perspective," has been accepted for publication in Mobilization. The paper examines trends in protest activity among advanced capitalist democracies and finds evidence that protest participation is increasing, suggesting social movement activity is becoming more pervasive over time.
Beattie Elected to National Office
February 2011 — Irenee Beattie was re-elected by her peers as Secretary in the Sociology of Education Association.
Kyle Dodson to join Sociology Faculty!
February 2011 — We are excited to announce that Kyle Dodson will be joining the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts (SSHA) as a sociology faculty member beginning July 2011. Dodson recently completed his Ph.D. at Indiana University-Bloomington. He studies political sociology with a focus on institutional and non-institutional political participation, voting trends, cross-national political mobilization, and quantitative research methods.
Beattie Publishes Article on Education and Women's Life Course
January 2011 — Irenee Beattie recently had her sole-authored article published, "High School and Women's Life Course: Curriculum Tracking, Race/Ethnicity, and Welfare Receipt." Journal of Poverty 15(1): 65-87.
Beattie’s Research Team Publishes Study on Teacher Satisfaction
January 2011 — Irenee Beattie and her collaborators (Linda Renzulli and Heather MacPherson Parrott) published their work entitled, "Racial Mismatch and School Type: An Examination of Teacher Satisfaction and Turnover in Charter and Traditional Public Schools."Sociology of Education 84(1): 24-38.
Undergraduates Take Initiative and Form UCM Sociology Club
November 2010 — Undergraduate majors have established a Sociology Club to support the academic and career objectives of students. Upcoming activities will be announced shortly.
Beattie Receives Funding from the Center for Teaching Excellence
October 2010 — Beattie was awarded a Faculty Mini-Grant ($5,000) from the Center for Research on Teaching Excellence, UC Merced, for her project, "Survey Research Methods: Social Interactions and Academic Opportunities Survey.
Van Dyke Publishes Edited Volume on Coalitions
August 2010 — Van Dyke (and Co-Editor Holly McCammon) published an edited book on social movement coalitions, Strategic Alliances: Coalition Building and Social Movements. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Contributors investigate coalition dynamics among social movements, including antiwar, environmental, and labor movements, as well as ethnic organizations and women's groups.
Van Dyke's Research Team Awarded Outstanding Article of the Year
August 2010 — Professor Van Dyke and her co-authors won the 2010 Outstanding Article Award from the American Sociological Association Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements for their study published in the American Sociological Review, "Culture and Mobilization: Tactical Repertoires, Same-Sex Weddings, and the Impact on Gay Activism." The article examines the wave of same sex marriages that occurred in San Francisco in the spring of 2004, using data from a survey of participants and in depth interviews with a subset of respondents. The research develops a conceptual framework for identifying cultural events that are protest actions, and then demonstrates that these cultural protest repertoires can inspire subsequent political mobilization of a more conventional form.
Beattie and Collaborators Publish Edited Book on Educational System
May 2010 — Professor Irenee Beattie (along with Richard Arum and Karly Ford) have published a second edition of their edited book, The Structure of Schooling: Readings in the Sociology of Education, 2nd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge (Sage).
Weffer Honored with Distinguished Teaching Award
May 2010 — Simón Weffer received the Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award from the Academic Senate of UC Merced.
Beattie Receives Funding for Research on Educational Outcomes
May 2010 — Beattie's project, "Inequality in the Causal Effect of High School Coursework on Educational Outcomes,"received a Faculty Research Grant and Chancellors Award ($8,083) from the Graduate Research Council of UC Merced.