|
Call for Papers
CONFERENCES
Association for Humanist
Sociology 1999 Annual Meeting, November 4-7,
1999, Peabody Hotel Memphis, TN. Theme: "Confronting Structures of Power:
Theory and Practice for the Twenty-First
Century." Send participation proposals
(submission form can be downloaded from the conference website) to: Dan Santoro, AHS
Program Chair, Division of Social Sciences, 104 Krebs Hall, University of
Pittsburgh-Johnstown, Johnstown, PA 15904; (814)
269-2976; fax (814) 269-7255; e-mail santoro+@imap.pitt.edu;
<http://uhavax. hartford.edu/~doane/ahs1999.htm>.
The Business and Professional
Women's Foundation, the Center for Working
Families at the University of California-Berkeley, and the Sloan Foundation,
Conference, March 3-4, 2000, Cathedral Hill Hotel,
San Francisco, CA. Theme: "Work and Family: Expanding the Horizons." Submitted
proposals should represent original work and should not be previously published. For
a copy of the full call for papers, which includes submission requirements
(submissions must be postmarked by September 30, 1999), registration forms, and hotel
information contact: Jennifer Miller, Business and Professional Women's
Foundation, (202) 293-1100, x190; e-mail jmiller@ bpwusa.org. Check the conference
website <http://www.bpwusa.org/foundation/horizons.html>.
Eighth International
Conference, December 27-31, 1999, Hebrew University,
Jerusalem, Israel. Theme: "Holocaust Studies
at the Millenium." Abstracts due September 15, 1999. Contact: Bernard Klein,
History Department, Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Boulevard,
Brooklyn, NY 11235; (718) 368-5417; fax (718) 368-4654.
Georgia Political Science
Association Meeting, February 25-26, 2000, Hilton
Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC. Theme: "Democracy in the
21st Century: New Challenges and New Opportunities." All
scholars wishing to submit proposals for papers and/or panels should send their
requests by September 15, 1999, to Michael J.
Baun, Department of Political Science, Valdosta State University, Valdosta, GA 31698;
(912) 259-5082; e-mail mbaun@valdosta.edu.
Georgia Sociological
Association 1999 Annual Conference, November 11-13,
1999, Jekyll Island Club Hotel, Jekyll Island, GA. Theme: "Honoring the Past; Imagining
the FutureSociologically." Please send
general proposals to: Leona Kanter, Department of Sociology, Ogburn Hall,
Mercer University, Macon, GA 31207; (912) 752-2937; e-mail kanter_l@mercer.edu.
International Women's Conference, February 27-March 03, 2000, New Delhi,
India. Theme: "Women's Status: Vision And Reality-Bridging the East and the West."
Abstracts of no more than 300 words must be submitted by October 15, 1999.
Contact: International Women's Conference, McMaster University, 1200 Main St.
W., HSC 3N28; Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8N 3Z5; fax (905) 521-8834;
e-mail iwc@fhs.mcmaster.ca.
Moscow State Linguistic University First International Conference, November
25-26, 1999, Moscow, Russia. Proposed Discussion Points: "Gender as Sociocultural
Phenomenon; " "Text and Discourse: Gender
Analysis;" "Translation In Gender
Research;" "Gender As Biosocial
Phenomenon: Psycholinguistic Approach." Submit
your applications and presentation abstracts on a floppy disc (Word 6.0/95 or RFT) and
a printout, one page 1.5 spaced by September 25, 1999 at the latest. Free
publication of abstracts will be provided. Contact
address: Alla V. Kirilina, 38 Ostozhenka, Moscow 119837, Russia; tel/fax (095)
246-2807; e-mail gender.mglu@ gmx.net. <http://www.gendermglu.da.ru>.
National Association for Women in
Education, 13th Annual International Conference on Women in Higher Education,
January 8-11, 2000, Hotel Inter-Continental, New Orleans, LA. Academic paper
presentations highlighting research findings will
comprise the majority of the conference. NAWE also supports panel discussions,
workshops, interactive and joint sessions. Submissions by students are welcome. All
proposals must be postmarked by Thursday, September 30, 1999. Contact: NAWE:
Advancing Women in Higher Education, 1325
18th Street NW, Suite 210, Washington, DC 20036-6511; e-mail Nawe@nawe.org. <http://www.nawe.org>.
New England Sociological
Association 1999 Fall Conference, November 6,
1999, Northeastern University. Theme: "The Sociology of Hate." Proposals are invited
for papers, sessions, roundtable discussions, and other presentations. Deadline for
submission of proposals is September 24, 1999. Contact: Michael Fraleigh, P.O. Box
1063, Bryant College, 1150 Douglas Pike, Smithfield, RI 02917-1284; (401) 232-6317;
e-mail mfraleig@bryant.edu.
Pacific Sociological Association
71st Annual Meeting, March 23-26, 2000, San
Diego, CA. Theme: "Expanding Sociological Horizons in the
21st Century." Deadline for paper submissions is October 15, 1999.
Contact: Michael Blain, 2000 Program Chair, Department of Sociology, Boise State
University, Boise, ID 83725; (208) 426-1346; fax (208) 426-2098; e-mail
Mblain@ boisestate.edu.
Society for Military History Conference, April 28-30, 2000, Marine Corps
University, Quantico, VA. Theme: "Korea 1950 and
400 Years of Limited War." The Marine Corps University will host the SMH Conference and seeks proposals for papers and for
panels. Proposals to be considered should be no more than one page in length and
mailed to the address below no later than November, 1999. Contact: Gordon Rudd, SMH
2000 Coordinator, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Marine Corps University,
2076 South Street, Quantico, VA 22134.
University of Oregon Conference,
February 28-March 1, 2000. Theme: "Work, Welfare and Politics." Submit abstracts
between 250-500 words, including name and affiliation, title of the paper, description of
the contents, and an indication of the research (or other sources of information and
expertise on which the paper will be based). Proposals must be submitted by August 9,
1999 to: Terri Heath, Conference Coordinator, Center for the Study of Women in
Society, 340 Hendricks Hall, 1201 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1201.
PUBLICATIONS
Black Sexuality and the Dialectic of
Desire. Editor seeks intelligent,
readable, thoughtful perspectives for an edited
volume of essays. Will explore a wide dimension of Black sexual culture: the histories, identities, sociopolitical conditions,
health issues, folkways and wisdom, myths and stereotypes, practices and taboos,
education and development, and diverse
orientations (gay/lesbian/bi/transgendered) of
peoples of African descent. Particularly
interested in Africentric approaches in research,
scholarship and therapeutic treatment; personal narratives (cultural reflections, coming
of age, coming out, healing, etc.); and examinations of African, European,
Caribbean, and other Black populations outside the U.S. Original and previously
published works will be considered; no fiction,
poetry, or erotica. Scholarly and intellectual
contributions are welcomed, provided they are written (or author is willing to revise)
in language and vocabulary accessible to a non-academic reading audience.
Send typed, double-spaced manuscripts of 7500 words (30 pages) or less in hard copy, a
brief biographical statement, and stamped, self-addressed envelope. Presently seeking
a publisher for this volume. Preliminary deadline of July 1, 1999 will review
pieces to include in a book proposal package. For all other contributions, the deadline for
submission is October 1, 1999. For questions, contact editor: Sandra Jackson-Opoku, Fiction Writing Department, Columbia
College, 600 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60605; e-mail sopuku@earthlink.net.
Impoverished Working/Welfare Class
and the Academy. We are currently seeking
submissions for a book length edited collection of narratives of, and theories about,
impoverished working/welfare class students and higher education. We are particularly
interested in the following topics: stories from poor single mothers accessing
undergraduate and/or graduate education; stories
from impoverished working or welfare class students; theories of American working
and/or welfare class identity; theories demarcating the differences between working
and welfare class; contemporary American theories of class identity; and experiences of
and theories about teaching class and class consciousness in the academy. Deadline
for abstracts: September 30, 1999. Send abstracts and completed papers by mail
or electronic submission to: Vivyan Adair, Women's Studies, Hamilton College,
198 College Hill Road, Clinton, NY 13323; e-mail vadair@ hamilton.edu.
Journal of Interdisciplinary
Studies. Theme: "Ethics and Faith: The Reality of
Absolutes." Deadline January 1, 2000. Send three both-sided copies of: 15-25
page manuscript plus 150-word abstract, typed, double-spaced, in-text citation format,
author identification on a separate sheet. For more information contact: JIS Editor,
Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, 1065 Pine Bluff Dr., Pasadena, CA 91107-1751.
The Journal of International
Women's Studies is a new on-line publication of
the Susan B. Anthony Women's Center at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
in North Adams, MA. The journal is being initiated to provide a forum for
researchers, activists and students to discuss the relationship between feminist theory
and various forms of organizing. The journal seeks both multidisciplinary and
cross-cultural perspectives, and invites
submissions in the form of scholarly articles,
student papers, and literary pieces. Submissions should be kept under 15 pages,
double-spaced. The journal will be published twice a year, beginning in October 1999.
Contact: Diana Fox, Director, Susan B. Anthony Women's Center, Massachusetts College
of Liberal Arts, 375 Church Street, North Adams, MA 01247; (413) 662-5181;
e-mail womenctr@mcla.mass.edu.
Media History, an international,
interdisciplinary peer-review journal that
addresses media and society from the fifteenth century to the present, invites submissions
for a special issue on Women's Magazines. Submissions for the Special Issue may
address any aspect of any kind of periodical(s)
for women. The deadline for submissions has been extended to November, 1999.
Submissions or any questions may be directed to: Amy Aronson, U.S. Editor, Media History, 487
13th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215; email AmyAronson@aol.com.
Research in Social Problems and
Public Policy (JAI Press) is requesting
submissions for Volume 9 (2000), a special issue on
the organizational response to social problems. We encourage research-based articles
with a solid theoretical foundation. Social problems addressed could include crime
and violence, physical and mental illness, poverty, conflict involving gender or
ethnicity, and school performance. The
organizational responses could range from
inter-organizational networks, information
technology, and privatization to case management
or consumer empowerment. Manuscripts should be about 30 pages in length,
double-spaced, and formatted according to the ASA Style Guide. Send two copies with bio
and abstract by December 30, 1999 to guest editors Russell Schutt or Stephanie
Hartwell, Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Boston, MA
02125-3393; e-mail russell.schutt@umb.edu or stephanie.hartwell@umb.edu.
Research in the Sociology of
Organizations is pleased to announce the publication of
a special issue dedicated to the study of social capital in the context of
organizations. In this issue we are interested in papers
that explicitly address the positive and/or negative effects of intra- and inter-
organizational social networks on organizations.
We are specifically interested in papers that study how social networks translate
into organization level (positive and/or negative) outcomes. While RSO has a
tradition of publishing articles which are both
longer and more conceptual than those found in the mainstream journals, standard
journal length and strictly empirical papers will
be considered as well. We are explicitly interested in both theoretical and empirically oriented papers. All manuscripts will be subjected to double blind review. For
more information and relevant references on the topic see
<http://ie.technion.ac.il/Home/Users/smg.phtml>. Researchers
interested in submitting a manuscript for consideration should ubmit four double-spaced
copies of their manuscript by November 1, 1999 to: Shaul M. Gabbay, Davidson Faculty
of Industrial Engineering, Technion, Haifa 32000, Israel. Those interested in
discussing possible submissions can contact the editors at e-mail smg@ie.technion.ac.il
or R.T.A.J.LEENDERS@BDK.RUG.NL.
