Vol. 3, Issue 1: October 2020
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Vol.3, Issue 1: October 2020 Zoom Shots! Open Students Meeting with the Executive Committee on Oct. 16, 2020 Hello Everyone -- I am sorry that we are getting this first fall 2020 issue of *The Sociological Imagination* out to you belatedly but, as many or all of you know and are likely to agree, the semester is an ‘over the top’ unusual one. The national political election is hanging over our heads (and let me take this opportunity, given the extraordinary importance of this election, to say PLEASE VOTE!!!). The economy, including of course in New York State, New York City and at and around CUNY, is worrisome and hugely affected by the pandemic. The pandemic itself continues to pose ongoing challenges of many kinds, from health to child care through schooling and job related i as we enter the widely predicted ‘second wave.’ I hope that all of you, and your families and friends, are staying safe and well through all of it . While this newsletter issue is primarily informative -- providing dates to note down for upcoming events, deadlines for fellowships, and the like -- we also hope that it serves as something of a community-solidifying and supportive purpose. For instance, the newsletter gives us another opportunity to welcome first years vis-a-vis brief bio’s below from the new cohort. Rati, Jeremy and I very much wish we could be greeting new students personally in the Sociology Lounge but we look forward to doing so in the future (and making up for the time we lost). But we will endeavor to also keep you apprised in upcoming issues of issues concerning our larger context and what is happening. For obvious reasons, many people report working more slowly than usual given ‘Zoom fatigue’ and many other problems and uncertainties around us right now (I’m feeling this too!). I hope that we are patient with ourselves and each other, and if there was ever a time to be collegial with one another (in the best sense of that term), the present continues to be a time when mutual respect and constructiveness are needed and helpful. I am glad to say that we are continuing with our usual academic gatherings that sometimes (and even given the limitations of Zoom), attract unusually large numbers of attendees. The monthly colloquium has happened twice already, and our next one (see below) is on November 13th. Our workshops are continuing and we will have more PPSS sessions this term. Our immigration speaker series is also happening thanks to Van Tran’s excellent organizing. But, in addition, we have formed a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee (DEI), also headed by Van and with a range of faculty and student members, from and about which you are likely to hear more as the term and year go on. Also, we will be having discussions about budget and admissions, and how we can best help students with financial challenges this year is unfortunately bringing (and about which students have expressed very understandable concerns). I will stay in touch with you about all of it as will Jeremy and Rati. , and will endeavor to keep you as up to date as possible. For now, though, look through the below pages to see what you may want to take note of -- and please join me in re-welcoming the full entering cohort and Maya Tellman and Gabe Haro (who, as first-years, will be assisting me in getting out the Newsletter this year). PLEASE don’t hesitate to write any of us with ideas and information for the next issue (emails for Maya and Gabe are immediately below as is the email for Sage, who helps us greatly with our social media presence). Warm regards to all of you, Lynn Interested in contributing to the Sociological Imagination? This monthly newsletter contains updates from the CUNY Graduate Center's Department of Sociology. It is produced and monitored by Lynn Chancer (Program EO) and her 2020-2021 Graduate Research Assistants, Maya Tellman and Gabriel Haro. If you have suggested content or feedback for the newsletter, or would like to highlight your work and that of others across the GC, please email [email protected] and/or [email protected] and/or [email protected]. Credit goes to Sejung Sage Yim ([email protected]) for publicizing all our student and faculty events and who manages the social media presence for the Ph.D. Program in Sociology. Events, Colloquia, & Workshops October - November 2020 COLLOQUIA Sociology Colloquia Series, November Title: Racism In Our Own Backyard: Black Movements, Antiracist Policy and Changing Racial Discourse in Brazil Speaker: Tianna S. Paschel When: Friday, Nov. 13, 3-5pm Tianna Paschel is an associate professor in the Department of African American Studies and the Department of Sociology at the University of California – Berkeley. She is interested in the intersection of racial ideology, politics, and globalization in Latin America. Her work can be found