UMD Sociology

I don't know how many children 2025 Nobel Laureate Mary Brunknow has, but this AP photo caption says "one of their daughters." If she has 2 kids she just raised the mean number of children for Nobel medicine winners from 0.8 to 0.9.

Not just an attack on academic freedom and democracy, but on science and knowledge creation, too. The end of the system where experts even nominally decide on research funding and priorities, replaced with a loyalty oath.

Back when almost all births were to married couples, fascists promoted marriage and births together, like Mussolini's bachelor tax. In the US, once marriage and fertility came uncoupled circa 1980s, it was harder to muster a decent fascist profamily policy...
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It’s an exciting week for letterpress on campus! Join us Wednesday in STAMP for Constitution Day buttons and broadsides and Thursday at Hornbake, Tawes Booklab, and the Clarice for Type High Day! More to come on both of these events 🐢 #libsky #umdlibraries #umdspecialcollections #umd

A news article featuring an individual in a light blue shirt, with the headline "Collin Mueller Awarded Pilot Grant from the National Institute on Aging." The article mentions that Collin Mueller received a pilot grant as part of the newly funded Southern Population Aging Research Center. A "Read more" button is visible at the bottom.

Congratulations to Sociology faculty member Collin Mueller, who was awarded a pilot grant from the National Institute on Aging! He will work with new @socyumd.bsky.social ‬faculty member Taylor Hargrove.

Read more at go.umd.edu/muellergrant

Congratulations to Sociology faculty member Long Doan, who was selected for the 2025 cohort of the Office of Faculty Affairs' Fearless Leadership Foundations Program!

Read more at go.umd.edu/leaderdoan

Citizen Scholar | Columbia University Press What is the role of professional scholars in civic life? How and why should academics seek to reach audiences beyond their disciplines and institutions? Must... | CUP

Wow, Citizen Scholar has been selected for author-meets-critics at ASA next year. I don't get to pick critics but I can nominate them. If you would like to discuss it, are willing to do 2 hours work for a print copy, or just need a program appearance, let me know! cup.columbia.edu/book/citizen...

Headshot of a smiling person wearing glasses, a black top, and small earrings, in front of a plain gray background. Text reads: “News. Taylor Hargrove Joins the Sociology Faculty. Taylor Hargrove is joining the Department of Sociology as an Associate Professor in fall 2025.” There is also a “Read more” button.

The Department of Sociology is excited to announce the arrival of our newest faculty member, Dr. Taylor Hargrove! Associate Professor Hargrove joins us from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Learn more at go.umd.edu/hargrove

Welcome, Taylor!

🎉🎉

Congratulations to PhD candidate Neerad Deshmukh, the inaugural recipient of the Joan R. Kahn Endowed Graduate Research Support Fund, established by Professor Emerita of Sociology Joan Kahn.

Read more about his work at go.umd.edu/deshmukh

Congratulations, Neerad!

"It's going to get worse before it gets better." In a conversation with Respons, sociologist Philip N. Cohen discusses how research and politics can be united in the shadow of political developments in the United States (in Swedish) tidskriftenrespons.se/artikel/phil...

Congratulations to Dr. Amelia Branigan, who was recently promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure!

🎉🎉

More at socy.umd.edu/news/amelia-...

In the last year I have written 10 posts under the Population tag. Collect the whole set!
🧵
familyinequality.wordpress.com/tag/populati...

We're embarrassingly late to the party but congratulations to our own @philipncohen.com, recipient of this year's Kohli Foundation Infrastructure Prize for Sociology for his work with @socarxiv.bsky.social!
🎉🎉🎉

We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Katharine Khanna will be joining the department as an Assistant Professor in fall 2025! She is currently with us as a UMD President's Postdoctoral Fellow. Congratulations, Kate! More at socy.umd.edu/news/kathari...

Professor Emeritus William “Bill” Falk recently passed away last month. Read more about his many years with the Department of Sociology at socy.umd.edu/news/celebra...

What’s Lost: Trump Whacks Tiny Agency That Works To Make the Nation's Health Care Safer - KFF Health News The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has helped improve health care safety in a country where thousands die of medical errors each year. It was effectively dissolved Tuesday.

Today at UMD we had a dissertation defense that relied on data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to study health disparities. Their staff have now been gutted. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...

Declaration To Defend Research Against U.S. Government Censorship This Declaration is a call to action for the scholarly communication community and additional stakeholders to condemn and resist recent acts by the U.S. government to censor scholarly research. We ca...

Philip, this work is being censored and ppl are being erased.