The War in Our
Schools is seeking submissions for a forthcoming edited volume
focusing on schools/schooling as a context for violence. Potential contributors
should send a vita, an abstract or completed paper to: John Kovach, Department of
Sociology and Anthropology, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA 19530; fax (610)
683-4246; email: kovach@kutztown.edu.
Women's Community Activism and
Globalization: Linking the Local and Global for Social
Change. We seek submissions about the links between local
organizing efforts, social movements,
international politics, and global economic
restructuring. Areas of special interest include
environmental activism, struggles against violence against women, labor organizing,
economic development, indigenous rights' activism among other community-based
political activism. We welcome submissions from community activists as well as
academics and development workers. Send the title
of your paper, name, full address, e-mail and phone number, an abstract of
approximately 300 words, and a copy of the paper (if available). Deadline for proposals:
August 15, 1999. Deadline for completed papers: December 31, 1999. Contact: Nancy
A. Naples, Sociology and Women's Studies, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697; (949) 824-5749; fax (949)
824-4717.
Meetings
August 2-4, 1999. National Conference on Health
Statistics, Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC. Theme: "Health in
the New Millennium: Making Choices, Measuring Impact." Contact: Barbara
Hetzler, NCHS, 6525 Belcrest Road, Room 1100, Hyattsville, MD 20782-2003; (301)
436-7122; fax (301) 436-4233. <www.cdc.gov/nchswww>.
August 5, 1999. Group Processes
Conference, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL.
Theme: "New Horizons and Expanding
Domains." Contact: Mary Glenn Wiley, Academic
Affairs, University of Illinois-Chicago (m/c 745), 601 S. Morgan, Chicago, IL
60607-7126. <http://www.uic.edu/~mgwiley/groupconf>.
August 12-14, 1999. Association for the
Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE) Ninth Annual
Meeting, Biltmore Hotel, 1200 Anastasia Avenue, Coral Gables, FL. Contact:
Jorge Pérez-López, ASCE Program
Committee Chair, 5881 6th Street, Falls Church, VA 22041; (703) 379-8812;
e-mail perezlop@erols.com.
August 18-21, 1999. International Society
for Intercommunication of New Ideas, Fifth International
Congress, Mexico City, Mexico. Contact: Edgar Ortiz, Program Chair,
Apartado 21-712, Col Coyoacan, Del Coyoacan, 04000 Mexico, D.F.; (525) 658-1949; fax (525)
658-1949; e-mail edgaro@servidor.unam.mx.
August 20-24, 1999. American
Psychological Association 107th Annual
Convention, Boston, MA. Contact: Pam Wilenz, APA Public
Affairs Office, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242; (202) 336-5707;
e-mail pwillenz@apa.org.
October 8-10, 1999.
Lamaze International Annual Conference, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Theme: "The Mosaic of
Birth." Contact: Linda Harmon, Executive
Director; (202) 857-1128 or (800) 368-4404. Visit the Lamaze website
<www.lamaze-childbirth.com>.
October 14-17, 1999. University of
Chicago Center for Gender Studies International
Conference, University of Chicago. Theme:
"Politics, rights, And Representation:
Gender, Racial, and Sexual Equality in The United States, France, and South Africa."
Contact: Center for Gender Studies, Judd Hall,
5835 Kimbark, Chicago IL 60637; fax (773) 834-2000; e-mail org-cgs@uchicago.edu. For
a more detailed description of the conference see <http://humanities.
uchicago.edu/cgs/>
October 29-30, 1999. California
Sociological Association, Tenth Annual Meeting,
Berkeley Marina Radisson. Theme: "Work and
Leisure in the New Millennium." Keynote speakers: Robert N. Bellah and
Scott Coltrane. Contact: Program Chair Carole Barnes, Department of Sociology,
California State University, Sacramento, CA 95810-6005; (916) 278-5737;
e-mail cwbarnes@csus.edu.
November 10-12, 1999.
National Social Science Association Fall Conference,
St. Louis, MO. Contact: NSSA St. Louis Meeting,
2020 Hills Lake Drive, El Cajon, CA 92020-1018; (619) 448-4709; fax (619) 258-7636;
e-mail natsocsci@aol.com.
November 20-22, 1999.
International Conference on Socio-Cultural and Policy
Dimensions of Health Care, Singapore. Contact:
Conference Co-Chair Stella Quah, Department of Sociology, National University
of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260; e-mail
socquahs@ nus.edu.sg or Conference Secretariat,
(65)-874-4989; fax (65)-779-1489; e-mail cofsec@nus.edu.sg.
March 2-4, 2000. The Rhetoric(s) of
Masculinity, Seville, Spain. Contact: Carolina Sanchez-Palencia
(csanchez@siff.us.es); Juan Carlos Hidalgo
(jhidalgo@siff.us.es); Departamento de Literatura Inglesa
y Norteamericana, Universidad de Sevilla, C/. Palos de la Frontera, s/n,
E-41004 Sevilla, Spain; fax 954551552.
April 6-8, 2000.
6th Qualitative Health Research
Conference, International Institute for Qualitative Methodology, Banff Conference
Centre, Banff, Alberta, Canada. Contact: Janice Morse, International Institute for
Qualitative Methodology, 6-10 University Extension Centre,
University of Alberta, 8303-112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2T4, Canada; e-mail qualitative.institute@ ualberta.ca. Website
<www.ualberta.ca/~iiqm>.
April 14-15, 2000. The Color of Violence:
Violence Against Women of Color Conference, University of California-Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz, CA. Contact: Andrea Smith, 123 Felix Street, #4, Santa Cruz, CA 95060; (831)
460-1856; e-mail andysm@cats.ucsc.edu.
April 14-15, 2000. State University of
New York-Buffalo Graduate School of Education in conjunction with the Institute for Research
and Education on Women and Gender (IREWG), National
Conference, The Adams Mark Hotel, Buffalo, New York. Theme:
"Urban Girls: Entering the New Millennium."
Contact: Urban Girls Conference, Graduate School of Education, State University
of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260.
April, 2000. Fernando Ortiz Symposium
on Cuban Society and History, Queens College and Graduate School, City University
of New York, Flushing, NY. Contact: Cuba Project/Ortiz Symposium, Queens
College, Kissena Hall 217, 65-30 Kissena
Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11367; e-mail font@troll. soc.qc.edu; Full description of
symposium and other material will be available in
an upcoming webpage. <http://www. soc.qc.edu/procuba>
May 4-6, 2000. North American Conference
on Sexual Exploitation, Grant MacEwan Community College (GMCC), in
conjunction with the Prostitution Awareness and
Action Foundation of Edmonton (PAAFE), Crossroads Outreach Services, Catholic
Social Services SafeHouse, Edmonton Police Service, Grove Plaza Medical
Poundmakers' Lodge, Recovery Counseling Services,
in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Theme: "Answers and Action: Healing Sexual
Exploitation and Prostitution." Contact: Genevieve Jones, Grant MacEwan
Community College, (780) 497-5717; e-mail a2a2000@gmcc.ab.ca.
June 15-19, 2000. XIth International Oral
History Conference, Istanbul, Turkey. Theme: "Crossroads of History:
Experience, Memory, Orality." Contact:
Organizing Committee c/o Arzu Ozturkmen, XIth International Oral History
Conference, Bogazici Universitesi, Tarih Bolumu
Bebek, 80815 Istanbul, Turkey; +90-212-263 1540, ext. 1544; fax +90 212 257 5017;
e-mail ozturkmen@boun.edu.tr; enquiries to e-mail neyzi@sabanciuniv.edu.tr.
June 28-July 1, 2000.
Head Start's Fifth National Research
Conference, Washington, DC. Theme: "Developmental and
Contextual Transitions of Children and Families:
Implications for Research, Policy and Practice." Contact: Faith Lamb-Parker,
Project Director, Columbia School of Public Health/CPFH, 60 Haven Avenue B3,
New York, NY 10032; (212) 304-5251; fax (212) 544-1911; e-mail
fLp1@coLumbia.edu.
<http://www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/hsb> or
<http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/sph/popfam.headstartconf.html>.
Funding
American Philosophical Society, Research Programs. All information, and forms,
for all of the Society's programs can be downloaded from our website,
<http://www.amphilsoc.org>. Click on
"research grants" on the homepage. Grants are
for research only. Eligibility: Applicants may be residents of the United States,
American citizens on the staff of foreign
institutions, or foreign nationals resident abroad,
whose research can only be carried out in the United States. Grants are made to
individuals; institutions are not eligible to
apply. Specific requirements are given under each listing. If forms cannot be downloaded
from the website, they may be requested by mail. Contact: Committee on Research,
American Philosophical Society, 104 South 5th
Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106; (215) 440-3429;
e-mail eroach@amphilsoc.org; include a postal address.
National Humanities
Center, 2000-2001Fellowships. Up to 40 residential
fellowships are being offered for advanced study in
all fields of the humanities. Applicants must hold a doctorate or equivalent
credentials and have a record of publication. Both
senior and younger scholars are eligible for fellowships, but the latter should be
engaged in research well beyond the subject of their doctoral dissertations.
Humanistically inclined individuals from the natural and social sciences, the arts, the professions, and public life may also apply. The
average stipend is $35,000, with a few available
up to $50,000. In addition to stipends the Center provides travel expenses for Fellows
and dependents to and from North Carolina. Contact: Fellowship Program,
National Humanities Center, P.O. Box 12256, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2256;
e-mail nhc@ga.unc.edu. Applicants submit the Center's forms, curriculum vitae, a
1,000-word project proposal, and three letters of recommendation. Applications and
letters of recommendation must be postmarked by October 15, 1999.
<http://www.nhc.rtp. nc.us:8080>.
Rockefeller Humanities
Fellowships. Program for the Study of Sexuality,
Gender, Health and Human rights at Columbia University. The Program invites
applications from scholars, advocates, and activists conducting innovative
interdisciplinary work on the intersecting themes of
sexuality, gender, health and human rights in U.S. and international contexts. The focus is
on examining and expanding traditional definitions and boundaries, while
acknowledging conditions of inequality,
marginality, and post-coloniality. Fellows will receive
a stipend, access to libraries, computer facilities, office space and equipment, as well
as health insurance. Applicants should have the PhD or an equivalent level of
professional achievement, experience, and publication at time of application.
Application deadline: January 15, 2000. For further
information and application, contact: Program for the Study of Sexuality,
Gender, Health and Human rights, Division of Sociomedical Sciences, Joseph L.
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 600 West 168
Street7th floor, New York, NY 10032; (212) 305-5656; fax
(212) 305-0315; e-mail rock-sms-sph@columbia. edu;
<http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/gender>.
Social Science Research Council,
Sexuality Research Fellowship Program.
Provides dissertation and postdoctoral support ($28,000 and $38,000 respectively) for
social and behavioral science research on sexuality. Joint application from fellow
applicant and research advisor/associate required. Applications for academic year 2000-01
are due by December 15, 1999. For more information write: Sexuality Research
Fellowship Program, Social Science Research Council, 810 Seventh Avenue,
31st Floor, New York, NY 10019; e-mail srfp@ssrc.org.