in the American Journal of Sociology, the Du Bois Review, SOULS: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society, and Ethnic and Racial Studies and various edited volumes. She is also the author of Becoming Black Political Subjects, which draws on ethnographic and archival methods to explore the shift in the 1990s from ideas of unmarked universal citizenship to multicultural citizenship regimes and the recognition of specific rights for black populations by Latin American states. It is the winner of numerous awards including the Herbert Jacob Book Award of the Law and Society Association and the Barrington Moore Book Award of the American Sociological Association (ASA). Professor Paschel is also the co-editor – along with Petra Rivera-Rideau and Jennifer Jones – of Afro-Latin@s in Movement, an interdisciplinary volume that explores transnationalism and blackness in the Americas. EVENTS Immigration Seminar Series Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder Speaker: Margaret M. Chin, Associate Professor of Sociology, Hunter College & Graduate Center Panelist: Vivian S. Louie, Professor of Urban Policy & Planning, CUNY Hunter College & 2021 Distinguished Arc Fellow. When: Friday, Oct. 23, 3:00pm-4:30pm Where: Click to Join the Event The Company We Keep: Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships from Adolescence to Adulthood Speaker: Grace Kao, Chair and IBM Professor of Sociology, Yale University When: Friday, Oct. 30, 3:00pm-4:30pm Where: Click to Join the Event New People, New Places: The Changing Landscape of International Migration in the United States Panelists: Jennifer L. Erickson, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Ball State University Daniel T. Lichter, Ferris Family Professor of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University Helen B. Marrow, Associate Professor of Sociology, Tufts University Abigail Fisher Williamson, Charles A. Dana Research Associate Professor of Political Science and Public Policy & Law, Trinity College When: Friday, Nov. 6, 4:30pm-6:00p.m Where: Click to Join the Event Suspect Citizenship: Race and Racism in Contemporary France Speaker: Jean Beaman, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara When: Friday, Nov. 20, 3:00pm-4:30pm Where: Click to Join the Event JOINT FACULTY/STUDENT AND STUDENT WORKSHOPS Society and Protest Workshop This workshop brings together practitioners, PhD students, and faculty across disciplines in a space to reflect on the role of formal and informal Civil Society in expressing citizen demands. Civil society is itself contested and a battleground; both a site of struggle and organization is the domain of class politics. At the same time, formalized civil society and philanthropy are looking to social movements and critical thinking to open up new possibilities and ways of working. When: Bi-weekly on Thursdays, from 12:00 to 1:30 pm via Zoom (October 22, November 5, November 19, December 3) Contact: If interested, you can RSVP HERE for any and all upcoming sessions. Urban Studies Workshop The Urban Studies Workshop is an informal group of urban sociologists in our department. Everyone is in varying stages of the program, which makes for very product meetings and information sharing. We meet about 4 times every semester and primarily read and give feedback on each other’s writing—be it dissertation chapters, class papers, articles for publication, etc. When: Thursdays, from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm via Zoom (October 22, November 19, December 10) Contact: Kasey Zapatka ([email protected]) Criminology/Deviance/Law/Policy Workshop This is a long standing GC workshop that was run last year by Candace McCoy, Jayne Mooney, Ian Heller and Edwin Grimsley. Future meetings are being planned for this year to start later this term; please write to Lynn Chancer if you’re interested in being added to the list that will be going out soon ([email protected]). Psychosocial Reading Group An international once a month reading and discussion group that is run by Lynn Chancer and Neil McLaughlin with people participating by zoom from Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and other places around the world. Our focus is on how to better understand social and sociological issues from points of view that are respectful of both agency and structure, and that take complex and non-reductionist perspectives on the relationship between psyche and society when it comes to myriad contemporary problems from trauma to social movement. We will also be taking up the rise of populism around the world from the standpoint of psychosocial and cultural perspectives; discussions may lead to an edited volume currently being contemplated on “The Authoritarian Turn.” Write to Lynn Chancer ([email protected]) or Neil McLaughlin ([email protected]) if you are interested in being added to the listserve and wish to receive readings.