2012newsletter

DUKE SOCIOLOGY
Spring 2012 NOTE FROM THE CHAIR
Sociology at Duke had another productive and visible year. Our faculty continue
to be visible and active in extramural funding (over 10 new grants in the past

DUKE SOCIOLOGY
year), scholarly output, and university and national visibility. The faculty are
extraordinary in the high rate of co-authorship with graduate students. Our
graduate students also had an exceptional year with many publications and
professional presentations, and five new NSF dissertation improvement awards.
Our administrative and IT staff continue to be models of efficiency and
professionalism.
Two new faculty members joined our community in July. Matt Bradshaw (Ph.D.
UT Austin, 2008) joined us after a two year post-doctoral fellowship at the
Carolina Population Center. Matt’s teaching and research interests center in
biodemography, health, genetic epidemiology, religion and quantitative
methods. Steve Vaisey (Ph.D., UNC Chapel Hill, 2008) joined us from the
University of California at Berkeley, where he has been an assistant professor for
the past two years. His specializations include cultural sociology, the origins and
consequences of different moral world views, and statistical techniques for set
In this Issue: theoretic analysis.

Note from the Chair 1 Two other of our faculty have recently or will soon transition to emeritus status.
Nan Lin transitioned to emeritus status July 1, 2011. Nan has multiple decades of
Feature News 2 contributions to research on social networks, social capital, stratification and
Working Groups 2
mobility, mental health, and China. We will honor Nan at a reception in New
York City at the Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Association in
New Faculty Spotlight 3 August 2013. Miller McPherson will transition to emeritus status July 1, 2012.
Miller has multiple decades of contributions to literatures on voluntary groups
Faculty News 5
and associations, social networks, his general ecological theory of affiliation
Postdoc News 14 (including Blau Space!), and quantitative methodology. We will honor Miller in
the future at a time and place to be announced.
Recent Job Placements 15
The departmental transitions extend to my office. I am in the last months of my
Recent Ph.D. Recipients 16
term as chair. I owe many people thank you’s. Grateful acknowledgement goes to
New Graduate Students 17 Deans Laurie Patton and Angela O’Rand. They always listened to us carefully and
supported us in recent years of budget cuts and reorganization. I warmly thank
Graduate Student News 18 our staff---Theresa Shouse, Lisa Palmano, Jessica Ellington, Bob Jackson, Rob
Undergraduate News 25 Marks, and Jesse Riggan---who work exceptionally hard on our behalf behind the
scenes. I thank my faculty colleagues, for their patience and support, and for their
Senior Honors Students 26 endless willingness to roll up their sleeves and go to work on behalf of our
collective endeavor. I thank our graduate students, for they too contribute
mightily to our collective sense of community and our accomplishments. I
Sociology Department
Duke University
reserve special thanks to our departmental officers during the past three years,
Jim Moody as Director of Graduate Studies, Linda Burton and Becki Bach as
Directors of Undergraduate Studies, and Lisa Keister as Director of Markets and

Management Studies. They give heroically of their students who consistently serve as effective mentors. This
professional time and energy, and did exceptional jobs award includes a $2000 honorarium. Victor Ray was also
in their respective leadership roles. Finally, I thank my selected as a 2012-2013 ASA Minority Fellow. This
wife Barbara for her support and willingness to give up prestigious fellowship is aimed at increasing the diversity
family time to the chair role, sometimes including of the discipline. In addition to a year of funding, the
nights and weekends. fellowship provides training and networking
opportunities at the ASA annual meeting.
Finally, it is a pleasure to announce that Eduardo
Bonilla-Silva has accepted an appointment as the Working Groups &
new chair of Sociology, effective July 1, 2012. Eduardo
Collaborative Centers Thrive
is an accomplished scholar of racial stratification,
theory, critical race methods, political sociology, Economic Sociology Workshop
Latinos, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Economic sociology is one of Duke’s traditional and
epistemology. Eduardo, from all of Sociology’s internal current research strengths. The department’s new
and external audiences, we wish you the best in your economic sociology workshop facilitates dialogue among
term as chair! department members on topics in this large and growing
-Ken Spenner sociology subfield. We define economic sociology
broadly, and recent talks highlight both that breadth and
the excellent work being done by faculty and graduate
FEATURED NEWS students in our department. This semester’s topics have
included networks and power in Chinese homeowner
Rebecca Bach Wins Teaching Award associations (Qiang Fu), labor markets and wage
inequality (Ryan Finnigan), racial implications of
segmentation in the U.S. financial services market (Kieran
Healy), networks among sex workers in India (Dave
Brady), and immigrant bounded solidarity and wealth
accumulation (Paige Borelli). Upcoming talks will address
equally important topics: Gary Gereffi: global commodity
chains (March 28), Jake Fisher: organizational
isomorphism, and Megan Reynolds: county-level job
losses and student suspension rates (April 11), Hang
Young Lee: adoption of corporate social responsibility
among Korean Firms (April 25). The groups will meet at
12:00pm in the McKinney conference room in the Soc-
Rebecca Bach has won the Southern Sociological Psyh Bldg. Contact Lisa Keister for additional information
(lkeister@soc.duke.edu).
Society's (SSS) Distinguished Contributions to Teaching
award. This award recognizes outstanding classroom
teaching and honors individuals whose contributions go Race Workshop
beyond their institutions to benefit the discipline as a Now in its fourth year, Sociology’s Race Workshop has
whole. This award includes the opportunity for Becki maintained its role as a crucial space for the vanguard of
to arrange a session at the 2013 SSS annual meeting. race scholarship. For the 2011-2012 academic year, the
Workshop is honored to collaborate with the Social
Victor Ray Wins 2012 Dean’s Award Science Research Institute to bring in a wonderful slate of
For Excellence in Mentoring outside scholars to present at the workshop. The
Workshop also appreciates the financial support of the
Congratulations to Victor Ray who is the recipient of the
Sociology and African/African-American Studies
2012 Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring by a
departments, and the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Laurie
graduate student! The mentoring award recognizes the
Patton, all of which have helped expand the scope of the
considerable efforts and accomplishments of graduate
Race Workshop.
~2~