United States Institute of
Peace invites applications for the 2000-2001 Senior
Fellowship competition in the Jennings Randolph Program for International
Peace. The Institute funds projects related to preventive diplomacy, ethnic and regional
conflicts, peacekeeping and peace operations, peace settlements, post-conflict
reconstruction and reconciliation, democratization and the rule of law, cross-cultural
negotiations, U.S. foreign policy in the 21st
century, and related topics. Fellows reside at the
Institute for a period of up to ten months to conduct research on their projects,
consult with staff, and contribute to the ongoing work of the Institute. Projects should
demonstrate relevance to current policy debates. The fellowship award includes a
stipend, an office with computer and voicemail,
and a part-time research assistant. The competition is open to citizens of all
nations. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. All application
materials must be received in our offices by September 15, 1999. For more information
and an application form, please visit the Institute's website at <www.usip.org>,
or contact the Jennings Randolph Program, U.S. Institute of Peace, 1200
17th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036-3011;
(202) 429-3886; fax (202) 429-6063, e-mail jrprogram@usip.org.
United States Institute of
Peace invites applications for the 2000-2001 Peace
Scholar dissertation fellowship competition of the Jennings Randolph Program for
International Peace. The Peace Scholar program supports doctoral dissertations that
explore the sources and nature of international
conflict, and strategies to prevent or end conflict and to sustain peace. Dissertations
from a broad range of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields are eligible. Peace
Scholars work at their universities or appropriate field research sites. Priority will be given
to projects that contribute knowledge relevant to the formulation of policy on
international peace and conflict issues. Citizens of
all countries are eligible, but must be enrolled in an accredited college or university in the United States. Applicants must have
completed all requirements for the degree except the dissertation by the
commencement of the award (September 1, 2000). The
dissertation fellowship award is $14,000 for one year and may be used to support
writing or field research. All application materials must be received in our offices by
November 15, 1999. For more information and an application form, please visit
the Institute's website at <www.usip.org>,
or contact the Jennings Randolph Program, U.S. Institute of Peace, 1200
17th Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036-3011;
(202) 429-3886; fax (202) 429-6063, e-mail jrprogram@usip.org.
Wesleyan University, Andrew W.
Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cultural Studies. One fellow will be appointed for
the academic year 2000-2001 to the Wesleyan University Center for the Humanities.
In 2000-2001 the Center will focus on cultural studies with the themes "Reconsidering
the Twentieth Century" (Fall) and
"Performance" (Spring). The fellow will teach
one seminar for undergraduates and will participate in the Center's
interdisciplinary program of lectures and colloquia.
Candidates must have received their PhD within the last four years and must demonstrate
a strong interdisciplinary interest. The award carries an annual stipend of $31,000
plus $500 to support research. Completed applications must be postmarked by
November 15, 1999. Contact: Application
Coordinator, Center for the Humanities, Wesleyan
University, Middletown, CT 06459-0069.
Competitions
American Psychological Association invites nominations for the New
Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, recognizing
outstanding mid-career research in positive psychology. Four prizes, totaling
$110,000, will be given out. Relevant work in all
social sciences will be considered. Criteria includes extraordinary talent as a
researcher, communicator of ideas, and an
altruistic passion to make a substantial
contribution to the benefit of others through research
of the highest quality or scientific rigor. The application deadline is October 1.
Visit <www.apa.org> for details.
Iowa State University. The
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics invites nominations for the annual
Carrie Chapman Catt Prize for Research on Women and Politics, designed to
encourage and reward scholars embarking on significant research in the area of women
and politics. The prize includes a $1,000 cash award and travel expenses to Des
Moines, Iowa, where awards will be presented October 8-10, 1999 during the seventh
annual conference of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center. Scholars at any level,
including graduate students and junior faculty members, can apply. Applicants should
submit, by July 1, 1999: a detailed description of
the research project, including its goals, its relationship to previous work in the field,
the methodology employed, and a timetable for completion; a cover letter outlining
the researcher's professional interests and experiences related to the project
providing mailing addresses and phone numbers; and a current curriculum vita. Awards will
be announced by September 10, 1999. Send materials to: Dianne Bystrom, Director,
Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics, 309 Carrie Chapman Catt
Hall, Ames, IA 50011-1305; (515) 294-3181; fax (515) 294-3741; e-mail cattcntr@iastate.edu.
In the News
Daniel Bell, Harvard University, was one of the keynote speakers at the
symposium celebrating the 20th anniversary of
the Suntory Foundation in Tokyo, Japan, April 22. The symposium was broadcast
nationally by NHK, a leading broadcasting system in Japan.
Linda M. Blum, University of New
Hampshire, had her new book, At the Breast: Ideologies of Breastfeeding and Motherhood in
the Contemporary United States, featured in
the May 22 New York Times "Arts and
Ideas" page.
Lee Clarke, Rutgers University. His
book, Mission Improbable: Using Fantasy
Documents to Tame Disaster, was featured in
Richard Morin's Washington Post column, "Unconventional Wisdom," on May 16.
Abby L. Ferber, University of
Colorado-Colorado Springs. Her article, "White,
Jewish, Other" appeared in the May 7 issue of
The Chronicle of Higher Education. She was also interviewed about the white
supremacist movement and her new book on Los Angeles NPR, March 9.
Lori Girshick, Warren Wilson College,
was on "Conversations," for WCQS, a local
NPR station for discussion about women in prison and alternatives to incarceration
on May 12.
Michael Kimmel, SUNY-Stony
Brook, wrote a letter to the editor on the
Littleton, Colorado killings that appeared in the
May 6 New York Times.
Rebecca E. Klatch, University of
California-San Diego, was interviewed and quoted
in the June 6 The Sacramento Bee about
"Faith a Rising Factor in Presidential Bids:
Candidates Flirt with Church-State Barrier," a
discussion of how religion and politics are influencing the presidential campaign.
Harvey Molotch, University of
California-Santa Barbara and London School of Economics, co-wrote and served as
presenter on a BBC documentary "New York
Cleans Up," the first in a three-part series of
programs on world cities shown on British television.
Marcy Musgrave, Texas A&M
University undergraduate Sociology major and MOST student, wrote an opinion piece for the
Dallas Morning News, May 2. Her piece,
titled "Generation Has Some Questions,"
concerns the Columbine shootings and her reflections on values and childrearing
practices. Brad Knickerbocker, a writer for the
Christian Science Monitor, then picked up
the piece and incorporated it into a larger story which appeared May 25.
Mark Oromaner, Hudson County
Community College, NJ, published an Opinion Piece in
The Community College Times.
Brian Powell, Indiana University,
was quoted about the effects of sibling spacing in
Newsweek, May 17.
J. Steven Picou, University of South
Alabama, was quoted on the social, cultural, and psychological impacts of the
Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska by the
Dallas Morning News, March 14; Inquirer
Magazine, March 7; USA Today, March 4;
USA Today, March 22; Anchorage Daily
News, March 22; and the April Men's
Journal.
Mark D. Regnerus, Christian Smith,
and David Sikkink, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, were featured in a May
1 New York Times article which explored whether a relationship existed between
religiosity and attitudes towards the poor.
Barbara Katz Rothman,
CUNY-Baruch College, was quoted related to her work
on Genetic Maps and Human Imaginations in
the New York Times magazine, May 17.
Art Shostak, Drexel University. The
magazine Fast Company featured a synopsis of
his thinking about a new form of labor organization, a CyberUnion, in its May issue. John Torpey, University of California-Irvine, was interviewed on KFWB radio
in Los Angeles about the fate of the Kosovar refugees and the consequences of their
loss of identification documents.
Barbara Vinick, Boston University and
Veterans Administration, was quoted in The Christian Science
Monitor and USA Today, May 5, and The Boston
Herald, May 6, about her research on older stepfamilies.
John Zipp, University of Akron,
was quoted in the January 31 Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel on the impact on fans' viewing habits of not having a team in the Super
Bowl. His research on the economic impact of professional sports was quoted in the
Lakeland (FL) Ledger, March 22 and the Bradenton
(FL) Herald, March 1. He was interviewed by CNBC's Business Center on March 18, 1999.
Awards
Ronald M. Andersen, University of California-Los Angeles, was awarded an
honorary doctorate of social sciences degree by Purdue University on May 15.
Sandra L. Barnes, Georgia State
University PhD student, received a two-year
Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development. Her dissertation is entitled,
"Attitudes, Behavior, and Social Networks in Poor Urban Neighborhoods: The Impact
of Structural Constraints, Culture, and Individual Choice."
William Brustein, University of
Minnesota, was one of 25 faculty selected to be a
member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.
Chandler Davidson, Rice University,
was awarded one of the six George R. Brown prizes for superior teaching given
annually to faculty members.
Elisabeth Gabriel, Rice University
graduating senior, was awarded a Watson fellowship to study in Spain next year.
Doug Hartman, University of
Minnesota, received one of the President's 1999
Faculty Multicultural Research Awards for his research on the impacts of the 1968
African American Olympic Protest movement on the sporting establishment and
American culture. His project is called "Golden
Ghettos, Part II." Jeremy Staff (sociology
graduate student) and John Gipson
(undergraduate) served as his research assistants on
the project. He also was recently awarded a CURA (Center for Urban and Regional
Affairs) grant to continue his research into the politics and policies of Midnight
Basketball programs in the U.S.
Won Moo Hurh, Western Illinois
University, received the 1999 Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award for outstanding
scholarly and professional activities.
Jerome Krase, CUNY-Brooklyn
College, was selected as the Murray Koppleman Professor for the 1999-2001 academic
years. He was also elected department chair by his colleagues for 1999-2002.
Richard Leo, University of California-Irvine, received the Young Scholar
Award from the American Society of Criminology.
Elizabeth Long, Rice University,
received the Julia Miles Chance teaching award given annually by the Rice Commission
on Women.
William C. Martin, Rice University,
received the Rice student association's Annual Mentoring Award.
Craig Reinarman, University of
California-Santa Cruz, received the 1999 Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for Achievement in
the Field of Scholarship from the Drug Policy Foundation.
Joachim Savelsberg, University of
Minnesota, was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award by the CLA (College of Liberal
Arts) Board for his dedication to students and his exemplary teaching ability.
P. Brad Smith, Indiana University,
received the University-wide Lieber Award for outstanding graduate student instructor.
Regina Werum, Emory University,
received a National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship for
the academic year 1999/2000. She was also recipient of a Spencer Foundation Small
Research Grant for next academic year.
The following students and faculty from
the University of Minnesota were honored by the Sociology Research
Institute: Myra Gomez, Graduate Student Research
Excellence Award; Ryan King, Undergraduate
Research Excellence Award; Erik Larson, Outstanding Graduate Student
Instructor Award; Mark McCrory, Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching
Assistant Award; Kathryn Flynn and Ryan
King, Outstanding Undergraduate Student Teaching Assistant Award;
Sabrina Osterle and Mary Drew, Outstanding
Service Award; Elizabeth Boyle, Reuben Hill
Award; Sharon Preves and Monica
Johnson, Don Martindale Award; Lori Schabo
Grabowski and Hui Niu, Anna Welsch Bright Memorial Research
Award; Elizabeth Boyle, Faculty Mentoring Award.
