Blog Archives

Fall 2020 - Letter from the Chair

12/16/2020

Simone Pollilo
University of Virginia

Crisis and the Medium Term

I can’t imagine I have been alone in thinking about crisis over the past few, but seemingly interminable, months—and as I write, neither can I imagine that I am alone in my inability to shake off the feeling that, whatever crisis has been averted (there will be a peaceful transition of power in the United States; a vaccine is coming…), it is not only that long-standing crises are still festering—racial justice, social equality, expansive citizenship rights, environmental protection hardly seem within reach; it is also that new crises are likely developing under our very eyes, but, to paraphrase Roux-Doufort (in Schwarz, Seeger, and Auer 2016:28), the “signals” are too weak for us to properly understand what they entail for future developments.

2 Comments

Teaching Theory at UCLA

12/15/2020

1 Comment

Should We Cancel The Core?
Rebecca Jean Emigh
Johanna Hernández
Corey O'Malley

Graduate students in our department (UCLA, Sociology) are only required to take one theory class, and the course is not required to focus on classical or contemporary theory per se. Rather, the topic is open, which allows us a great amount of freedom, clearly not open to others in which departments’ curricula demand particular content. As such, we wanted to experiment with the so-called “core” texts, trying to explore what is essential, useful, irrelevant, or biased.

1 Comment

Teaching Theory at Washington University

12/15/2020

1 Comment

On Teaching Theory in a New Department
ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD

In July 2020, Harvard Business Review published an article by Adia Harvey Wingfield reflecting on building the Washington University Sociology department from the ground up, resulting in one of the most diverse academic departments in the country only five years after its conception. We followed up with Professor Wingfield, who teaches the primary theory courses in the department, to ask how WashU Sociology's approach to a new, diverse, department affects the way they teach theory.

1 Comment

Decolonizing Theory: An Interview

12/14/2020

1 Comment

Ricarda Hammer
Brown University
Website

Can you tell us a little about your current project?
My work tells a story of modern citizenship, but from the perspective of the edges of empire. We usually think about modern citizenship as beginning with the French Revolution, as bounded by the nation state. We see it as the result of struggles of working classes, of women, seeking inclusion in the polity—and all these struggles take place within the nation. But the two cases I study, England and France, were not nation states but empires at the time.

1 Comment

Research Spotlight: Alexander C. Sutton

12/13/2020

1 Comment

Alexander C. Sutton
University of Virginia

My current research theorizes aesthetics. This pursuit of an aesthetic sociology reconstitutes how we think about the relationship between judgment, self-curation, and everyday action. Examining the creative and professional lives of contemporary American “classical” music composers, I ask: What does it mean to be an American composer in the 21st century? And, how do composer’s creative practices shape the aesthetic and professional landscape of contemporary art music in the U.S.?

1 Comment

Research Spotlight: Hanisah Binte Abdullah Sani

12/12/2020

2 Comments

Hanisah Binte Abdullah Sani
National University of Singapore
University of Michigan
Website

I am working on my book project, Sacred States and Subjects: Law, Religion and State-Building in Colonial Malaya, which examines how the colonial administration harnessed law and religion to share political power with native elites so as to govern effectively in late empire. I compare this process across four Malay states so as to refine a sociological framework for how cultural and moral systems divide and distribute power and bind – or fail to bind – state servants and subjects to their sovereign.

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Announcing a New ASA Section

12/11/2020

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THE SOCIOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND NATIVE NATIONS

The Sociology of Indigenous Peoples and Native Nations is the first section in the 115 years of the American Sociological Association that provides an official space for scholarship on Indigenous sociology. The purpose of this section is to advance scholarship to address the erasure of Indigenous Peoples within the discipline and resist the settler-colonialist foundations of sociology. In doing so, we challenge the illusion that "colonialism happens elsewhere," while still attending to decolonial struggles of Indigenous Peoples globally. The Section encourages and promotes research and teaching with, by, and for Indigenous Peoples and Native Nations. Any member of the American Sociological Association, regardless of rank or institutional affiliation, who shares these research or teaching interests is encouraged to join.

For information about the section, or ways to become involved, please contact any of the section officers.

SECTION LEADERSHIP
Chair:
Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear
University of California, Los Angeles
desisr@soc.ucla.edu

Co-Chair:
Angela Ann Gonzales
Arizona State University
aagonz31@asu.edu

Section Secretary/Treasurer:
Kari Marie Norgaard
University of Oregon
norgaard@uoregon.edu

Student Representative:
Carmela Marie Roybal
University of New Mexico
cmoral7@unm.edu

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Recent Publications

12/10/2020

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Perspectives
A NEWSLETTER OF THE ASA THEORY SECTION

Fall 2020 - Letter from the Chair

Simone Pollilo
University of Virginia

Crisis and the Medium Term

Teaching Theory at UCLA

Should We Cancel The Core?
Rebecca Jean Emigh
Johanna Hernández
Corey O'Malley

Teaching Theory at Washington University

On Teaching Theory in a New Department
ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD

Decolonizing Theory: An Interview

Ricarda Hammer
Brown University
Website

Research Spotlight: Alexander C. Sutton

Alexander C. Sutton
University of Virginia

Research Spotlight: Hanisah Binte Abdullah Sani

Hanisah Binte Abdullah Sani
National University of Singapore
University of Michigan
Website

Announcing a New ASA Section

THE SOCIOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND NATIVE NATIONS

Recent Publications

FALL 2022 Content

EDITORS

Archives

Categories

PerspectivesA NEWSLETTER OF THE ASA THEORY SECTION﻿

Simone PolliloUniversity of Virginia

Crisis and the Medium Term

Should We Cancel The Core? Rebecca Jean EmighJohanna HernándezCorey O'Malley

On Teaching Theory in a New DepartmentADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD

Ricarda HammerBrown UniversityWebsite

Alexander C. SuttonUniversity of Virginia

Hanisah Binte Abdullah SaniNational University of SingaporeUniversity of Michigan​Website

THE SOCIOLOGY OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND NATIVE NATIONS

FALL 2022 Content

EDITORS

Archives

Categories

Perspectives
A NEWSLETTER OF THE ASA THEORY SECTION

Simone Pollilo
University of Virginia

Should We Cancel The Core?
Rebecca Jean Emigh
Johanna Hernández
Corey O'Malley

On Teaching Theory in a New Department
ADIA HARVEY WINGFIELD

Ricarda Hammer
Brown University
Website

Alexander C. Sutton
University of Virginia

Hanisah Binte Abdullah Sani
National University of Singapore
University of Michigan
Website