Market & Management Studies
Markets and Management Studies (MMS), which is
housed in sociology, remains Duke’s largest certificate
program (similar to an interdisciplinary minor). With
more than 600 enrolled students, it is larger than all other
undergraduate certificate programs combined. The
program meets the needs of undergraduates wanting to
study business, management, organizations and
organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, and related
issues. MMS exposes students to cutting-edge research
and provides opportunities to engage in real-world
In the fall of 2011, the workshop enjoyed presentations experiences both at home and globally in a range of areas.
from Charles Mills, professor of philosophy at MMS allows students with interests in business and
Northwestern, Robert Turner, a postdoc from UNC, related areas to take a series of courses that are relevant to
Claudia Milian, professor of Romance Studies at Duke, these career paths and to learn many of the skills that will
and our own Sarah Mayorga. In the spring, the workshop enable them to succeed in more applied areas. What is
is looking forward to a great lineup of presentations, perhaps most unique about MMS is that although it
bringing in scholars Larry Bobo, Tanya Golash-Boza, prepares students for some applied fields, it retains a
Jonathan Metzl, and Howard Winant. We will also host strong focus on a liberal arts approach to these areas, as
Duke’s own Dean Patton and Thavolia Glymph at future evidenced by the centrality of courses from various core
workshops. Lastly, members of the Race Workshop are disciplines (e.g., sociology, political science, economics).
working with students from UNC and NCCU to organize
an interdisciplinary graduate student conference on race
in March 2012. The conference is being partially funded
New Faculty Spotlight
by a Kenan-Biddle grant encouraging collaboration We are pleased to have Matthew Bradshaw and Stephen
between Duke and UNC. This will be a great way for Vaisey join our sociology family! They offer unique
local scholars of race and ethnicity to meet and build research interests and skill sets that will enhance the scope
stronger connections between the three schools. of faculty work and students’ overall learning. Both
Bradshaw and Vaisey were panelists on a job market
workshop sponsored by the Graduate Student Forum.
Duke Network Analysis Center
Matthew Bradshaw
This year marks the second year for the new Duke
Network Analysis Center (DNAC), based on generous
funding from the university. This is an excellent
opportunity for graduate students interested in
interdisciplinary work, and S. Joshua Mendelsohn and
post-doc David Diehl (Phd 2011, Stanford) have been
actively coordinating work on the center. DNAC seeks to
build a community of network scholars across programs
at Duke, with significant attention to graduate student
funding and training. Opportunities for network research
abound at Duke, making this a perfect place for linking
broad substantive interests in sociology, political science
Matt joined the sociology faculty in Fall 2011 after
or public health to a rigorous tool-set. To help foster this
earning his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at
graduate community, Jim Moody has worked with a long-
Austin and completing a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the
standing working group of graduate students who share
Carolina Population Center. His research focuses on three
and comment on each other’s work.
interrelated topics: (1) gene-environment interplay and

~3~

health; (2) genetic and other biological influences on Predict the Use of Complementary and Alternative
religious life; and (3) religion and health. Medicine among US Adults.” Preventive Medicine.
In the first area, Bradshaw is working on a manuscript Stephen Vaisey
(with Felicia Tian) examining sex differences in
depressive symptoms. Findings suggest that social,
psychological, and genetic risk factors for depression are
all more common among women compared with men,
and that these account for observed sex differences. Matt
is also working on a paper (with Melanie Sereny) that
examines the psychosocial correlates of subjective SES in
an attempt to understand how it is linked with health net
of objective aspects of social status.
Bradshaw’s research on biology and religion has shown
that genetic and environmental factors both contribute to
individual differences on a variety of religious outcomes.
His current work attempts to explain these findings by Steve Vaisey joined the sociology department Fall 2011,
mapping the potential pathways of genetic influences, as but he is already feeling very much at home. Prior to
well as examining whether they interact with arriving at Duke, he was an Assistant Professor at UC
environmental contexts. Findings from one working Berkeley. The main goal of his research is to understand
paper suggest that genetic influences function, in part, by the varieties, origins, and consequences of different moral
shaping psychological characteristics such as extraversion, worldviews. He also has conducted research on 1970s
agreeableness, and sociality, which subsequently affect communes, religion and marijuana use, educational
religious behaviors. Findings from a second manuscript overqualification, gene-environment interactions, and the
suggest that genetic factors are stronger in contexts where relationship between poverty and educational aspirations,
social forces are weaker (e.g., the west coast of the US), among other topics. Essentially, he is interested in the
and less influential in settings where cultural norms are role of culture and cognition in explaining human
powerful (e.g., the southern portion of the US known as behavior.
the “Bible Belt”). In the past few months, Vaisey was awarded a $400,000
With respect to research on religion and health, Bradshaw grant from the John Templeton Foundation to lead a team
recently completed a manuscript showing that support of 12 sociologists and psychologists to improve the
from others in one’s congregation and a perceived measurement of moral worldviews. This project involves
intimate relationship with God both buffer against the a conference on measurement and two separate data
deleterious effects of financial hardship on psychological collections aimed at piloting and fielding existing and new
well-being in late life. To fund this research, he submitted measures of moral differences in the United States.
an NIH proposal (with Margarita Mooney of UNC-Chapel In addition to the grant, Vaisey continues to pursue his
Hill). The proposed research will examine the other work on morality, culture, and cognition. Among
relationships between religion, stress, and psychological other things, he is working hard on a book manuscript
well-being using four waves of Add Health data. (tentatively titled Worldview: How Culture Shapes Moral
In addition to his research activities, Matt helped organize Judgment and Action).
the Jensen Seminar Series (with Phil Morgan). He Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
recently joined the editorial board of Sociology of
Religion. Vaisey, Stephen and Margaret Frye. Forthcoming. “Theory
and Psychology entitled "The Old One-Two: Preserving
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: Analytical Dualism.” Psychological Sociology."
Ellison, Christopher G., Matt Bradshaw, and Cheryl A. Stephen Vaisey. 2010. “What People Want: Rethinking
Roberts. Forthcoming. “Spiritual and Religious Identities Poverty, Culture, and Educational Attainment,” Annals of

~4~

the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 629:75- May (previous lectures have been delivered by notables
101. such as William Julius Wilson, Anne Stoler, and
Alejandro Portes). Lastly, he was invited by the Sociology
Stephen Vaisey and Omar Lizardo. 2010. “Can Cultural department at Penn to be the 2011-2012 Distinguished
Worldviews Influence Network Composition?,” Social Visiting Professor and, as such, will teach two graduate
Forces, 88 (4): 1595-1618. seminars in the spring of 2012.

