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News From Dept. of Sociology/Anthropology/
Criminology
The fall semester is winding down and the holiday season is almost upon us. It’s a wonderful time to be on our beautiful campus. Much has happened since my last newsletter to you in April.
New Office Manager
Emily Crandall joined our department last month. She is originally from West Virginia and, for the last decade, has worked in Champaign as an office manager for a veterinary clinic. We are so fortunate and happy to have her
'Professor' Glassman
This past July, Dr. Jay Gatrell became the twelfth president of EIU, succeeding Dr. David Glassman, who had served as EIU’s president since 2015. This fall, Dr. Glassman joined our department as professor of Anthropology. Prior to entering administration, he had a successful career as a forensic anthropologist (look for him on Forensic Files on CNN), and this semester he has shared his wisdom with EIU students.
Cunningham retires
Longtime instructor Roger Cunningham retired this summer after 18 years of teaching at EIU. Mr. Cunningham joined our department in 2005 after completing a first career in law enforcement that spanned 25 years. He began that career as a police officer and ended it as assistant chief of police of the Charleston Police Department.
Kita publishes book
Assistant Professor of Criminology Mari Kita published a book this fall entitled Offender Care and Support by Families in Contemporary Japan. The book grew out of her dissertation research and focuses on the experiences of families of incarcerated individuals in Japan.
Lovekamp honored
Professor Bill Lovekamp was the recipient of our college’s prestigious Hanner Teaching Excellence Award; if you were fortunate enough to have a class with Professor Lovekamp you understand why he was so honored
Student News
HONORS RECEPTION: We had our annual honors reception last April where we inducted five students into Alpha Kappa Delta, the national honor society for Sociology, and awarded four department scholarships and the William Wood Award. The William Wood Award—our highest student honor—went to Taylor Veach. Taylor graduated in May with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and minors in Sociology and Pre-Law and a perfect 4.0 GPA. Taylor plans to attend law school with a focus on Civil Rights (PHOTO: Clockwise from bottom left: AKD inductee Destinee Carter; Hummel Scholarship recipient Zoe Bowers; Wood Award recipient Taylor Veach; Whittenbarger Scholarship recipient Mersadeez Barrett; Braden Scholarship recipient Marisa Poole).
ISA MEETING: Our campus was host to the Illinois Sociological Association meetings again this November, and once again EIU was well represented: over a dozen of our students participated. This year’s meeting was considerably larger than last year’s and drew faculty and student attendees from thirteen different colleges and universities in the state. The meeting not only afforded our students the valuable opportunity to present their research, but it also gave us an opportunity to showcase EIU and our department to the broader community of Illinois sociologists. For this we can thank our own Assistant Professor Wade Smith, who, as the current president of the Illinois Sociological Association, was responsible for bringing the meeting to our campus.
We need your help!
I hope you will think of us this holiday season. Options for giving to the department include funding one of our four student scholarships: the Stan, Dee and Meagan Braden Scholarship; the Robert and Luz Whittenbarger Scholarship; the Alumni Scholarship; and the Richard and Kathy Hummel Scholarship. To do that, simply select “other gifts” from the dropdown menu and write in the scholarship of your choice in the “special instructions” box. Another option is to support our department gift account, which we use to fund the honors reception, student activities, our annual faculty retreat, and other initiatives including ongoing renovations to our student study space/lounge. Donating to the department’s gift account is even easier—just go to the above link and select our department from the drop-down list. Finally, you can also donate to the department by engraving a brick for EIU’s commemorative courtyard; this is a wonderful way to commemorate your time at EIU, or a loved one, and also support us.
Happy Holidays everyone!