The Spencer Foundation announced the
1999 Spencer Dissertation Fellows for Research Related to
Education: Cynthia Cready, Texas A&M University;
Lori D. Hill, University of Chicago; Mori
Insinger, University of Pennsylvania.
People
Margaret Andersen, University of Delaware, will spend the 1999-2000
academic year at the Center for the Study of Race
and Ethnicity at Stanford University.
Vanessa Barker, and Caroline
DeBrovner, New York University PhD candidates,
each received a fellowship from the Law and Society Association. This fellowship
will support their attendance at the Association's annual meeting.
James R. Davis, St. Peter's College,
received his seventh degree on May 26, an MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, from CUNY-Baruch College.
Joel Best, Southern Illinois University, is
the incoming chair at University of Delaware.
Nicole C. Raeburn, Ohio State
University, will join the faculty at the University of
San Francisco for a one-year assistant professor position.
Eugene Rosa, Washington State
University, has been reappointed the Edward R.
Meyer Distinguished Professor of Natural Resource and Environmental Policy in
the Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service at WSU.
Olga Sezneva, New York University
PhD candidate, has been awarded a Ford Foundation Summer Research Grant in
Gender/Area Studies. This grant will enable Ms. Sezneva to conduct research this
summer on the discourse on sexuality in
post-Soviet Russia.
David A. Sonnenfeld, University of
California-Berkeley, will continue his residence as Visiting Scholar at the University of
California, Berkeley, during the 1999-2000 academic year.
New Books
Barry D. Adam, University of Windsor,
Jan Willem Duyvendak, Erasmus University, and
André Krouwel, Vrije Universiteit
(editors), The Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian
Politics (Temple University Press, 1999).
Henry Barbera, The Military Factor in
Social Change (Transaction Publishers, 1998).
Patricia
Boscia-Mulé, Long Island University,
Authentic Ethnicities: The Interaction of Ideology, Gender Power, and Class in the
Italian-American Experience (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999).
Irwin Deutscher, University of Akron,
Making a Difference: The Practice of
Sociology (Transaction Publishers, 1999).
Michael N. Dobkowski, Hobart and
William Smith Colleges, Isidor Wallimann, School of Social Work Basel, (editors),
The Coming Age of Scarcity: Preventing Mass Death and Genocide in the Twenty-first
Century, (Syracuse University Press, 1998).
Francesco Duina, Harvard University,
Harmonizing Europe: Nation-States within the Common
Market (SUNY Press, 1999).
Thomas J. Durant, Jr., Louisiana State
University, J. David Knottnerus, Oklahoma State University,
Plantation Society and Race Relations: The Origins of
Inequality (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999).
Abby L. Ferber, University of
Colorado-Colorado Springs, White Man Falling:
Race, Gender and White Supremacy (Rowman and Littlefield, 1998).
Samuel R. Friedman, Richard
Curtis, Alan Neaigus, Benny
Jose, Don C. Des Jarlais, National Development and Research
Institutes, Social Networks, Drug Injectors'
Lives, and HIV/AIDS (Kluwer/Plenum, 1999); Samuel R.
Friedman, Needles, Drugs, and Defiance: Poems to Organize
By (North American Syringe Exchange Network, 1999).
Lori B. Girshick, Warren Wilson
College, No Safe Haven: Stories of Women in
Prison (Northeastern University Press, 1999).
Dirk Kaesler,
Philipps-Universität Marburg (editor), Klassiker der Soziologie,
two vols. (C.H.Beck, 1999).
Michel S. Laguerre, University of
California-Berkeley, Diasporic Citizenship (Macmillan Press/St. Martin's Press,
1998); Minoritized Space: An Inquiry into the
Spatial Order of Things (University of
California Institute of Governmental Studies
Press, 1999).
Joseph Lopreato, University of
Texas-Austin (retired) and Timothy Crippen,
Mary Washington College, Crisis in Sociology:
The Need for Darwin (Transaction
Publishers, 1999).
Phyllis Moen, Donna
Dempster-McClain and Henry A. Walker, Cornell
University (editors), A Nation Divided: Diversity,
Inequality, and Community in American Society (Cornell University Press, 1999).
Maurice St. Pierre, Morgan State
University, Anatomy of Resistance:
Anti-Colonialism in Guyana, 1823-1966 (Macmillan, 1999).
Clinton R. Sanders, University of Connecticut,
Understanding Dogs: Living and Working with Canine
Companions (Temple University Press, 1999).
Robert Schaeffer, San Jose State
University, Severed States: Dilemmas of Democracy in
a Divided World (Rowman and Littlefield, 1999).
Arthur B. Shostak, Drexel
University, CyberUnion: Empowering Labor through
Computer Technology (M.E. Sharpe, 1999).
Mark Tausig, University of Akron,
Janet Michello, CUNY-LaGuardia, and Sree
Subedi, Miami University, A Sociology of Mental
Illness (Prentice Hall, 1998).
Henry Vandenburgh, SUNY-Oswego,
Feeding Frenzy: Organizational Deviance in the Texas Psychiatric Hospital
Industry (University Press of America, 1999).
Other Organizations
Emergence: A Journal of Complexity Issues in Organizations and
Management is the journal of the New England Complex
Systems Institute, an independent educational and research institution dedicated to
advancing the study of complex systems. See the web sites
<http://www.emergence .org> and <http://www.necsi.org/>.
Subscriptions are available from journals@erlbaum.com. Submissions
are sought for issues 4, 5, and 6 (Winter 1999 to Spring 2000).
Contact
American Sociological Association Teaching Resources
Center is preparing the third edition of Syllabi and Instructional
Materials for Courses in Juvenile Delinquency and
Youth Crime. Please consider submitting any of
the following contributions: Syllabi and Course Outlines; Assignments for Projects
and Classroom exercises; Handouts and other Teaching Aids (Lists of Sources,
Charts, Questions); Research and Term Paper Assignments; Recommended Reading
Lists and Bibliographies; Recommended Videos and Films (Especially if Annotated).
The deadline for submissions is September 30, 1999. For more information or to
submit materials (hard copy and disk or electronic copy) contact: Timothy Fiedler,
Department of Sociology, Carroll College, Waukesha,
WI 53186; (414) 524-7165; fax (414) 524-7139; e-mail tfiedler@carroll1. cc.edu.
Instructional materials and syllabi for
Social Change. The editor seeks syllabi, exercises, bibliographies, class
projects/presentations, video or audio lists and/or
reviews, distance learning, Internet/World Wide Web sources and resources. In
addition, working papers, published manuscripts (with the proper copyright and legal
niceties taken care of), etc. are also needed.
Deadline: September 1, 1999. Submit your package via a 3.5" diskette in
WordPerfect or similar word processing program to:
Ken Muir, Department of Sociology and Social Work, 225 Chapell Wilson Hall,
Appalachian State University, Boone, NC 28608; (828) 262-2293.
Caught in the Web
Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies is
now on the web. See <http://www. JISonline.org>.
Resources on South African Higher
Education is a one-stop site for U.S.
academics seeking linkages and collaboration with South African universities and
technikons. The site provides contact addresses for
all the institutions, South African papers and briefs on transforming South African
higher education, U.S. government programs on South Africa, a definitive list of US
and South African study abroad programs for U.S. undergraduates, and general
information sources on South Africa. See
<http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfricanStudies/sahiedcn.htm>.
The Society for World Sustainable
Development webpage can be found at <http://members.home.net/g.dufour>
Yugoslavia: a directory of
links for monitoring the continued escalation of
conflict in the region.
<http://www.teleport.com/~skerlin/news.html#war>. Includes
daily radio broadcasts from nations such as Russia, Hungary, Britain, and the Czech
Republic as well as a live webcam site from downtown Belgrade, updated every 100
seconds, sponsored by I*Net Yugoslavia.
Policy and Practice
William Canak, Middle Tennessee State University and
Dan Cornfield, Vanderbilt University, conducted a policy
evaluation study of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service's Labor Management
Cooperation Grants Program, reviewing data on 200 labor-management
committees (1981-96). Details of the final report
are available at <www.fmcs.gov>.
Obituaries
Ross Paul Scherer
(1922-1999)
Rev. Ross Paul Scherer, emeritus
professor of sociology at Loyola University Chicago, died at his home in Arlington
Heights, Illinois on February 25, 1999, at the age
of 76.
After receiving a bachelor of divinity
degree in 1943 and a master of divinity in 1946, both from Concordia Seminary in St.
Louis, Dr. Scherer taught at the Chicago Theological Seminary before continuing his studies
at the University of Chicago. There he earned a master's degree in social
service administration in 1947 and went to work as a caseworker with Lutheran Child
Welfare Association. An ordained Lutheran minister, Dr. Scherer also served as an
assistant pastor at Windsor Park Lutheran Church in Chicago.
In 1950, Ross joined the faculty
at Valparaiso University in Indiana where he taught social work and sociology and
studied for his doctorate in sociology which he received in 1963 from the University
of Chicago. Prior to joining Loyola's faculty in 1966, Dr. Scherer served as the first
director of research operations for the National Council of Churches for three years.
Ross served as chairperson of the
Department of Sociology at Loyola University from 1967 to 1969, as graduate program
director from 1969 to 1971 and again from 1979 to 1982. He was instrumental
in strengthening the department's national reputation in the sociology of religion.
He did this both through his published work such as
American Denominational Organization (1980) a study of the dominant
organizational forms of religion in the United States, a project that linked Ross'
interests in complex organizations and religion _
and through his professional affiliations. Ross was for many years an active member
of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, the Association for the Sociology
of Religion, and the Religious Research Association where he served as director for
four years, as vice-president for one year and as president from 1975-77. From 1966 to
1984, he served in various capacities as
managing, contributing and associate editor with
The Review of Religious Research. Although Ross' primary focus during his
career was linking the scholarship of religious institutions with that of complex
organizations, in his later years he developed a
special interest in the relationship between medicine and
religion.
Many of us in the department recall
Ross as a gentleman, a gracious and soft spoken colleague, and a one-man "clipping
service". A voracious reader of newspapers, professional journals, and
newsletters, Ross would frequently mark up and pass
along items he thought to be of interest to other faculty or to his students. This sharing
of clippings symbolized Ross' thoughtful and perceptive approach to building
community and was consistent with his life-long commitments to academic collegiality
and religious ecumenism.
Ross retired from Loyola University's
faculty in 1990. Although he remained professionally active and continued to
provide guidance to several graduate students, he turned much of his attention to the
other loves in his life: his family, his church,
public affairs, and classical music.
Ross Scherer is survived by his
wife, Doris, by his three children, Mary, Rebecca, and Thomas, and by six grandchildren,
two brothers, and many colleagues at Loyola who hold him in fond and grateful memory.
Kathleen McCourt, Loyola University of
Chicago
David Lee Stevenson
(1951-1999)
David Lee Stevenson died on March
1, 1999, still a young, vigorous, and productive person, leaving an emptiness that
will not soon be filled. The authors of this note of remembrance were both fast friends,
but we were particularly close at different times in the life of this rare man, and have
written our tribute in two parts.
Stevenson came to Yale from
Johns Hopkins in 1973 to begin graduate study in sociology. IA year or two later, he
presented himself at my office door and announced in his quiet and yet firm way
that he had been measuring me for fit and had decided he wanted to write a
dissertation under my direction. He had a shy,
almost diffident smile, always on the verge of breaking into laughter, and warm blue
eyes so steady and thoughtful in their gaze that it seemed as though they could not
spare the time to blink. I think we were friends before the hour was out.