FACULTY NEWS Bonilla-Silva has continued his public intellectual work by
delivering in 2011 keynotes before the Southern
Rebecca Bach Sociological Society, Michigan Sociological Association,
Association of Black Sociologists, and the “Afro-Latin@s
Rebecca Bach continues to direct the undergraduate Now! Strategies for Visibility and Action” conference held
program in the department of sociology. In 2011 she in New York. He also delivered keynotes or lectures at
developed a pretest/posttest assessment tool for use in Hamilton College, Appalachian State University, Emory,
ongoing evaluations of the undergraduate program. She and the sociology department at The Ohio State
presented the paper, “Motherhood in the Context of University. The titles of some of his keynotes show the
Domestic Violence: A Shelter Study” at the annual range of his concerns these days, “The Real ‘Race
meeting of the American Sociological Association in Problem’ in Sociology: The Power of White Rule in our
August 2011. She was invited to present a feminist Discipline,” “It’s Real! Racism, Discrimination, and Color
critique of one of the proposals received by Erin Olin Blindness in Obamerica,” “The Invisible Weight of
Wright for his ASA theme on Real Utopias in a session Whiteness: The Racial Grammar of Everyday Life in
organized by Wright and Catherine Berheide at the America,” and “Notes on Race in the Americas by a
winter meeting of the Sociologists for Women in Society. Negrito Acomplejao.”
Bach recently learned that she will receive the Southern
Sociological Society’s Distinguished Contributions to For students interested in coming to Duke to work with
Teaching Award in 2013. Bonilla-Silva, he is working, or contemplating to work,
on projects such as: (1) a textbook on race and ethnicity
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: with David G. Embrick (Loyola at Chicago) under
Bach, Rebecca and Julianne Weinzimmer. 2011. contract with Rowman and Littlefield, (2) a book on his
“Exploring the Benefits of Community-based Research in work on “racial grammar,” (3) a paper on race matters in
a Sociology of Sexualities Course.” Teaching Sociology, 39 the Americas, (4) a paper on the politics of Afro-
(1): 57-72. Latinidades in the USA, (5) a grant proposal to examine
the “racial formations” of multiple cities in the USA, (6)
Bach. “Can’t Nobody Take that Away from Me: updating his papers on the Latin Americanization of racial
Motherhood in the Context of Domestic Violence.” stratification in the USA and racism in the world-system,
Under review. (7) a paper based on his keynote speeches on white rule in
American sociology, (8) his slow-book-in-the-making on
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva race, methods, and sociology, and (9) updating his work
on the Obama phenomenon for the 2012 Presidential
Bonilla-Silva’s fifth book, The State of White Supremacy: campaign.
Racism, Governance, and the United States with Moon-Kie
Jung (Urbana-Champaign) and Joao Costa Vargas Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
(Texas), was published in 2011 by Stanford Press. He
Bonilla-Silva Eduardo and Austin Ashe. “The End of
received several distinctions last year such the Founders’
Racism? Forthcoming. Colorblind-Racism and Popular
Award for Scholarship and Service given by the Section of
Media in Post-Civil Rights America.” In Sarah E. Turner
Racial and Ethnic Minorities of ASA, Duke’s Dean’s Award
(Ed). Colorblind Screen, University of Vermont.
for Excellence in Mentoring, and the ASA Cox-Johnson-Frazier
Award for his work in the tradition of Oliver Cox, Charles Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo and Louise Seamster. 2012. “The
Johnson, and Franklin Frazier (he is the youngest Sweet “The Sweet Enchantment of Color Blindness in Black Face:
recipient of this award). He also delivered the Ethnic and Explaining the ‘Miracle,’ Debating the Politics, and
Racial Studies Annual Lecture at City University London in
~5~

Suggesting a Way for Hope to be ‘For Real’ in America,” with rising gross domestic product per capita. Yet, since
in Special Issue of Political Power and Social Theory. the early 1980s, government spending as a percent of
GDP declined in the typical year in affluent democracies.
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Forthcoming 2012. “The Invisible The analyses show that government expanded as a result
Weight of Whiteness: The Racial Grammar of Everyday of power resources and despite structural pressures in the
Life in Contemporary America.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. 1970s and 1980s, but declined mostly due to institutions
after the 1980s. Also, the paper demonstrates that
David Brady government spending no longer grows with a rising GDP
David Brady’s current research clusters into three broad per capita in affluent democracies. Finally, with Thomas
areas: 1) poverty; 2) work, labor and economic Mustillo, he is investigating how globalization has shaped
sociology; and 3) political sociology, social policy and democracy in Latin American since the 1970s. This paper
political economy. In the area of poverty, he is editing a will include economic, political and institutional
volume with colleague Linda Burton that is provisionally dimensions of globalization and aims to move beyond the
titled, The Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Society. This longstanding focus in the democratization literature on
volume aims to be a key reference across the social domestic factors.
sciences of poverty, and will be both interdisciplinary and Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
international. Also, he is involved in a longer term project
on working poverty in the U.S. One paper in this project Brady, David and Rebekah Burroway. Forthcoming.
is with graduate students Regina Baker and Ryan “Targeting, Universalism and Single Mother Poverty: A
Finnigan. This paper examines the influence of state-level Multi-Level Analysis Across 18 Affluent Democracies.”
unionization on individual-level working poverty in the Demography.
U.S. 1991-2004. The results show that the effects of
Reynolds, Megan M. and David Brady. Forthcoming.
unionization are more important than economic
“Bringing You More Than the Weekend: Union
performance and social policies, and that unionization
Membership and Self-Rated Health in the U.S.” Social
reduces working poverty for both unionized and non-
Forces.
unionized households.
Brady, David, Yunus Kaya, and Gary Gereffi. 2011.
In the area of work, labor and economic sociology, he is
“Stagnating Industrial Employment in Latin America.”
involved in a multi-method study of female sex work in
Work and Occupations, 38:179-220.
India. One paper with Kim Blankenship and Monica
Biradavolu examines how social relations affect the
number of clients of and payment received by female sex
workers. We use this study to advance the embeddedness
literature by developing a novel typology of intimate,
solidaristic, coercive and transactional relations.
In the area of political sociology, social policy and political
economy, he is working on a number of projects. One
paper with Ryan Finnigan examines the effects of
immigration on social policy attitudes in affluent
democracies. This paper analyzes three measures of
immigration and six social policy attitudes with survey Linda Burton
data from 1996 and 2006 for 17 affluent democracies. Linda Burton continues to enjoy her work with
Contrary to much recent literature, the results mostly fail undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral
to support the hypothesis that immigration undermines fellows at Duke and is particularly excited about co-
public support for the welfare state. In another paper directing a highly successful program on secondary
with graduate student Hang Young Lee, he is investigating analysis of ethnographic data for graduate students at
the sources of declining government spending in affluent North Carolina Central University. She recently received
democracies. One of the enduring conclusions of political grants from the National Science Foundation to continue
economy is that the state tends to grow over time and her research on the social, cultural, and contextual forces
~6~

