2021 Sociology Newsletter

SOCIOLOGY NEWSLETTER | Issue #6 J U N E 2 0 2 1 Meet Our New Faculty 2 Campus, the Community, and Collaboration 3 Learning From Our Campus Community 4 What Goes Around Comes Around 5 Lived Pandemic Realities: Sociological Understandings through Community and Scholarship 6 - 7 A Letter From Our Graduate Students 8 Graduate Students Staying Involved 9 Graduate Student Awards 10 2020 Graduate Degree Recipients: Where are they now? 11 Creative Collaboration: Qualitative Research Despite COVID - 19 Challenges 12 - 13 The Renamed Social Sciences and Humanities Building 14 Alpha Kappa Delta Inductees 15 Undergraduate Student Awards 16 - 17 Give to OSU 18 Contact Us 19 Dear Friends of the OSU Sociology Department: I am excited to share events of the 2020 - 21 academic year! The resilience, dedication, and creativity of our students, faculty, and staff continues to amaze me as we learn and grow though unprecedented challenges related to the pandemic. In 2020 - 2021, the name of our building was changed after years of organizing, we engaged in enhancement of and greater attention to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on campus and in our classrooms, and launched two important departmental student support initiatives. The first initiative, the ‘ Food for Thought Micro - pantry ’ is a donation - supported free food access option located in the department. Developed via faculty research on food inequality and the work of students in an Introductory Sociology course asked to apply Sociological theories and methods to address challenges of food access on campus, the micro - pantry is available to students, staff, and faculty in need of food resources and toiletry items. The second initiative offered an opportunity to award several ‘ Sociology Student Support Scholarships, ’ in addition to our yearly scholarship awards. The Sociology Student Support Scholarship uses funds from the Sociology General Scholarship to provide emergency academic financial support for Sociology majors. This year we awarded four $500 scholarships and hope to make this scholarship available to students each year. Thank you to our donors for their generous contributions! For the 2021 - 22 academic year, expect curricular revisions to meet the needs of current and future undergraduate students on our Stillwater campus and enhance offerings in the Criminology and Criminal Justice (CCJ), Environment and Society, and Social Services areas. We also anticipate a robust slate of classes and degree options as we partner with the OSU - Tulsa campus in the years ahead and strengthen our online/outreach offerings. After a brief delay, the department will collaborate with the OSU Police Department to offer “ Bridging Partnerships through Policing ” a course introducing students to the realities of modern law enforcement. An integrative and exciting addition to the CCJ area, the class sets the stage for additional innovation in course construction. Dr. Katie Constantin, who completed her PhD in Sociology from Texas A&M University, joins us this summer! Her research and teaching will enhance our existing CCJ and Social Psychology areas. Welcome Dr. Constantin! In these challenging times, we continue to be resilient. I am immensely proud of the Sociology community we are building at OSU and of our undergraduate and graduate students as they use the skills gained in our program to pursue their goals. As OSU Sociology looks forward to the next academic year, I welcome alumni to be in touch to tell us about your experiences, accomplishments, and life transitions. It is always a pleasure to hear from you! Feel free to visit our website at https://sociology.okstate.edu/ or visit us on social media. Best wishes for a wonderful summer! Tamara L. Mix Tamara L. Mix, PhD Dresser Professor and Department Head of Sociology The Department of Sociology Newsletter