The sociology of education was not
much in his mind then. He hoped to do research on the ways working class families
came to terms with the breakdown of one of their number. When he first proposed
that project to the Department, he gave it the cautious title
Tolerance of Deviance: A Study of Psychiatric Patients and Their
Families, but as soon as he felt at home with his
material (and maybe with us) he called it Living
With Madness. No subtitle. He followed the fortunes of twelve families in which a
husband and father had been hospitalized and then sent home. It is easy for me to see him
even now, sitting in the homes of people who were having more than their fair share
of misery, leaning forward with an almost contagious sympathy and asking
questions in a soft, measured, understanding
voice. It was an exploration into the very heart
of things, and it is clear from the transcripts that he was providing solace to the
people with whom he was talking in the very act of learning from them.
David was a true student of the
sociological perspective, as any reader of his work can readily see, with a mind
drawn to the pattern of things rather than to
their particularities. My heartfelt letters of
reference said:
Mr. Stevenson is going to be an
outstanding sociologist. His work is thoughtful,
perceptive, intelligent. He has the rare ability to reach
out to people, to understand the temper of their
lives, and to convert that understanding into meaningful analyses about the larger social order.
I know a scattering of sociologists who share his sensitivity for face-to-face encounters in
the field, and I know a scattering who share his grasp of the wider contours of society; but I
know very few, at any age, who manage a better marriage of the two. Stevenson's field
observations are always in the service of broad
sociological concerns, and they are always informed by
a mind that is both warm and learned, generous and controlled, sympathetic and rigorous.
To put that string of adjectives in perspective,
let me just say that he is the best I have known
in twenty years of teaching in the general areas
of mental health and social psychology . . . The linkages of personality and society are his
natural subject area. He is a special person with
special promise . . .
Words for a gifted young friend about
to take his place in the professional world. Words, alas, for an obituary but
twenty years later.
The Yale years were followed by a
post-doctoral fellowship in Medical Sociology and Social Psychiatry at the University
of Chicago and by an Assistant Professorship at Oberlin College, and then by service
in Washington. During that time his interests shifted to the sociology of education
and his everyday working life became focused on policy concerns. During that time,
too, he met Phoebe Hsu, and all of us who knew him and loved him can testify that
this made all the difference.
Kai Erikson, Yale University
With vitriolic attacks on the state
education as the context, David found his way in 1988 to an educational policy job, as a
Senior Associate in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), at
the U.S. Department of Education. In 1988, at a meeting for the National Education
Longitudinal Study of 1988-94, I met him for the first time. Sharing common
academic and policy interests, we soon became intellectual soul-mates and began a
collaborative working relationship that continued over the next eleven years.
A quick learner, with strong interests
in reform, David worked at (OERI) on developing a research agenda for one of the
few places in the U.S. government that funded basic and policy research in education.
He encouraged the federally-funded research centers to undertake large-scale
longitudinal projects that would produce scientifically credible results with applicability
to national policy.
He was selected to work on the
National Goals Project and helped in the development of the
National Goals Report: Building a Nation of
Learners. Within a year. He became the Deputy Executive Director of
the National Council on Education Standards and Testing, working diligently to
reshape ways to assess student performance, culminating in the report,
Raising Standards for American Education: A Report for the
National Council on Education Standards and
Testing.
Being a public servant never
interfered with David's goal to become a
productive first-rate scholar. From 1986 to 1992 he
and his co-author David Baker published a series of five articles on parent
involvement in Child Development, Journal of
Adolescent Research, and Sociology of Education
Another of David's intellectual
pursuits looked at how state policies affect the
ways local schools organize learning activities and the resulting student performance.
In 1991 he designed a project to learn how and why high schools improved or
declined, and which ones stayed the same. The last report from these data, "State
Education Policies and Changing School Practices: Evidence from the National
Longitudinal Study of Schools, 1980-1993,"
co-authored with Kathryn Schiller, will be published
in the American Journal of Education.
After leaving the National Council
in 1993, David became Senior Advisor to the Deputy Secretary of Education.
David sought to improve legislation to bring more resources to poor and underserved
populations and to strengthen education standards to raise student performance
and teacher quality. Working on the reauthorization of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, David spent his time dueling with the legislature and drafting
bills, memos, and compromise provisions.
In 1996, David became a visiting
scholar at the University of Chicago, where we began the book,
The Ambitious Generation: America's Teenagers Motivated
but Directionless, a longitudinal study of how teenagers form ideas about college
and work. David's last "detail," and perhaps
his most challenging political job, was at the While House Office of Science and
Technology Policy where he was to develop an interagency research agenda on
children and adolescents.
David loved his familyPhoebe and
Andrewand they were the center of his universe. He found joy in his sociological
and policy work and the friends and colleagues he interacted with. A patron of the arts
and lover of theater, dance, and especially classical music, David fully enjoyed each
day, particularly those days that ended with a full red wine, foie gras, magret of duck,
and chocolate mousse. Parent school volunteer, avid reader, baseball fan, and
bicyclist, David the gardener also found the time
to photograph his blooming daffodils. Sensitive, caring, and humorous, he was
also passionate about "getting it right." A
light shines brightly in our field, symbolizing
the rare intertwining of sociological study and policy. David Lee Stevenson is that
light showing us that sociological study can be practiced and understood in the
policy arena and that its impact will be significant.
Barbara Schneider, University of Chicago
Official Reports and Proceedings
1998-99 Council Minutes
February 5, 1999
President Alejandro Portes
convened the Council at 6:30 p.m. at the new ASA Executive Office. Council toured the
new offices and then had dinner. Dr. John D'Arms, President of the American
Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), made a presentation about opportunities for
sociological scholarship grounded in the humanities through ACLS.
Present were: Catherine White Berheide, William T. Bielby, Florence
B. Bonner, Paul Burstein, Paula England, Joe R. Feagin, Michael Hout, Nan Lin,
Carole C. Marks, Douglas S. Massey, Phyllis Moen, Melvin Oliver, Alejandro Portes,
Jill Quadagno, Patricia A. Roos, Linda Waite, Robert Wuthnow
ASA Staff: Felice J. Levine, Carla
B. Howery, Edward Murguia, Roberta Spalter-Roth
Absent: Cora Bagley Marrett,
Ann Swidler
Saturday, February 6 and Sunday, February 7
1. Approval of the Agenda and the
Minutes
The agenda was approved as presented.
The Council approval of the
August 1998 meeting minutes was reaffirmed, as per the prior mailed ballot.
2. Report of the President
President Portes reported on the
Annual Meeting program for 1999, noting that about 99 percent of the sessions and
events are finalized. He described the two plenary sessions, one addressing the
transition in world societies and the other on immigration and the remaking of
the American mosaic. In addition, there will be a town meeting with Census
Director Kenneth Prewitt on the 2000 Census.
He also indicated that plans are
underway for a special session memorializing Past-president Mirra Komarovsky
who died in January.
Portes thanked the Council and the
staff for their preparatory work for this meeting, noting particularly the
Subcommittee on ASA Policymaking and Resolutions
and the Subcommittee on Committee Restructuring. He also noted his thanks to
staff for working with him on exploring the possibility of a development campaign
for sociology linking with the ASA centennial.
3. Report of the President-Elect
President-elect Feagin noted that
his major task is shaping the 2000 Annual Meeting Program. The Program
Committee will meet for the third time following the Council meeting. The program is
on target. Two plenaries are slated: one on gender and feminism for the
21st century and the second on racism and
anti-racism movements, with invitations out to
Archbishop Desmond Tutu and South African President Nelson Mandela. The
Committee is also planning a session on race in Washington, DC.
4. Report of the Secretary
Secretary Florence Bonner
commented on the success of the building sale and
the move. The sale proceeds will be invested and should yield sufficient income to
essentially bridge the gap between the long-term lease payments on the new space
and what would have been operating costs under ownership. She and Executive
Officer Levine will be meeting with an investment adviser to gain some
independent guidance over the next several months.
Bonner summarized the reports
on memberships and subscriptions, noting that the final membership total for
1998 was again over 13,000 members. The highest growth has been in Student and
Associate memberships. Also, ASA shows high retention rates in the upper income
category. ASA continues to encourage interdisciplinary memberships, although
there were fewer interdisciplinary members in 1998 than in 1997.
Council discussed the Associate
member category and how to encourage sociologists to select an appropriate dues
category.
Bonner reviewed 1998 Section
membership counts. About 60 percent of ASA members are also members of
sections, somewhat better than two on average. She reported that overall 32 percent of
section memberships are held by students, which mirrored the general membership
where 31 percent are Student members. Many sections are actively engaged in
promotional campaigns to attract new members.
Bonner also reported on the final
1998 institutional subscriptions to journals. She noted that there continues to be a
slight downward trend that has been generally
observable since 1996. In 1998, there was a small reduction of institutional
subscriptions for all journals with the exception
of Contemporary Sociology. The Executive Office is looking at new ways to track
subscribers and work with the major subscription agencies. Bonner noted that
Employment Bulletin (EB) revenue from
subscriptions has declined as expected, but that the primary revenue from
EB was from listing fees, which have increased.
Bonner provided a brief overview
of ASA's investment portfolio. She pointed Council to the favorable report that
shows the excellent returns on ASA investments. Bonner also described the session
with Fiduciary International (ASA's investment management firm) at the meeting of
the Committee on the Executive Office and Budget (EOB). She concluded by
reiterating that special attention was being devoted to the investment strategy for
the proceeds of the Executive Office building sale.
5. Report of the Executive Officer
Executive Officer Levine noted the
recent grant from The Ford Foundation for $485,000, in support of the Minority
Opportunities Through School Transformation (MOST) Program. She also
indicated that the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research (OBSSR) at the
National Institutes of Health was providing
$10,000 to defray the cost of the science writers workshop on families, youth,
and children's well-being, jointly convened by ASA and OBSSR.
Levine gave the Council an update
on the sale and relocation of the Executive Office. She noted how helpful it was
to have Secretary Bonner in Washington, DC, and thanked Bonner for all her
help. Levine also thanked Phoebe Stevenson for her outstanding work in coordinating
the move and the financial analysis for this transition.
In reviewing the staff and year,
Levine emphasized that the presence of Roberta Spalter-Roth and Edward Murguia
has expanded ASA'S sociological capacity on staff and enhanced our
programmatic work.
Levine reviewed the participation of
Department Affiliates. Currently 266 departments are affiliates, receiving
CHAIRLINK and other publications, as part of this
special relationship with ASA.
6. ASA Membership
Emeritus Membership
Category. Portes provided background on the Emeritus
member category and Council's decision last August to reinstate the Emeritus
category, in part based on the results of a survey
of lapsed Emeritus members. Because the Emeritus category was
eliminated through a referendum in the election
ballot, Levine indicated that ASA legal counsel advised that the membership vote
on a referendum to amend the ASA By-laws to reinstate this category. Levine
reiterated the Motion that Council passed in
August 1998: "To re-establish the Emeritus
membership category for persons who have been ASA members for at least ten
years and are retired from their primary employment, with such members
receiving Footnotes but no journals as part of
this membership."