that shape the romantic unions of America’s poor, and Bai Gao
from the MacArthur and William T Grant Foundations to
examine the impact of housing on family and child Bai Gao continues his work on China. Last Fall, he gave a
development. During this past year, Burton presented a talk called “The Changing International Environment for
keynote address at the Rural Sociological Society and at a China’s Blue Ocean Strategy” at Shanghai University of
number of national conferences including the annual Finance and Economics. He and graduate students,
meeting of the American Sociological Association and the Xiaohan Xu and Paige Borelli, have signed a book contact
National Academy of Sciences. She currently serves on with the British publisher Polity for a book titled, The
the Child Maltreatment Research, Policy, and Practice for the Chinese Model of Economic Development. Gao also edited
Next Decade Workshop Planning Committee for the another book manuscript titled, Social Construction of
Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council, Competitive Advantage: China’s Industrial Upgrading.
the Board of Directors for the Council on Contemporary Selected Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
Families, the Advisory Board of the National Center on
Marriage Research, and the Minority Fellowship Advisory Gao, Bai. The High Speed Rail and China’s Grand Strategy in
Panel for the American Sociological Association. She also the 21 Century (in Chinese). Forthcoming. 2012. Beijing
was recently appointed to the editorial board of the China: Social Science Literature Press.
American Sociological Review. Burton is co-editor (with
Gao, Bai. “International Monetary Regime and Domestic
David Brady) for the Oxford Handbook of Poverty and Society
Political Economy: The Origin of the Global Financial
and spends quite of bit of time writing these days:
Crisis.” Forthcoming. 2012. In Karin Knorr Cetina and
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: Alex Preda, eds., The Oxford Handbook for the Sociology of
Finance. Oxford University Press.
Burton, L.M. & Hardaway, C. R. Forthcoming. “Low-
income mothers as ‘othermothers’ to their romantic Gao, Bai. “The High Speed Rail and China’s Grand
partners’ children: Women’s coparenting in multiple Strategy in the 21 Century.” (In Chinese). Economic
partner fertility unions.” Family Process. Observer. March, 2011.
Cross-Barnet, C., Cherlin, A., & Burton, L.M. 2011. Linda K. George
“Bound by children: Intermittent cohabitation and living
together apart.” Family Relations, 60:633-647 Linda K. George is broadly interested in the social
structures and social processes that affect individual well-
Burton, L.M. & Stack, C.B. 2011. “Ethnography: A being. Among the social structures most closely linked to
method that “rocks our soul.” NCFR Reports, 55:F5-F8 well-being are socioeconomic status (SES), gender and
race/ethnicity. Social position, in turn, is strongly linked
Mark Chaves to the major risk and protective factors that more
Mark Chaves’s most recent book, American Religion: proximally determine health and well-being. Among the
Contemporary Trends was published by Princeton University risk and protective factors that George investigates are
Press in September, 2011. He also received a grant from stressful life conditions, social relationships, and social
the Lilly Endowment for $850,000 to launch the third integration/civic engagement. The outcomes of her
wave of the National Congregations Study (NCS), a research include mental health, especially depression,
survey of a nationally representative sample of religious physical health, disability, and mortality. The effects of
congregations from across the religious spectrum. The some social structures cannot be observed within societies,
NCS’s third wave also will be supported by the Pew but are placed in bold relief by comparative research.
Forum on Religion and Public Life, RAND Corporation, George is also investigates well-being in comparative
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture at perspective, focusing on macro-level factors including
IUPUI, Church Music Institute, and Duke University. economic development, income inequality, and the status
The survey will be fielded in 2012.” Mark Chaves book of women. Much of her research focuses on social
American Religion: Contemporary Trends has won the 2012 pathways of vulnerability and resilience that lead to
Christianity Today Book Award, in the category of different health and well-being destinations.
"Christianity and Culture." Another recent area of research is global health and aging.
George is co-investigator of a grant that examines the
~7~

