Conferences
Sociology Faculty and Students at the Pacific Sociological Association Annual Meeting (April 2010)
Over spring break, the Pacific Sociological Association held its 81st annual meeting. The meeting was just an hour south, in downtown Oakland, and several faculty and students from SSU participated in a variety of sessions. Prof. Melinda Milligan served as a discussant for a session on "Urban Communities." Prof. James Dean presented his paper "Thinking Intersectionality: Sexualities & the Politics of Multiple Identities" in Sexualities Across Contexts session which he also served as presider. Prof. Sheila Katz organized and served as a discussant on two sessions: "Qualitative Research on Poverty" and "Qualitative Research on Welfare." In addition, she organized a session on "Teaching Focus Groups" in which she presented "Teaching Focus Groups to Undergraduate Sociology Majors." Also in this session, sociology majors, Jessica Muscatell and Lauren Stavish, co-presented "Perspectives on Undergraduates Learning Focus Group Methodology." In addition, Lauren Stavish presented as part of the undergraduate roundtables, at the Women's Issues session, her paper "Obstacles & Identities: The Impact of Gender & Class on Aspiring Graduate Students."
The Sociology Department at the 2009 California Sociological Association Conference (November 2009)
The 2009 California Sociological Association meetings were held in Berkeley on November 13 and 14. The SSU Sociology Department was well represented at the meeting. Students and faculty presented papers, organized sessions, and Professor Peter Phillips gave the CSA keynote address on Friday evening, titled “International Truth Emergency and Public Sociology: How Colleges and Universities Can support Media Democracy.” Professor Myrna Goodman presented on a panel about the Lower Division Transfer Pattern by Major, a project to assist community college students to prepare for study in the CSU, in which she was the discipline coordinator for Sociology. Professor Kathy Charmaz gave a presentation, "Reflecting on Doing and Teaching Qualitative Analysis" as part of the Reflections on Using Qualitative Methods in Sociology session. Professor Melinda Milligan organized a session on Emotions and Social Life where she also presented a paper “Place Attachment Revisited.” Professor Sheila Katz organized a session on the Sociology of Gender, where she also presented a paper with co-author Anita Rees of the nonprofit organization Low-Income Families’ Empowerment through Education (LIFETIME) titled “Education Works! Conducting Participatory Action Research with Mothers on Welfare.” Lauren Stavish, Senior and Sociology Club President, presented on the Sociology of Education session a paper titled “Obstacles to Women’s Post-Baccalaureate Educational Attainment.”
SSU Sociology at the 2009 American Sociological Association Meeting (August 2009)
The SSU Sociology Department was well represented at the American Sociological Association (ASA) meeting in San Francisco this past August. Both Professors Kathy Charmaz and Melinda Milligan started their executive positions in the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI) for 2009-2010. Professor Charmaz is President of SSSI and Professor Milligan is Vice-President of the society. In addition, Professor Charmaz presented a paper, “Assaults on the Life-World: Studying Chronic Illness through Grounded Theory,” at the SSSI annual meeting. Professor Milligan also presented a paper, “Balancing Emotions and Logic: Client Experiences with Home Organization Professions,” which was co-authored with Randall Precup, a SSU student, at the ASA meeting. Additionally, Dr. Milligan co-organized the ASA’s Community and Urban Sociology Roundtables, acted as a discussant on the “Cities, Communities, and Disaster” panel at the ASA, and presided and acted as a discussant on a session titled “Urban Imagery” at SSSI.
Professor Shelia Katz presented a paper at the Sex and Gender Section’s Roundtables at the ASA meeting entitled "‘My Education Means Everything to Me’: CalWORKs Mothers’ Rationales for Pursuing Higher Education.” Professor James Dean presented a paper, “Thinking Straight: Gender, Race, and (Anti) Homophobias,” at the Sexualities Section’s Roundtables. In addition, Professor Dean organized the reception for the Sociology of Sexualities section, which was held at the Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Historical Society’s exhibition space in the Castro.
SSU Sociology at the Pacifics (April 2009)
Sonoma State was well represented at the April 2009 Pacific Sociological Association meetings in San Diego, CA. Susan Garfin, Professor Emerita, gave a paper called “Graduation—at Last!” as a part of a Presidential Session on The Lives of Retired Women Professors. James Dean, Assistant Professor, presented his research in a paper on “Gays in the (Straight) Public Eye: Heterosexual Anxieties & Gay & Lesbian Media Visibility.” Ashley Rae Webster, Sociology major, discussed her paper “Boys Have a Penis & Girls have a Vagina: A Qualitative Study of Gender Constructions among Children in Informal & Formal Settings” in an Undergraduate Roundtable session. Cindy Stearns, Professor, organized and presided over two roundtable sessions and two regular paper sessions, each with the theme of the Sociology of Reproduction.
Students Excel at Santa Clara Conference (April 2009)
Two SSU Sociology majors gave research papers at the 36th Annual Western Undergraduate Research Conference at Santa Clara University on April 4, 2009. Erin Garnett (Sociology and Women’s & Gender Studies double major, Criminology and Criminal Justice minor) (pictured below) presented her paper “The (In)Visibility of Sexual Orientation in GLBT-Themed Children’s Books.” Ashley Rae Webster (Sociology and Spanish double major) (pictured right) presented her paper “Competing in Pink: Femininity in the Triathlete Community.” Professor Melinda Milligan accompanied the students to the conference. Erin and Ashley’s papers both began as research projects for senior seminar courses, Erin’s in Professor Milligan’s course and Ashley’s in Professor Cindy Stearns’ course. Both students will graduate in 2009 and plan to pursue graduate training in sociology.
Students Present at SCU Undergrad Conference (April 2007)
Three students from the School of Social Sciences presented papers on their research at the 34 th Annual Western Undergraduate Research Conference at Santa Clara University on April 21, 2007. Laura D. Chandler (Sociology and Liberal Studies-Hutchins double major) gave a paper on “The Veterinary Nurse: Co-Worker Interpersonal Cues for Emotional Labor,” Lianna Hart (Psychology and Women’s & Gender Studies double major, Sociology minor) discussed her research on “Meanings of Mothering Children with Autism,” and Jocelyn Thomas (Sociology major) presented a paper on “Not Only What, But Where: The Meaning and Placement of Tattoos.” Laura, Lianna, and Jocelyn are all graduating from SSU in Spring 2007 and all plan to pursue graduate degrees in the sociology. Professors Melinda Milligan and Andrew Roth accompanied the students to the conference as their sponsors.
Faculty and Students Participate at PSA Conference (March 2007)
The SSU Department of Sociology was well represented at the meetings of the Pacific Sociological Association in Oakland, CA in March 2007. Full-time faculty members Kathy Charmaz, Teresa Ciabattari, James Dean, Myrna Goodman, Melinda Milligan, and Andrew Roth all presented papers, as did part-time faculty members Heather Flynn and Jessica Taft and undergraduate students Laura Chandler and Lianna Hart. In addition, recent books by Kathy Charmaz (Constructing Grounded Theory, Sage London, 2006) and Peter Phillips (Impeach the President, Dennis Loo & Peter Phillips, eds., Seven Stories Press, 2006) were each the focus of Author Meets Critics sessions at the conference.