Motion: To amend the ASA
By-laws through a referendum in the 1999 ballot to permit reintroducing the
Emeritus membership category. Carried.
Membership Dues for Year 2000.
Secretary Bonner and Executive Officer Levine
reported on the EOB discussion of membership dues for the year 2000. EOB
believed that it would be useful to undertake a review of the dues structure and in
particular the cafeteria plan option for selecting journals (which includes a no journal
option). Since this review will be undertaken in 1999, EOB recommended to
Council that the usual COLA increase not be assessed for 2000. Council discussed
the pros and cons of raising dues, even by the cost of living adjustment, for the
2000 membership year. Council members concurred with EOB that holding the dues
at the 1999 level for 2000 would signal to members an interest in keeping dues
affordable.
Motion: To hold 2000 membership
dues at the 1999 level in lieu of a COLA increase. Carried.
Interdisciplinary Membership Initiatives.
The Section on Occupations, Organizations, and Work submitted a proposal to
Council to consider an interdisciplinary membership arrangement with the
Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA). The Executive Office agreed to make
the appropriate contacts.
7. Report from Subcommittee on
ASA Policymaking and Member Resolutions
Portes summarized the background
that led to the appointment of a Council Subcommittee on ASA Policymaking
and Member Resolutions. The Subcommittee was asked to review current policy on
ASA policymaking and member resolutions; to potentially propose new guidelines
to Council; and to identify a wide range of ways for the membership to express
their views to Council outside of the resolution process.
Roos summarized the work of the
Subcommittee. She emphasized that the Subcommittee sought to prepare a report
and offer guidelines that would define the scope of ASA policymaking and
help members know how to pursue their policy interests.
Council responded positively to
the Subcommittee report and engaged in extensive discussion about the
proposed guidelines and their merits. Council members emphasized the importance of
feedback from members. They stressed the need for such feedback, noting that
last year Council's review of committee restructuring suffered from moving
along quickly without the benefit of an Annual Meeting to discuss the issue. There
was consensus on having a lengthy comment period. Portes indicated that he
planned to include the topic on the Annual Meeting Business Meeting agenda.
Overall, Council members were
very enthusiastic about the report and recommended policy guidelines. They
thought the report provided a solid analysis of
the issues and usefully addressed the range of ways members could link sociology
to social policy in areas beyond the scope of ASA's policy pronouncements.
Council members thought, however, that the document should be modified so that
examples were only contained in the narrative and not in the specific guidelines for
resolutions being proposed. They believed that the examples might be interpreted as
exhaustive rather than as illustrative and, accordingly, they sought to modify the proposed language of the report.
Motion: To eliminate the examples
from the guidelines and to change the language on "Guidelines from the
Membership on Resolutions to ASA Council" to read: "Resolutions must pertain to
(a) issues that advance and protect the discipline of sociology, or the larger
scientific community, or (b) the ASA's internal operations as described in its
Constitution and By-laws." Carried (15 yes; 1 no).
Council also discussed whether the
report should more fully define the meaning of "internal operations."
Council members believed that the scope and intent of the language was meant to
include the work of the Association and activities the ASA embraced. There was a
difference in view as to whether examples would be helpful.
Motion: To include examples of
how ASA conducts its internal affairs involving matters such as personnel,
finances, or contracting with vendors. Failed (4 yes; 8 no).
Council returned to the issue of
feedback from members. They decided to frame a resolution that would fully convey to
the members the status of adopting these guidelines and Council's interest in
member input. The following resolution passed with overwhelming support.
Motion: To support the new
guidelines for the scope of ASA policymaking and member resolutions as set forth in
its Subcommittee report, as amended by Council; to call for a broad
comment period from the membership through September 1999; and to reserve a
final determination and formal adoption of any new guidelines until Council's
winter 2000 meeting when member feedback can be fully discussed and
considered. Carried (14 yes; 1 no).
Feagin asked about the final section
of the Subcommittee report ("VI. Final Thoughts") which noted that Council
is not absolutely foreclosed from taking policy positions outside of
the Association's province "on an issue of grave and compelling importance to
society." The final paragraph of the proposed draft leaves open the possibility of
responding under exceptional circumstances. Council discussed whether this statement should be left as is or
whether it should be formalized as part of the
"Proposed scope of Council policy pronouncements" (as section IV, 1[c]).
Several Council members spoke
against changing the report to explicitly allow
for ASA policy on "grave and compelling issues" because it would essentially
return ASA to the original challenge of deciding on which issues to speak. They noted
that, as individuals, sociologists have the opportunity to express their concerns in
other ways or to voice these concerns through advocacy organizations related to an issue.
Motion: When an issue of grave
and compelling importance to society arises, the Council may make a policy
pronouncement if it determines this is in the public's best interest and in the best
interests of the discipline. This resolution would include deletion of the final
two sentences in the Subcommittee document and the addition of this
language as item 1(c) in Section IV of the report. Failed (2 yes; 11 no; 1 abstain).
President Portes thanked the
Subcommittee and especially Chair Patricia Roos for this work.
8. ASA's Role in Advocacy Research
Portes summarized the background
of the petition signed by 38 sociologists expressing concern that ASA was taking
an advocacy position in publishing the book, The Realities of Affirmative Action in
Employment, or in the Executive Officer's
Footnotes editorial about the book project.
Levine described the Spivack Program's initiative on affirmative action, which began with
a research workshop of experts examining the empirical work on the topic.
Barbara Reskin was the leader of this project. After the workshop and drawing on its
findings, Reskin wrote the monograph that ASA published.
There was extensive discussion of
the petition. Council members observed that many of the petition signatories were
not ASA members and that they did not seem well informed about the contents of
the book or the nature of Spivack projects. Council member Bielby emphasized
that the Spivack workshop on this subject brought together social scientists with
substantial peer-reviewed and published work on the topic, and that the goal of
the project was to assess this knowledge, not to advocate for one point of view or
another.
Council thought it was important
for ASA members to understand the distinction between products of the Spivack
Program or other ASA programs and the Association's official position on
specific issues as determined by Council.
Council member Waite suggested
that Footnotes might include a summary of Spivack goals and procedures,
publications, and so forth so that members can have a context to evaluate this letter.
Portes emphasized that part of the
misunderstanding is that ASA Council did not make a policy pronouncement about
affirmative action in the workplace and that Council is the only body that can
make such a statement on behalf of the Association. The Spivack-sponsored
publications do not reflect Association policy.
Levine emphasized that decisions on publishing products of the Spivack Program are
based on reviews by the Advisory Panel and by external peer reviewers and that
Council is not involved in endorsing these works.
Council reaffirmed that it has been
impressed with the work of the Spivack Program over the years. Council
members supported the Association's continuing to undertake workshops, briefings,
and other initiatives on issues of social importance where there is substantial social
science research.
Motion: To acknowledge receipt of
the materials from Professor Tomasson, to recommend the petition be published
in Footnotes, and to ask the Executive Officer and the author of the Spivack
report on The Realities of Affirmative Action in
Employment to prepare a response for publication in
Footnotes, including a description of the Spivack Program
and how it operates. Carried.
Executive Officer Levine and
President Portes indicated to Council that future publications of the ASA would make clear that these products do not reflect the
official position of the Association. This is a practice followed by other associations
and organizations such as the Russell Sage Foundation.
9. ASA Sections
Update on Committee on Section
Activities. Levine summarized the current
activities of the Committee on Sections (COS). She emphasized that COS is responsible
for guiding the Association on the administration of sections to include the
creation and continuation of sections, advising Council on section policies and
procedures, and serving as liaison between sections and Council. COS held its
winter meeting by conference call and advanced a number of pieces of business for
Council consideration.
Section Membership Discount.
The Mathematical Sociology Section has
requested discounted dues structure for members
of multiple sections. EOB and COS recommended against offering such a plan, as
it might adversely affect the finances of the Association and sections
themselves. While the gain to the member is clear, it
is hard to see how multiple memberships are financially beneficial to the
Association and how the discount could be absorbed.
Motion: To support the
recommendation of EOB and COS to maintain the current section dues structure and not to
introduce discount features. Carried.
Proposed Change in Fiscal Year Cycle by
Section Officers. Several sections suggested that section budgets should change to
operate on a Fall-to-Fall fiscal year. The rationale for the proposed change links
to the change of section officers at the Annual Meeting. Bonner summarized
the difficulties of having sections operate on such a fiscal year and noted that EOB
did not support a change.
One issue is how to get members to
join in August so that they will be
"counted" as part of the current year for purposes
of the next year's session allocation for sections. One strategy discussed by EOB
is to introduce a pro-rated dues amount at the Annual Meeting to encourage
new members to join for the remainder of the current year (August-December).
Motion: To support EOB's and
COS's recommendation to retain the Association's fiscal year on a
calendar year basis. Carried.
Section Awards. Council considered
the requests from section officers to be able to confer "Honorable Mentions" for
section awards and to confer as many awards as they wished. From the agenda
materials, Council was aware that both the Committee on Sections and the Committee
on Awards believed that sections should be able to confer as many "Honorable
Mentions" as they wished, though they thought sections should be cautious
not to overuse this designation. Council agreed that sections should continue
using this designation, but that names should not be published in
Footnotes, as is current policy. On the issue of
sections conferring more than three awards, Council concurred with the reasoning of
the Awards Committee that the current policy of a maximum of three awards (with
one being for students) was sound and maximized the value of these honors.
Motion: To continue current policy
on section awards. Carried.
Holding of Multiple Section Offices.
COS reported on the concern of some sections that individuals were holding offices
in several sections, or running for office in several sections. COS concurred that
this practice did not spread around the honor and opportunity to serve and put
substantial work on a few individuals.
Motion: To support the Committee
on Section's recommendation that a member can only stand for election for
the chair-elect position in one section in any given
year. Carried.
Motion: To support the Committee
on Section's recommendation that a member can only serve as chair of one
section in any given year. Carried.
Council raised concerns about
communicating these decisions and the rationale to the section officers, especially
because of the annual turnover in section leadership. Secretary Bonner and President Portes indicated that they would be
attending the COS meeting with section officers and would aim to do so.
Composition of the Committee on Sections.
At the COS meeting with section officers, section representatives recommended
that the COS be increased from six to nine members, with the three additional
members elected from among section chairs. All members of COS would have
staggered three-year terms.
Council affirmed the importance of
COS members having demonstrable section leadership experience, but thought
that designating slots might create false distinctions between COS members.
Also Council members thought that the specific proposal would be difficult to
implement. Council decided to first vote on the Motion proposed by the section officers
and, if defeated, to introduce a subsequent Motion that addressed what seemed to
be at the heart of their proposal.
Motion: To have the Committee on
Sections composed of nine members, three ASA Council Members-at-large,
three appointed by the President, and three elected among section chairs. The
three elected members from section chairs would represent sections of
different size. It is understood that persons will be section chairs when they begin
their term. Defeated (5 yes; 10 no).
Motion: To retain that the current
configuration of the COS and to instruct the President to nominate members to
the COS who have had active section experience, and, whenever possible,
are former section officers. Carried.
Council concluded its discussion by
returning to the issue of size of sections, especially small sections where the
minimum requirement was increasing from 200 to 300 members in the fall of
1999. Council members thought that it was important to reassure the smaller sections
of the centrality of section vitality in any determination about the future of a
section. They noted that membership numbers below 300 would not
per se jeopardize the status of a section that was otherwise
engaged in important work.