health and life quality of the “oldest old” (persons age 80 (2) an ongoing collaboration with the Environmental
and older) in China. Five waves of data have been Defense Fund and other sponsors on clean (low-carbon)
collected at three year intervals. The sample size is large technologies and U.S. jobs; (3) a project on “Clean
(11,000+ per each wave) and the survey content is both energy, U.S. competitiveness, and the role of coal” with
broad and deep. George, in collaboration with Yi Zeng, is the Bank of America; (4) food safety and quality standards
examining a variety of research questions with these data in several global food and agricultural value chains; and
including the relationship between religious participation, (5) the competitiveness of North Carolina industries in
which is very different from Western religions, and the global economy, utilizing a value chain perspective.
health; gender differences in health and longevity; and
urban/rural differences in health and well-being. Recently, Gereffi gave a keynote address in Mexico City
titled, “Latin America's Prospects for Upgrading in Global
George remains heavily involved in working with Value Chains," co-sponsored by the World Bank, the
graduate students. She currently chairs or co-chairs the Inter-American Development Bank, OECD, and the UN
dissertation committees of five graduate students, serves Economic Commission on Latin America. He also gave a
on the dissertation committees of several others, and colloquium, "Globalization and development in a post-
works closely with two students who are pre-dissertation. Washington Consensus World" at Brown University.
George is a recipient of the Distinguished Mentorship
Award of the Graduate School here and has also been Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
awarded the Distinguished Mentorship Award of the Gereffi, Gary, Karina Fernandez-Stark and Phil Psilos.
Gerontological Society of America. Her latest award is 2011. “Skills for Upgrading: Workforce Development
the Lifetime Career Award from the Gerontological and Global Value Chains in Developing Countries.”
Society of America (2010). Durham, NC: Duke University, Center on Globalization,
George is active in professional societies and related Governance & Competitiveness.
organizations. She is Past President of the Gerontological Gereffi, Gary, Karina Fernandez-Stark and Phil Psilos.
Society of America. She is Past Chair of the Life Course 2011. “Shifting End Markets and Upgrading Prospects in
and Aging Section and Past Chair of the Sociology of Global Value Chains.” Special issue of International Journal of
Mental Health Section of the American Sociological Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 4, Nos.
Association. She continues as co-editor of the Handbook of 1/2/3.
Aging and the Social Sciences.
Gereffi, Gary. 2011. “Global value chains and inter-
Selected Recent/Forthcoming Publications: national competition.” The Antitrust Bulletin, 56(1):37-56.
George, L.K. 2010. “Still Happy After All These Years:
Research Frontiers on Subjective Well-Being in Later Lisa Keister
Life.” Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 65B:331-339. Lisa Keister continues to do research on wealth
Zeng, Y., Gu, D., & George, L.K. 2011. Association of ownership in the United States and firm behavior in
Religious Participation with Mortality among Chinese China. Her research on wealth ownership and
Old Adults. Research on Aging, 33: 31-83. accumulation explores the various processes that lead to
asset accumulation and debt. She has studied work,
Dupre, M.E. & George, L.K. 2011. “Exceptions to the family, intergeneration, educational, and cultural
Rule: Exceptional Health among the Disadvantaged.” influences on asset ownership and resulting inequalities in
Research on Aging, 33:115-144. wealth. Her recent work has focused on the important
role that religious belief and practice plays in shaping
Gary Gereffi saving, investment, and accumulation. She is currently
organizing a conference on religion and inequality (to be
Gary Gereffi’s ongoing research includes: (1) economic, held September 2012 at Duke), and she is working on
social and environmental upgrading in global production papers on consumption and fringe banking, debt and
networks, including a 3-year project with the UK’s luxury fever, and the social origins of financial crises.
Department for International Development (DFID) on Keister´s work on China focuses on the process by which
“Capturing the Gains: Economic and Social Upgrading in firms are making the transition to a market economy. She
Global Production Networks and Trade” (2009-2012);
~8~

continues to study interfirm relations during transition, Kail. In addition, the grant supports one pre-doctoral
the emergence of banks and financial markets, and the student in Economics, one in Public Policy Studies, and
effect of changing organizational practices on workers and one post-doctoral fellow in Biology.
inequality. Keister is also director of the Markets and
Management Program. Ken continues his work on research and development
pertaining to a Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI)
Selected Recent/Forthcoming Publications: to track changes in numerous social indicators of the well-
being of children and youth in the United States over the
Keister, Lisa A. and Darren E. Sherkat, (eds.) In 34 years since 1975. Currently working with Ken on this
progress. Religion and Inequality. Cambridge University project are Duke Sociology doctoral student Qiang Fu and
Press. Vicki Lamb, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology at North
Keister, Lisa A. (Ed.) Forthcoming. Religion, Work, and Carolina Central University and Research Scientist at
Money. Research in the Sociology of Work. Duke. The CWI project is supported by the Foundation
for Child Development in New York City. Its annual
reports receive substantial general public exposure and
Keister, Lisa A. 2011. Faith and Money: How Religious press coverage. The project has produced a number of
Belief Contributes to Wealth and Poverty. Cambridge
peer-reviewed journal articles and a book is now under
University Press. preparation for publication.
Ken also continues to be very active in the development
and empirical application of new models and methods in
demography, aging, criminology, and social statistics.

Selected Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
Zheng, Hui, Yang Yang, and Kenneth C. Land. 2011.
“Heterogeneity in the Strehler-Mildvan General Theory
of Mortality and Aging.” Demography, 48:267-290.
Patricia L. McCall, Kenneth C. Land, and Karen F.
Ken Land Parker. 2011. “Heterogeneity in the Rise and Decline of
City-Level Homicide Rates, 1976-2005: A Latent
John Franklin Crowell Professor, Ken Land, serves as Trajectory Analysis.” Social Science Research, 40:363-
Director of the Center for Population Health and Aging in 378.
the Duke Population Research Institute (DuPRI). Ken
recently finished a three-year term (2007-2010) as Editor Zheng, Hui, Yang Yang, and Kenneth C. Land 2011
of Demography. With the assistance of twelve Deputy “Variance Function Regression in Hierarchical Age-
Editors, all but two at Duke, the efficiency of reviews at Period-Cohort Models: Applications to the Study of Self-
Demography was greatly improved. In response this, new Reported Health,” American Sociological Review,
submissions increased by more than 50 percent from 76:955-983.
2007 to 2010, to about 300 per year. Current issues of
Demography also have been expanded in size by about 50 Miller McPherson
percent to make room for the additional articles accepted
for publication. Two articles published in the American Sociological Review
and one in Contexts are the first results from the NSF-
Ken is Principal Investigator of the National Institute on funded study of Miller McPherson’s theory of group
Aging-funded T32 Training Grant in Social, Medical, and affiliations. Another paper co-authored with Jeff Smith
Economic Demography of Aging, which recently was and Lynn Smith-Lovin (on his favorite topic, homophily)
renewed for a five-year period, 2011-2016. This training currently has a revise-and-resubmit at American Sociological
grant currently supports three pre-doctoral graduate Review. He is working with graduate students on several
students in Sociology, Wendy Brynildsen, Ryan Finnigan, more. There seems to be tremendous interest in this line
and Melanie Sereny, and one post-doctoral fellow, Ben of work—there were over 12,000 Google hits on the title