Help fight 👊 back by ✒️ the DefendResearch.org Declaration to #DefendResearch from #censorship. We're over 4K strong working to educate the public on the dangers.

All welcome irresp discipline, geography:
 tinyurl.com/3bwuc38f

Don't forget to join us this afternoon for our 2025 Public Sociology Forum-- A Conversation with Dr. Philip Cohen (@philipncohen.com)!

This Friday, join us for a talk with SOCY PhD graduate Dr. SunAh Laybourn 👇

One week from today (on 3/31), we welcome Dr. Philip Cohen (@philipncohen.com) for our 2025 Public Sociology Forum. He will discuss the role of professional scholars in civic life and his recently published book, "Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists". Details below!

Distinguished University Professor Emerita Patricia Hill Collins will participate in a conversation with @safiyanoble.bsky.social
and @steelecat717.bsky.social on April 1.

Details 👇

Are Schools Succeeding? Education Department Cuts Could Make It Hard to Know At least 800 education department research employees and outside partners have lost jobs. The cuts will decimate research and data collection.

About slashing the Institute of Education Sciences, including National Center for Ed Statistics: “This is bedrock, base-line information for how our society is functioning,” said Philip N. Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland... “It’s a common language — a shared reality we all have.”

What is the role of professional scholars in civic life? How and why should academics seek to reach audiences beyond their disciplines and institutions? Must there be tension between advancing along an academic career path and taking part in public conversations, or can these goals reinforce each other? Cohen will present his new book, Citizen Scholar, a practitioner’s guide to civic engagement today, showing current and aspiring social scientists how to build a career in the public sphere. Drawing from personal experience and in-depth research, Cohen gives straightforward advice that acknowledges professional risks as well as rewards. He calls on readers to embrace the reciprocal relationship between professional scholarship and active citizenship, arguing that aligning personal and vocational identities can enhance both public and academic contributions. Citizen Scholar explores intellectual work on social media, communication on topical issues, the role of political activism, and how to build trust while developing a public intellectual identity. It features lively examples from Cohen’s own work, from data-visualization principles to his experience suing President Trump for blocking him on Twitter—and winning.

Hey, I'm giving a zoom talk on my book, Citizen Scholar, at University of Wisconsin Sociology's Politics, Culture, and Society Workshop, tomorrow at 1:30pm Eastern US time. @uwsoc.bsky.social It's open to the public at: uwmadison.zoom.us/j/9571632480...

Today is #SocialJusticeDay
In #NewPublication Yajie Xiong & Yaqiang Qi explore the bidirectional relationship between indicators of physical and mental health, and how they are affected by SES and education: bit.ly/4k4kYeh

@socyumd.bsky.social #RenminUniversity @ASAMedSo

Insights from one of the best public facing scholars @sociologistray.bsky.social @socyumd.bsky.social

YouTube video by bsosumd Conversations with Dr. Chi - Kris Marsh

Check out @socyumd.bsky.social Professor @drkrismarsh.bsky.social on the Conversations with Dr. Chi podcast by @chinyereosuji.bsky.social! 👇

youtu.be/aoh904PAbnI?...

It might be time to retire the GSS measure of ideal number of children This seems very nerdy and technical, but it’s about topics lots of people care about — birth rates and political polarization.

Since 1972, the General Social Survey has been asking, "What do you think is the ideal number of children for family to have?" It was a great question. Unfortunately, it's broken now and needs to be fixed or retired. I'll explain familyinequality.wordpress.com/2025/02/15/i...
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woman in a purple blazer leaning on a column with green trees in the background

Join us Friday, March 28, for @socyumd.bsky.social's 14th annual William Form Lecture, delivered by Dr. SunAh Laybourn. Her talk is titled "Out of Place: The Lives of Korean Adoptee Immigrants."

2:30pm, Benjamin Banneker A, Stamp Student Union

More at go.umd.edu/laybourn

"Through its actions big and small, this administration evinces a consuming attention to degrade universities, science, and education." Read @philipncohen.com on the current administration's multi-fronted assault on higher education and the pursuit of scientific knowledge.

Now available! Citizen Scholar: Public Engagement for Social Scientists by Philip N. Cohen. It features the book's cover and a blurb by Jeff Manza. 20% discount with code CUP20SM at cup.columbia.edu

Now available! CITIZEN SCHOLARS is a practitioner’s guide to civic engagement today, showing current and aspiring social scientists how to build a career in the public sphere. https://buff.ly/4gExka2 #CitizenScholars #PublicScholarship #CivicEngagement #ScholarActivism #AcademiaAndActivism