Proposed Section-in-formation on
Economic Sociology. Council discussed the
proposal for a new section on Economic Sociology and the recommendation of COS that
the section be approved.
Motion: To approve Economic
Sociology as a section-in-formation. Carried.
Quadagno asked for an update on
the proposed section on Society and Animals. Portes reported that he received a
request for a session at the 1999 meeting and has approved this session.
Council member Waite, who is
incoming section chair for the Family Section, raised an issue of new business
pertaining to the Annual Meeting program of sections. She described a situation,
where papers were submitted under the open call for both the regular family session
and for a section session, but the regular session organizer proceeded with asking
for additional sessions without checking with the section session organizer.
Additional sessions were added to the program,
when papers might have been first considered by the section session organizer.
Levine indicated that this situation needs to be coordinated and watched.
10. Report from ASA's Subcommittee
on Committee Restructuring
Waite summarized the work of the
Subcommittee on Committee Restructuring undertaken this fall. She noted that
the Subcommittee reviewed reports from the former standing committees and
considered their recommendations for task forces. Pursuant to Council's charge,
the Subcommittee report focuses on recommendations for the first set of task
forces and also sets forth recommended work plans and charges for the status
committees.
Waite briefly noted that the report
recommended that Council establish five task forces. She indicated that other
ideas might merit task forces at some future point, but that these five constituted a
substantial agenda and seemed to reflect themes that cut across a number of
committee reports and recommendations. The following five Task Forces were proposed: Task Force on The Implications of Assessing Faculty Productivity
Task Force on the Articulation of
Sociology in Two-Year and Four-Year Sociology Programs
Task Force on Current Knowledge
on Hate/Bias Acts on College and University Campuses
Task Force on the International Focus
of American Sociology
Task Force on ASA/AAAS Relations
Waite also reminded Council that
the four "status committees" were being
continued, but with the aspiration that they would have a more specific charge
relating to the Association or the discipline and that these committees and Council
should work more closely. She noted that the status committees would be reviewed in
five years to evaluate how they fit in relation to the Association's goals in these
areas. She indicated that the Subcommittee on Committee Restructuring sought to
identify an initial charge and tasks for the status committees that built upon the
committees' reports and yet could yield a tangible product after two years.
Waite briefly overviewed the Subcommittee's recommendations for
status committee activities. The Subcommittee recommends that the Committee
on the Status of Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Sociology and the Committee on
the Status of Women in Sociology collaborate on an "analysis of leadership
opportunities for minorities and women in the ASA." The Subcommittee also
recommended that these two committees (possibly also jointly) undertake a "report
on the presence and roles of women and racial and ethnic minorities in sociology."
In addition, the Subcommittee recommended that the Committee on the
Status of Persons with Disabilities in Sociology undertake two activities: "a report on
the status of disability scholarship in the discipline" and a "review of ASA
accessibility issues." Finally, the Subcommittee
recommended that the Committee on the Status of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
and Transgender People in Sociology also undertake an assessment of the
scholarship on gay, lesbian, and bisexual issues.
Although some status committees asked for budgets, Waite indicated that
the Subcommittee on Committee Restructuring recommended that only modest
administrative budgets be provided with no midyear meetings. The budget might
be about $1500 per group for the two-year period. Were a status committee to
identify work that requires a large allocation, a budget request and substantive
justification should be reviewed and approved by Council.
Council member Berheide asked
how new task forces get proposed. Levine noted that any member or group (e.g,
section) can propose a task force. The process for doing so will be made clear in
Footnotes. Moen urged extensive publicity
efforts to enable members to become involved under this new structure.
Council members agreed that it was important to reach out to sociologists across
academic and other work settings. Council noted that four of the proposed task forces
focused on academic concerns and urged the Subcommittee to consider issues
that might be germane across occupational and work spheres of sociology.
Motion: To ask the Subcommittee
on Committee Restructuring to consider the possibility of fora for
occupational and professional areas of sociology
and to report back at the next Council meeting. Carried.
Council discussion focused on the
proposed Task Force on the Implications of Assessing Faculty Productivity.
Some Council members wondered if the Subcommittee was recommending this
Task Force because of a potential threat to academic autonomy. The Subcommittee
clarified that, while there have been challenges to the academic workplace in recent
years, there were also opportunities for creative rethinking in higher education, and
this Task Force could play such a role. Council was drawn to this Task Force but
believed its scope should also include teaching effectiveness as part of
examining workload and performance. The Subcommittee concurred and modified the title
to include "Teaching Effectiveness."
Motion: To approve the task forces
as outlined in the Report of the Council Subcommittee on Committee Restructuring and to approve the charges
specified for the status committees in the Report of the Council Subcommittee
on Committee Restructuring. Carried.
Portes thanked the Subcommittee
especially chair Linda Waite for the hard work.
Portes asked about the process of
constituting the task forces. Levine indicated that there would be a broad open call
to the membership through such means as
Footnotes and the ASA homepage. Nominations, including
self-nominations, would be considered by the
Subcommittee. The Subcommittee will prepare a
slate of nominees for each task force to be reviewed and voted on by Council in
June. Members of Council can also make recommendations to the Subcommittee.
11. Annual Meeting Preliminary Program
Secretary Bonner reviewed the
increasing costs of the Annual Meeting and ways to achieve efficiency and economy,
particularly with Annual Meeting-related publications. In particular, she asked
for feedback about the Preliminary Program and how it might be "delivered"
differently. Not only could information be placed on the homepage, but
perhaps parts of the Preliminary Program could
be put in Footnotes or as fax-on-demand,
and so forth. Some Council members expressed concern about members
having access to electronic sources and about getting the registration, hotel, and transit
information in a timely way. Others commented that by the time the
Preliminary Program appears, most members
know whether they are coming to the meeting and thus that it is not a promotional
piece. Council thought that perhaps preliminary information could be less detailed
and noted that currently the Preliminary
Program is so similar to the Final Program. EOB will address the issue in June
and report to Council at its August meeting.
12. ASA Committee on Publications
Bonner reported that Committee
on Publications (COP) meeting was very effective, including a joint session with
the editors. The main item of business was to review editor candidates for three
ASA journals: American Sociological Review,
Sociological Theory, and Teaching
Sociology.
Motion: To consider separately
the ranked lists of journal editor candidates for each journal. Carried.
Council began with a review of the
candidates for Teaching Sociology.
Motion: To approve the ranked list
of editor candidates for Teaching
Sociology. Carried.
Council then discussed the
candidates for Sociological Theory. Council was
briefed on the Committee on Publications discussion about the journal and concerns
about its focus. In additional to having articles about theory, the new editor will be
encouraged to solicit theory articles, including theory in a number of sociological
specialties.
Motion: To approve the ranked list
of editor candidates for Sociological
Theory. Carried (14 yes; 0 no; 1 abstain).
The final editorship appointment
was for the American Sociological Review.
(ASR). After extensive discussion of the
qualities sought in the ASR editor, and the place
of the journal in the ASA publications portfolio, some Council members
recommended returning the list of candidates to the Committee on Publications.
Other Council members thought that Council should proceed, as specified in the
ASA By-laws which charges Council with the responsibility of electing an editor from
a list of nominees to which Council may add or delete names. Council continued
to deliberate about the process, with some members maintaining that there was
insufficient time for adequate consideration of the candidates and the issues.
Motion: To approve the ranked list
of the editor candidates for the American Sociological Review.
Failed (6 yes; 7 no; 2 abstain).
Motion: To table the
recommendations of the Committee on Publications for
the editorship of the American Sociological Review.
Carried (10 yes; 0 no; 2 abstain).
Secretary Bonner provided further information about the Committee on Publication's discussion of
ASR and the many strong candidates who
applied. Council discussed the candidates,
criteria for the editor role, the focus of
ASR and the new "perspectives" journal, and
the merits and strengths of candidates.
Motion: To approve a
Council-recommended choice for editor of ASR from among the candidates considered by
the Publications Committee. Carried (8 yes; 5 no; 1 abstain).
Motion: To approve an alternate
candidate for editor of ASR from the Publications Committee's ranked list.
Carried (9 yes; 3 no; 1 abstain).
After these actions, Council returned
to a general discussion of relevant information for the selection of editors, and
asked that this topic be placed on a future agenda for additional discussion.
Update on New Journal and Editor.
Bonner indicated that the open call and
solicitation for editors for the "New
Perspectives" journal had generated a pool of
possible candidates. COP felt that it needed to extend the deadline for the submission
of proposals for the editorship. The expectation is that the editor candidates will
be reviewed by COP in August, with recommendations presented to Council at
its August meeting.
Committee on Publications' Report on
the Publications Portfolio. Council responded favorably to the Committee on
Publications' Report on the Publications Portfolio and discussed in detail the
proposed new guidelines and the criteria for
launching new publications, including those sponsored by sections. While
Council members thought that the criteria were valuable, they wished to ensure that
the criteria be viewed as necessary but not sufficient for establishing a new
journal. Levine indicated that the intent was to review new journal proposals,
whether ASA-wide or section-proposed, in light of the entire publication portfolio and
how a proposal fit into the mix.
Council considered intellectual
viability in the mix of ASA journals to be key. Vice-president Roos suggested adding
to the preamble language that would send a signal that proposals would be
assessed in terms of the overall mix of journals
as well as intellectual strengths and financial capacity of any one journal. There
was strong support for making this clear at the outset.
Council drafted the following
language to add to the preamble of the document:
. . [the guidelines] are designed
to guarantee the ongoing vitality of ASA's publications program by
ensuring that the range and mix of journals that the Association
owns and supports over time are publications of the highest quality
and cover the full intellectual range of the discipline. In considering
the establishment of new journals or the retirement of ongoing
journals, the Publications Committee and Council anticipates giving
careful attention to the role of each journal in the Association's
publications portfolio.
Motion: To add language to the
preamble of the Publications Portfolio Report, as presented. Carried.
Council also addressed the criterion
of financial viability. If ASA received a number of very strong proposals, some
Council members were concerned that it would be difficult to choose among them,
taking into account the financial and organizational implications. Others noted that
section journals have to operate at no net cost to the Association, and thus few
sections would likely advance such a proposal because it would need to be an add-on
to section dues. Levine agreed that section-sponsored journals would not be
included as a journal choice with dues. Yet. she noted that the proposal is consistent
with overall ASA policy designed to give sections more autonomy and guidance.
Motion: It is assumed that any
section-sponsored journal would operate at no net cost to the Association. Carried.
With respect to section-sponsored
journals, Council members raised the concern about start up costs and when the "no net cost" requirement would apply. They noted that the Association has
appropriated considerable funds and time for the "New Perspectives" journal. Levine
indicated that, while ASA would own all journals, unless ASA were the journal
publisher for a new journal, ASA would not bear the start up costs.
The final issue for discussion
centered on a possible additional criterion of
scholarly use and demand as part of the formal procedure for evaluating the viability
of ASA-wide and section-sponsored journals.
Motion: To add language related
to scholarly use and demand so that the evaluation included measures of
the number and pattern of citations, scholarly use, and demand. Carried.
Motion: To accept the Publication
Portfolio Report as amended. Carried.