~9~

of the 2006 ASR paper, “Social Isolation in America,” and Centers for Foreign Language and Area Studies, member
the Annual Review of Sociology paper on networks that of the Executive Committee of the Coalition for
McPherson, Smith-Lovin and Cook did a few years ago International Education (Washington, DC), member of
(“Birds of a Feather”) is now the second most cited the Board of the Scholars at Risk Network (New York
chapter in the history of the journal. McPherson and City), and member of the Board of Venice
Smith-Lovin are currently carrying out a survey International University (Italy). This fall Merk spoke at
experiment in the 2010 GSS that will help determine Cornell on “Latin American Studies: Past, Present, and
whether or not the downward trend in close ties is real, Future,” for the 50th anniversary celebration of the
or is created by context effects, and will write a paper Cornell Center for Latin American and Caribbean
with Peter V. Marsden of Harvard. Studies.
McPherson also has data from his re-interview study Select Recent/Forthcoming publications:
(funded by the Human and Social Dynamics program at
NSF), which will create the first ever nationally Merkx, Gilbert and Hans de Wit. Forthcoming 2012.
representative panel data on voluntary affiliation at two “The History of Internationalization of Higher Education:
points in time and additional life history calendar data Europe and the United States.” In Darla Deardorff, Hans
which will allow an unprecedented dynamic analyses of de Wit, John Heyl and Tony Adams, (Eds.) The Sage
the co-evolution of networks and voluntary memberships. Handbook of International Higher Education.
The study, called the National Voluntary Association Merkx, Gilbert. Forthcoming 2012. “International and
Survey, will allow the first national-level test of his Area Studies: Past, Present, and Future,” in Area Studies;
ecological evolutionary theory of association. Relevant or Obsolete? University of Michigan
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: International Institute.

McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Matthew E. James Moody
Brashears. 2009. “Of Models and Marginals: Studying
Social Networks with Survey Data.” American Sociological James Moody continues his work on the dynamics of
Review. 74(3):670-81. social networks, focusing on diffusion over dynamic social
networks and network visualization, primarily in the areas
McPherson, Miller, Lynn Smith-Lovin, and Matthew E. of adolescent network development and methods/models
Brashears. 2008. “Loosening the Ties That Bind: Do for sexual networks and STI diffusion. This work
People Have Fewer Confidants Than They Had Two proceeds on multiple fronts funded by NSF, NIH, NIDA
Decades Ago?” Contexts, 7:32-36. & Robert Woods Johnson (RWJ).

Gilbert Merkx For the adolescent network project, on-going projects
included wrapping up a major grant from NSF/HSD to
Gil Merkx continues to wear several administrative hats, study the dynamic of youth networks (with Dan
serving as Director of International and Area Studies, McFarland, Stanford & Scott Gest, PSU). Here the team
Director of the Islamic Studies Center, Director of the worked on building cross-level models for network
Center for International Studies, and Director of the John evolution that can ultimately account for sustenance of
hope Franklin Center for International and peer cultures in youth networks. Graduate student Jeff
Interdisciplinary Studies. He sits on the Committee on Smith is a primary collaborator on that project, working
Facilities and Environment, the Library Council, the on a new statistical model for multi-level network
Academic Space Planning Committee, and the Advisory formation processes, a key paper from this project is
Board of the Global Health Institute. He also is PI on a currently R&Rd at ASR. The PROSPER Peers project
Carnegie Corporation grant supporting a project on the (NIDA; with collaborators at Penn State), Moody is
dissemination of research about Islam in transcultural mapping network trajectories over time to understand the
perspective. linkages between peer network structure and substance
use. For example, in a recent paper with Duke graduate
In addition, Merkx serves as Treasurer of the Association student Wendy Brynildsen and others in Social Networks,
of International Education Administrators (AIEA), Co- he shows that status dynamics in the school network are
Chairman of the Council of Title VI National Resource significant predictors of substance use. Graduate students
~10~

Robin Gauthier and Jake Fisher are also key collaborators analysis, soc of science work on trends in scientific
on this project, working on gender differences in local disciplines, and new tools for visualizing networks. A new
peer dynamics and the life-history of peer group third edition of his two-volume text on Sociological Theory
respectively. This project seeks to understand how peers (with Calhoun, Gerteis and Virk, Blackwell 2012) has just
affect substance use and includes panel data on thousands been released.
of young adolescents (6th grade – 9th grade), who will be
followed through graduation, with fantastic opportunities Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
for new work related to peer influence, network adams, jimi, James Moody, Stephen Q. Muth and Martina
dynamics, and community program effects. Adolescent Morris. Forthcoming. “Quantifying the benefits of link-
school networks are a wonderful test-bed for ideas about tracing designs for partnership network studies.” Field
network evolution and structure, allowing multiple Methods.
observations of the “same sort” of networks, allowing us
to ask general questions about the social forces shaping adams, jimi, James Moody, Martina Morris.
networks. Forthcoming. “The Relative Contribution of Sex and
Drug Ties to STI-relevant Network Connectivity.”
Moody has two new projects (NIH) to tackle deep American Journal of Public Health.
methodological problems related to network diffusion
and health. With M. Giovanna Merli (PI, Duke Public Cleveland, Michael J., Mark E. Feinberg, D. Wayne
Policy & Sociology), he is examining the assumptions Osgood, James Moody “Do peers’ parents matter for
underlying tools used to sample hard-to-reach adolescent substance use? Forthcoming. A new link
populations. The state-of-the-art procedure, “respondent between positive parenting and adolescent substance use.”
driven sampling” (RDS) is an adaptive network-based Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.
sampling technique that, in principle, gives unbiased
estimates of hard-to-reach populations. But these S. Phillip Morgan
assumptions are rarely met in practice, so their project
Phil Morgan, the Norb F. Schaefer Professor of
seeks to understand the bounds of RDS in a sample of sex-
International Studies, is faculty director of Duke’s Social
workers in China. Related work here uses data gathered
Science Research Institute (http://www.ssri.duke.edu/),
in Shanghi to model the size and diffusion risk structure of
one of Duke’s seven signature interdisciplinary research
general population sexual networks. Multiple students,
institutes (http://interdisciplinary.duke.edu/about/insti
including S. Joshua Mendelsohn, Jake Fisher & Robin
tutes-centers). SSRI provides infrastructure for social
Gauthier are involved with that project. In another NIH
science training and research activities and incubates
project, Moody tackles the general problem of building
promising interdisciplinary collaborations.
network diffusion simulation tools by developing a new
simulation architecture for diffusion over dynamic Morgan’s research focuses on family change, with a
networks. The goal is to have a comprehensive tool to special focus on human fertility. The recently published
help health researchers build tractable network models book below develops a broad theoretical framework that
for health and behavior diffusion. can account for family change, including both very low
fertility and that at or above replacement levels.
A new grant (funded by RWJ with colleagues at Cornell)
Recent journal publications focus on the fertility response
takes the networks and health question to physicians,
to the Great Recession of 2008-09. Other recent papers
asking how networks among doctors shape health care
document current Chinese low fertility, replacement
cost and quality. Using Medicare data files, Moody and
level fertility in the United States and the correspondence
graduate student Jonathan Coleman are building networks
between fertility intentions and behavior in the U.S.
among physicians based on shared patients. The goal is to
then identify whether currently unexplained variance in Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
cost and care quality can be accounted for at the physician
practice community (observational equivalents to care Johnson-Hanks, Jenna, Christine A. Bachrach, S. Philip
provision networks) level. Morgan and Hans-Peter Kohler. 2011. Understanding
Family Change and Variation: Toward a Theory of Conjunctural
In addition to these funded projects with students, when Action. New York, Springer.
time allows, Moody continues his work on network text
~11~

