Welcome to the Department of Sociology's Spring 2018 newsletter! No Images? Click here Chair's GreetingIt is finally springtime in Edmonton - a good time to breathe and reflect on new activities and broad-reaching accomplishments in the Department of Sociology. As always, there is much afoot. We are pleased with this newsletter to highlight innovations to the B.A. Criminology Program and the groundbreaking addition of a Certificate in Applied Social Science Research; celebrate awards such as Dr. Jana Grekul’s McCalla Professorship and the accomplishments of undergraduate Crystal Choi; welcome Dr. Nicole Denier to the department and bid a happy retirement to graduate advisor Nancy Evans; highlight recent research and teaching activities; and showcase events such as the “Keyword: Justice” panel at the upcoming International Sociological Association. I welcome you to peruse the stories below to find out more. Please be in touch at any time. -Sara Dorow The Charlene Marshall Award in SociologyThe Department continues to build toward our goal of a $25,000 endowment in honour of Charlene Marshall, who passed away last August. Charlene served for 26 years as undergraduate advisor, impacting thousands of sociology and criminology students with her dedicated, witty, and collegial approach. Proceeds from the Charlene Marshall Memorial Award Endowment will to go a deserving undergraduate each year to support travel to a conference or other academic learning opportunity. Earlier this year, Charlene's daughter Melanie kick-started the endowment with a donation of $5,000. Since then, a number of alumni, faculty, staff, and friends have joined her. If you have not yet had the opportunity, we invite you to help us reach our goal! Please click here to give. You can also call Annual Giving at (780) 492-7587 or toll free at 1-877-992-7587 for further information or to donate by phone. Thank you. Sociology at ISAUAlberta Sociology will be well represented at the International Sociological Association (ISA) World Congress of Sociology in Toronto, July 15-21. "How the State Shapes Social Movements," one of four specially selected Canada-themed sessions, is organized by Dr. Dominique Clément. PhD student Eva Bogdan is co-organizing a session on “Disasters and Community Engagement” and Dr. Sara Dorow is co-organizing the session “Employment-Related Mobilities in Canada.” A dozen other faculty and graduate students from the department are also presenting their research. We invite all attendees to stop by the department booth at the conference Expo and to attend the special departmental presentation Keyword: JUSTICE on Tuesday, July 17th, 12:30 - 1:30 (Exhibitor Hall C). Three of our faculty will engage in a dynamic discussion of the diverse possibilities and limitations of justice as a key concept in sociological scholarship. A Warm Welcome to Assistant Professor Nicole DenierDr. Nicole Denier brings expertise in labour markets, public policy, gender and sexuality, migration, and quantitative methods. Her work considers the labour market as both an engine and a site of social transformation. To this end, her recent publications have documented sexual orientation inequality in the Canadian labour market, the importance of job loss in spurring geographic mobility across Canada, and the impact of labour market transitions on health in later life. After receiving a PhD in Sociology from McGill University, Nicole joined the Department of Sociology at Colby College as a Postdoctoral Fellow . She is currently conducting a sweeping mixed methods project on sexual orientation inequality in Canadian workplaces and looks forward to advancing work on industrial transformation across North America. She is delighted to join the department as a tenure-track assistant professor. Farewell to Nancy EvansAt the end of May we bid adieu to Nancy Evans, who is retiring after more than thirty years of service to the University. The Department has been fortunate to have Nancy in the position of Graduate Coordinator since 2010. We are very happy that Nancy can now embark on an extended period of well-earned leisure and time with her family, but are sad to see her go. Nancy’s encyclopedic memory, strategic thinking, and no-nonsense warmheartedness have added immeasurably to the experiences of many graduate students and faculty members. She made it her mission to help students and faculty navigate through the often-confusing paperwork of the university bureaucracy, and constantly sought out ways to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and empathy of the graduate office. Nancy is also a supportive mentor and friend to the rest of the staff. We wish her all the best! Introducing the Certificate in Applied Social Science ResearchIn response to the increased need for social research skills, the Department of Sociology has spearheaded the development of the Certificate in Applied Social Science Research at the University of Alberta. Led by Dr. Michelle Maroto and Dr. Gillian Stevens, with assistance from postdoctoral fellow Dr. Erwin Selimos, the Certificate develops students’ research skills through a combination of coursework and hands-on research experience. Course requirements include an overview of methods used in social science research, an in-depth study of at least one methodological approach used in the social sciences, and a grounding in statistical analysis. Students gain firsthand experience through placements in ongoing research projects led by faculty members, government departments, or community organizations. Available to students in all disciplines, the Certificate is set to “go live” in fall 2019. A capstone internship course was piloted this past winter. Students partnered with Capital Region Housing (Edmonton) to study who accesses their social housing services; they formally presented their findings in April.Expansion of the BA Criminology ProgramThe Department's proposed expansion of the BA Criminology program has just received official institutional approval to launch in fall 2019. The new program will grow to accommodate up to 200 students, providing increased access for students entering UAlberta from high school as well as for current undergraduate students interested in applying. The program retains a competitive field placement stream that provides students the opportunity to complete two hands-on, for-credit internships with a range of local criminal justice organizations. Exciting new course offerings include a mandatory Native Studies course and a third-year special topics course taught on a rotating basis by PhD candidates in the Department. Several other criminology courses - on policing, gangs, and prisons - are currently being developed. Students in the expanded program will also be able to participate in a number of experiential learning opportunities and an annual student-led conference. AwardsMany congratulations to recent award winners in the Department. Crystal Choi, recent BA Criminology graduate, has earned two of the highest accolades from the Faculty of Arts: the Douglas E. Smith Medal in Arts and the Governor General's Silver Medal. (Crystal is also an accomplished aerial artist.) Dr. Jana Grekul has been awarded a three-year University of Alberta McCalla Professorship (which recognizes outstanding contributions to the integration of research and teaching) as well as the University's Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Dr. Amy Kaler was this year's recipient of the Faculty of Arts Research Excellence (Full Professor) award. Dr. Leslie Cove garnered the 2018 Faculty of Arts Contract Instructor Teaching Award. Dr. Jeff Brassard was awarded the Department's Bill Meloff Teaching Award (Contract Instructor) and elected to contribute the associated funds to the Charlene Marshall Memorial Award. Thank you, Jeff! New Publications: Focus on Theory & CultureGeorge Pavlich, 2018. ‘Restorative Justice and the Rights of the Accused’, Restorative Justice: An International Journal Robyn Lee, 2018. 'Breastfeeding and Sexual Difference: Queering Irigaray', Feminist Theory Richard Westerman, 2018. 'Intentionality and the Aesthetic Attitude,' British Journal of Aesthetics Where are they now? Dr. Melinda MillsAfter studying sociology and demography for her M.A. at the University of Alberta, Dr. Melinda Mills went on to receive her PhD in Demography with distinction from the University of Groningen in 2000. She subsequently worked at the University of Bielefeld (Germany) and University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) before moving in 2014 to the University of Oxford, where she is currently Chair of the Department of Sociology. Her research focuses on the analysis of inequality and life course, and on statistical methods to study these processes, using large-scale databases from various countries. She has been Editor-in-Chief of International Sociology and, more recently, the European Sociological Review. Dr. Mills currently leads several large projects in the emerging area of sociogenomics, which combines sociology with molecular genetics. This includes a European Research Council funded project ‘SOCIOGENOME’ and a National Centre for Research Methods project on teaching sociogenomics to social scientists. She is currently an Executive Council member of the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council and a member of the highest supervisory Board of the Dutch National Science Foundation. 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