Sociology News & Events

"Opioids may have been the spark, but a spark needs kindling in order to ignite," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

The nation’s largest interdisciplinary organization devoted to the field of aging has chosen Janet Wilmoth, professor of sociology, as its treasurer.

Citizenship for oneself or a spouse is a motivator for immigrants, says Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology. But so is the chance to move up in the world. "The higher your socioeconomic status, the less likely you are to join the military."

"This can’t be about government doing it all. It has to be about collaboration and community cohesion. Opioids thrive on isolation. The only way to combat this problem is community," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Drug overdose rates just as with alcohol and suicide are higher in places that exhibit more economic and social distress," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

"Economic decline is certainly an important factor, but our drug, alcohol and suicide problem is also related to social decline," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion. "We live in an era of individualism, disinvestment in social safety nets, declines in social cohesion, and increased loneliness." 

"An imposed one-sided solution will have other grave consequences for America. There has been considerable security and other realms of cooperation between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority, which the U.S. government has aided. President Trump’s moves to impose a settlement will undermine such cooperation," writes Louis Kriesberg, professor emeritus of sociology.

"I would include in this funding building opportunities/outlets for social cohesion, community engagement and civic participation," says Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, on how she would spend a hypothetical budget of $100 billion to solve the opioid crisis.

The Maxwell Citizenship Initiative aims to identify common interests in citizenship issues among faculty and students throughout the school, and then to provide new avenues and support for sharing ideas and collaborating. “Our goal,” says Prema Kurien, professor of sociology and one of the founders of the project, “is to create faculty clusters based on research interests.”

"A lot of times, the adult children bring up the topic of payment," says Madonna Harrington Meyer, professor of sociology, in an interview about grandparents caring for their grandchildren.