Morgan, S. Morgan, Erin Cumberworth, Chris. Wimer. groups. She is interested in how networks and groups
2011. “The Great Recession's Influence on Fertility, influence self-structures. Since many of our self-identities
Marriage, Divorce, and Cohabitation.” In The Great come from role relationships or group memberships,
Recession. D. Grusky, B. Western, & C. Wimer (eds). McPherson’s structural theory of affiliation should imply
New York, Russell Sage Foundation. an ecological theory of the self. New data from a re-
interview of respondents from the 2004 General Social
Morgan, S. Philip and Heather Rackin. 2010. “The Survey are now available to address these questions. She,
Correspondence of Fertility Intentions and Behavior in Miller and graduate student Robin Gauthier are currently
the U.S.” Population and Development Review, 36:91-118. analyzing those data to establish whether memberships
create ties, ties create memberships or both. They are
Angie O’Rand also collecting new data in the 2010 General Social
Angie O'Rand will continue as Dean of Social Sciences Survey to examine how context affects the measurement
until July 2014. She is still engaged in research and of ego networks. That should solve a major dispute that
working with graduate students in stratification, life developed over their 2006 ASR paper.
course and economic sociology. Her current research The third project is a study of affective meanings and
focuses on life course risks and their impact on health and reactions to social events in Arabic. A grant from the
income trajectories in aging populations. Office of Naval Research funded a pretest of the
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: questionnaire using Arabic speakers here in the Triangle
area. Smith-Lovin worked with Jen’nan Read, Mary
O'Rand, A. M. 2011. "The Changing Life Course." Hovespian, Kim Rogers and Rob Freeland on this project.
George Ritzer (ed.) The New Blackwell Companion to A new international phase of the project involves data
Sociology. Wiley Blackwell Publishers, Oxford: 197-211. collection in Egypt, Kuwait and several other Arabic-
speaking countries.
Remle, R. Corey and O'Rand, A.M. Forthcoming.
"Intergenerational solidarity in blended families: The Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
inequality of financial transfers to adult children and
stepchildren." Chapter in M. Silverstein (ed.) From Owens, Timothy, Dawn Robinson and Lynn Smith-
Generation to Generation: Continuity and Change in Aging Lovin. 2010. “The Many Faces of Identity.” Annual Review
Families. Festschrift in Honor of Vern L. Bengtson. Johns of Sociology, 36:477-499.
Hopkins University Press (forthcoming) Smith-Lovin, Lynn and Piotr Winkleman, 2010. "The
O'Rand, A. M. and Hamil-Luker, Jenifer. "Late Social Psychologies of Emotion: A Bridge That Is Not Too
employment careers, transitions to retirement, and Far", Social Psychology Quarterly, 73:327-332.
retirement income in the U.S." Chapter 11 in Hans-Peter Mark, Noah, Cecilia Ridgeway, and Lynn Smith-Lovin.
Blossfeld, Sandra Buchholz, and Karin Kurz (eds.) Ageing 2009. “The Construction of Status Value.” American
Populations, Globalization, and the Labor Market: Journal of Sociology, 115: 832-862.
Comparing Late Working Life and Retirement in Modern
Societies. Edward Elgar (2011): 283-305. Jen’nan Read

Lynn Smith-Lovin In her 4th year at Duke, Jen’nan Read’s research
continues to focus on intersections between sociology,
Three projects dominate Smith-Lovin’s research agenda. global health, religion and immigrants, particularly
First, she continues her work on identity, action and Muslims in the west. Three projects have dominated her
emotion in an NSF-funded grant. In collaboration with agenda. The first was a collaborative project with third
researchers at the University of Georgia, Smith-Lovin and year graduate student David Eagle that extended Mark
graduate students Kim Rogers and Steven Foy explore Chave’s (JSSR 2010) argument that much of the work in
how people respond emotionally and behaviorally to the sociology of religion is susceptible to the religious
injustice. congruence fallacy—the tendency to assume consistency
In a second project, Smith-Lovin is working with Miller between religious beliefs and one’s attitudes and
McPherson to study social networks and voluntary behaviors across situations when they are in fact highly