13. Financial Guidelines for ASA Journals
Secretary Bonner continued the
discussion of the financial viability of both present and any future journals by
reporting on EOB's discussion of the Association's journal portfolio. She
indicated that, at its January meeting, EOB had passed a resolution reaffirming the
guideline that journals should be self-supporting (for new journals after a
reasonable period of time). EOB recommended that Council adopt the following: "ASA
journals are expected to operate at least on a break even financial basis. New
journals will be expected to meet this standard after a period to be determined by the
Committee on Publications and Council (typically five years)."
Motion: To support EOB's
recommended resolution on the financial guidelines for all ASA journals. Carried.
14. Long-term Fund Raising
President Portes raised the
possibility of a long-term fundraising strategy
(tentatively titled "Sociology for the New
Century") for the Association that would go beyond the celebration of the
centennial (in 2005). Portes discussed the value
of developing a sizeable reservoir of resources that would enable the
Association to undertake important programmatic work. He cited the example of the
Spivack Program that was able to be established by virtue of a substantial gift.
Responding to the materials provided in the agenda book, Council discussed the
kinds of initiatives that could be pursued or enhanced with substantially more
funding. Council noted that priorities such as the Fund for the Advancement of the
Discipline could be extended in scope and size of support with higher levels of
funding. Council members were positive about the illustrative idea in the agenda
materials of creating a new Center for
Sociological Research at the Executive Office,
that would bring fellows to Washington to work on their own research and on
ASA programs linking sociology to science or social policy and that would yield
products publishable by ASA.
Portes stressed that he wants to
launch a credible and compelling campaign to form an endowment for important
work in sociology. He asked for Council feedback on fundamental idea as well as
specific details. Portes proposed the following steps: identify visible, impressive,
and committed chairs for the campaign; convene a small meeting to design its
organizational structure and initial strategies; identify concrete initiatives to
which members might donate funds; and connect some of the initiatives to current
ASA projects, such as the Minority Fellowship Program or the Congressional Fellowship.
Council provided generally
positive feedback about the ideas presented. The consensus was that it is important to
learn from universities' fundraising experiences, including the value of a
"general fund" as well as specific funds.
Further, Council members noted that campaigns often have very large sums of money
committed before public announcement of such a campaign. Levine described
the American Political Science Association centennial campaign as one model.
Council member Oliver mentioned
the opportunities to approach foundations. He thought that ASA has a strong
reputation with training minorities scholars. He believed that international work would be another option to attract foundation money. He suggested developing three
or four themes to leverage in the foundation world.
Vice President Roos added the
importance of getting individual faculty members committed to the initiatives.
Council discussed the possibilities for wealth transfer through wills, insurance
beneficiaries, and so forth. Council also emphasized the importance of reaching out
to members for good ideas for themes for fundraising. The consensus was
that, while most gifts will come from a small group of members, it is important to
involve a wider group, to engage in outreach to non-elite members, and to show
the benefit of the campaign to all members of the Association.
Motion: To endorse the general
principle of the long-term fundraising campaign for the Association and to ask
for the appointment of a planning group to identify initiatives and themes for an
effective fundraising effort. Carried.
15. Report from the Task Force on
Community College Sociology
Levine reviewed the history of the
Task Force on Community College Sociology, which submitted a report to Council
in January 1998. Council asked the Task Force to prioritize its
recommendations and report back in February 1999.
Council discussed the report and recommendations. One recommendation asked for
a more permanent committee or caucus on community college sociology.
Because Council has transformed standing committees into a task force system, this
recommendation did not advance. Council members, however, noted that they
had in earlier business approved one of the recommended task forces that deals
with the articulation between two- and four-year programs.
The five recommendations from
the Task Force are: (1) to have a permanent structure to address the concerns of
community college sociologists; (2) to diversify ASA leadership to include more
community college representation; (3) to support the professional work of
community college sociologists in continuing education and conferences; (4) to promote
a positive image of community colleges as a place of employment and education;
and (5) to award certificates of completion to community colleges sociologists for
attendance at ASA workshops and sessions.
Several Council members felt that
a number of the recommendations were currently in place in the Executive
Office, or that they easily could be implemented. For example, Howery indicated that
certificates are provided by ASA for workshop attendance, upon request. She
noted, however, that the availability of such certificates could be announced more
prominently.
Council member Hout noted that
there might be some important data gathering needs on issues that especially affect
community college settings, e.g., faculty teaching out of field; itinerant teaching
(adjunct and part-time); transfer of credits.
Berheide suggested that one way to
continue to be attentive to the needs of colleagues in the community college
setting is to ask the "status committees" to
look at workplace location. She also encouraged future ASA Presidents to appoint
a community college sociologist to the Program Committee and to involve
other community college sociologists in all areas of Association governance.
Motion: To expand the charge to the
status committees to include data collection on the leadership roles in the
Association to include information on the workplace location (e.g., sociologists at
two- and four-year colleges, sociologists employed outside the academic
workplace). Carried.
Howery reported on the substantial
efforts by ASA made at the Annual Meeting to faculty and chairs from community
colleges. Over the past five years, since the inception of a separate chair
conference at the ASA Annual Meeting, targeted efforts have been directed to
community college chairs.
Council asked that the Executive
Office communicate Council's apprecitation to the Task Force, noting that some of
these recommendations are being pursued and that Council is interested in encouraging sociology and sociologists at
community colleges. Council thought both the new Task Force and explicitly indicating
that the status committees should focus on sociology in
all work settings were further indicators of Council's commitment.
16. Executive Office Program Reports
Minority Affairs Program.
Edward Murguia, Director of Minority Affairs, summarized the highlights of the
Program. He noted that this year the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP)
celebrates its 25th anniversary. Under the
program, 208 Fellows have completed their PhDs and 62 Fellows are currently enrolled
in graduate work in sociology. The stipend level for Fellows will increase by
about $3,200 a year beginning in the 1999-2000 academic year (to $14,689). The
deadline for the NIMH grant renewal is expected to be in the spring, with likely an
application for five more years of funding.
Murguia also summarized the
current activities of the Minority Opportunities through School Transformation
(MOST) Program, a joint effort of the Minority Affairs and Academic Affairs Programs.
Especially with the enhanced support from The Ford Foundation, the MOST effort
is moving forward productively. Eighteen departments are involved, eleven of
which are more progressed in their planning and will be participating in the
coordinators conference in late February. Each has
submitted an action plan to implement the five core MOST goals, and will be
eligible for direct support from the recent Ford funding.
Academic and Professional Affairs
Program. Carla Howery presented the highlights
of the Academic and Professional Affairs Program. She noted four key
initiatives: collaboration with the Minority
Affairs Program on MOST; a book on the peer review of teaching; activities on
preparing future faculty; and review and improvement of the ASA's career and
teaching publications. The 6th Annual
Chair Conference will focus on evaluation of faculty, students, and programs. In
terms of preparing future faculty, the American Association of Colleges and
Universities has a pending proposal for a national project that would include sociology
as one of the target disciplines; if funded, ASA would select departments
with which to work on graduate student preparation in teaching and awareness of
faculty opportunities in two- and four-year institutions.
Spivack Program in Applied Socail
Research and Social Policy. Howery continued
with a current update on the Spivack Program in Applied Social Research and
Social Policy. The key project underway is the Race Initiative where analysis and
writing are well underway. The Spivack Program will also hold several briefings in
the next year, likely on social security, homelessness, and community
building. The Issues Series now has three volumes based on three Spivack events. A
fourth volume, on immigration, will be published in the spring. The monograph
The Realities of Affirmative Action in
Employment, continues to be well received. In
response to Council questions, Howery noted that the Spivack Advisory
Panel helps identify topics for briefings and reviews the publications of the
Program. The Committee also assists with the selection of the Community Action
Research Initiative grants and the Congressional Fellow.
Research Program on the Discipline and
Profession. Roberta Spalter-Roth summarized key activities in the Research Program
on the Discipline and Profession. The data from the PhD Tracking Survey are
being analyzed to examine the early career paths of the 1996-7 cohort of PhDs. A
preliminary report on some of these data will be ready by the Annual Meeting.
Also Spalter-Roth noted that the data from the surveys of graduate departments (done
in tandem with the production of the Guide to Graduate
Departments) continues to be used for research briefs on various
issues relating to the academic workplace.
These research brief reports have been
published in Footnotes and are also disseminated
as reprints to departments and to others interested in higher education trends.
Also, the Program continues to analyze secondary data, e.g., National Research Council degree production data, and to
respond to requests from members and other groups. Lastly, she noted that the
Program will be assessing the design, sequencing, collection, analysis, and dissemination
of research with benefit of an Advisory Panel.
Public Affairs and Public Information.
Levine described ongoing activities in Public
Affairs and Public Information. A significant amount of effort has focused on
Census 2000, where Levine is a member of the Advisory Committee as well as the
subcommittee drafting the report. Other key projects include final input to the
NSF Data Infrastructure Initiative, extensive comment on the restructuring of peer
review at the National Institutes of Health, and work on potential challenges to
data sharing policies on Federal grants (by making accessible all forms of
federally-funded data through the Freedom of Information Act). She noted that Census
Director Kenneth Prewitt would be featured at a town meeting on the Census at
the 1999 Annual Meeting.
17. 1998 Budget Reports, Analysis,
and Review
Bonner provided an overview of
1998 revenue and expenditures, noting the projected small surplus instead of the
deficit originally budgeted. Council reviewed the 1998 report, and affirmed that the
budget was on target.
18. 1999 Proposed Budget
Bonner provided a brief summary of
the 1999 budget, as recommended by EOB, and indicated her interest in
entertaining questions. Levine noted that, with
the building sale, expenditures changed from maintaining buildings and grounds
to covering office lease payments. She also noted that the budget covered those
relocation and furniture expenditures that would be incurred in 1999. Council
members asked about journal editorial office costs and differences among the
various editorial offices. They asked that the
next budget report include detailed information on the costs of each of the
editorial offices.
Motion: To approve the 1999
budget. Carried.
Motion: To approve the 1999
Spivack operating budget from the Spivack restricted fund. Carried.
Motion: To amend the Spivack
budget to increase the Congressional Fellowship stipend to $15,000. Carried.
Motion: To authorize Secretary
Bonner to allocate resources from the Rose Fund restricted account up to the amount
requested by the Rose editor. Carried.
19. Follow up Business
Student Forum. Council received an
update on the progress of the Student Forum, which was approved in August 1998 to
enhance the professional life of students in the Association and the discipline.
The Forum has transitional officers in place, will be holding a travel award
competition in the Spring to fund travel to the Annual Meeting, and will convene a
business meeting at the Annual Meeting.
Report from the Advisory Panel on the
Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline (FAD).
The Subcommittee of Council that comprises the Advisory Panel for FAD
reviewed 29 proposals. Four projects and three research conference proposals
are being recommended for funding.
20. Adjournment
The Council adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
on Sunday, February 7.
Classified Ads
I'll bring out the best in your book or paper.
Expert editing for style, clarity, mechanics. Twenty years' experience
including ASR, SPQ, Sociological Theory, Justice Quarterly, Demography.
Karen Feinberg, 5300 Hamilton Avenue, #1704, Cincinnati, OH 45224; (513)
542-8328; kfeinberg@compuserve.com.
|