~12~

variable. They added an important piece to this argument schools). They are in the data analysis phase of the project
by identifying intersecting group identities as a mechanism and plan to produce two papers and a book.
for motivating such incongruence. Specifically, Read and
Eagle show how race, gender, and religion interact to Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
produce different levels of attitudinal and behavior Read, Jen’nan G. and Megan Reynolds. 2012. “Health
incongruencies on key issues of the day, namely Migrants or Just Healthy Men? Gender and Health among
conservative social values and voting behaviors. Their Middle Eastern Immigrants.” Forthcoming in the Journal
findings highlight the conditions that result in of Health & Social Behavior.
incongruence at the intersections of identity categories
and pinpoint where social scientists are most vulnerable Read, Jen’nan Ghazal and David Eagle. 2011.
to committing the congruence fallacy (JSSR 2011). “intersecting Identities as a Source of Religious
Incongruence.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion,
Her second project continued to build on a successful 50:116-132.
collaboration with 4th year graduate student Megan
Reynolds. In a forthcoming article in the Journal of Health Ken Spenner
& Social Behavior, they draw on theories of gender
Ken Spenner continues his research with the Campus Life
inequality and immigrant health to argue that utilization
and Learning data, a prospective panel of the Duke
of the healthcare system (which is different from access to
undergraduate classes of 2005 and 2006.
the healthcare system) contributes to the gender and
immigrant gap in health. Specifically, immigrants are less Select Recent/Forthcoming Publication:
likely than U.S.-born whites to interact with the health
care system, and women are more likely to do so than Arcidiacono, Peter, Esteban Aucejo, Hanming Fang and
men. Thus, immigrant and gender health disparities may Kenneth Spenner, "Does Affirmative Action Lead to
partly reflect knowledge of health status rather than actual Mismatch? A New Test and Evidence." Quantitative
health. They conclude that apparent differences in illness Economics 2: 303-333.
between men and women or immigrants and native-born Yi Zeng
Americans may partly reflect differences in knowledge of
illness. Women likely engage with the health care system Yi Zeng had a productive year in 2011, with six articles
sooner and more often than their male peers given published in peer-reviewed journals in English, one
biological differences in reproduction and social article published in peer-reviewed journal in Chinese, and
differences as caregivers, and thus they may be more one book on “Methods and Applications of Demographic
aware of their ailments than men. Immigrants likely Analysis (second edition)” in Chinese published by Peking
engage the health care system less frequently than the University Press.
U.S.-born for a variety of reasons other than health
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
selectivity, including pre-occupation with other aspects of
settlement, lack of knowledge about the system, and/or Zeng, Yi, Zhenxin Zhang, Tao Xu, Zhongjie Fan, Xinhua
lack of resources to access the system. The policy Xiao, Xia Chen, Zishi Wang, Enling Ma, Danan Gu,
implications is that we should get everyone, black/white, Fengyu Zhang, and Joseph M. Corless. 2011. “Association
male/female, old/young, to the doctor much sooner of Birth Weight with Health and Long-term Survival up
when ailments in a more preventative and much less to Middle and Old Ages in China.” Journal of Population
costly stage than curative practices. Aging, 3:143–159.
Read’s third, and ongoing, project is a comparative study Zeng,Yi. 2011. “Effects of Demographic and Retirement-
of Muslim integration in the United States and England. Age Policies on Future Pension Deficits, with an
With a colleague from the University of Oxford (Serena Application to China.” Population and Development Review.
Hussain), she is assessing the role of private Islamic 37(3): 553–569.
schools in the assimilation process of Muslim youth. They
conducted focus groups and interviews with students at Zeng, Yi, Claude Hughes, Megan Lewis, Jianxin Li,
private schools and their parents, as well as college Fengyu Zhang. 2011. “Interactions between Life Stress
students who had attended private Islamic school in their Factors and Carrying the APOE4 Allele Adversely Impact
youth (to assess their experiences after leaving the Self-Reported Health in Old Adults.” Journal of
~13~

Gerontology Series A: Biological and Medical Sciences, Kail is currently working on several projects using the
66A:1062-1076. Health and Retirement Study to a) investigate the physical
and mental health consequence of post-retirement
POSTDOC NEWS employment, b) the impact of health insurance on the
onset and trajectory of poor health in later life, and c) the
David Diehl relationships between health, work, and retirement. Kail
has recently presented his research at the annual meetings
David Diehl is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Social of the American Sociological Association, the Society for
Sciences Research Institute and affiliated with the Duke the Study of Social Problems and the Population
Network Analysis Center. He graduated from Stanford Association of America.
University in August 2011. One strand of his research is
located at the intersection of network analysis and Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications:
symbolic interactionism and is concerned with the Kail, Ben Lennox, and Marc Dixon. 2011. "The Uneven
interactional strategies people use to initiate, maintain, Patterning of Welfare Benefits at the Twilight of AFDC:
negotiate and dissolve their relationships. A second strand Assessing the Influence of Institutions, Race, and Citizen
looks at how organizational structures, practices and Preferences." The Sociological Quarterly.
climates shape the nature and expression of relational
processes that happen within them. A final strand, and the Kail, Ben Lennox. Forthcoming. “Coverage or Costs: The
topic of his dissertation, examines organizational reform Role of Health Insurance on Labor Market Reentry
in terms of efforts to deliberatively change both the among Early Retirees.” The Journal of Gerontology: Social
structure and meaning of relationships. Sciences.
Select Recent/Forthcoming Publication: Kail, Ben Lennox. Invited Revise and Resubmit. “Leaving
Retirement: Age-Graded Relative Risks of Transitioning
McFarland, Daniel A, David K Diehl and Craig Rawlings. Back to Work or Dying.” Population Research and Policy
2011. “Methodological Transactionalism and the Review.
Sociology of Education.” In ‘Frontiers in the Sociology of
Education,’ edited by Maureen Hallinan. Springer Katherine King
Publishing: New York.
Katherine King is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Research
Diehl, David K. and Daniel A. McFarland. 2010 “Toward
Training Program (RTP) in the Center for the Study of
a Historical Sociology of Situations.” American Journal of
Aging and Human Development. Her dissertation
Sociology, 115 (6): 1713-1752.
examined biological, psychological, and social relations
Ben Lennox Kail implications of the urban built environment. Her research
interests include a) community physical and social
Ben Lennox Kail is a Postdoctoral Scholar in the contexts in health-related psychosocial quality of life for
Department of Sociology and the Duke Population older adults, b) exploring how and why personality and
Research Institute. His research interests include Aging emotions cluster in neighborhoods and regions, and c)
and the Life Course, Political Economy, Welfare spatial quantitative methods and measurement.
State/Social Policy, and Health. His current line of Katherine’s work in progress includes “Neighborhood
research examines the impact of public- and private- Stigma and Environmental Risk Perception: The Case of
benefits on life course transitions and trajectories. His Air Quality,” “Socioeconomic, Policy, and Diffusion
primary focus is on how these benefits impact the Explanations of Fertility in China: A Spatial Approach,”
domains of work, health, and mortality in later life, as “Life Phase and the Forms Volunteering Takes” (with
well as how these benefits work through one domain to Dawn Carr), and “Concentration of Poverty or Repulsion
influence other domains. He is concerned with both the by Design? Associations of Housing, Urban Form, and
proximal and distal consequences of benefits – Social Composition with Neighborly Social Relations,” as
particularly in terms of private benefits – and additionally well as several methodological manuscripts dealing with
with how the influence of these benefits changes over health-relevant neighborhood context. She is currently
time. team-teaching Social Problems with Lydia Manning.

~14~

Select Recent/Forthcoming Publications: Age-specific survival as a threshold trait” Proceedings of the
Royal Society, B 278:144-151.
King, K.E. Under Review. Aggravating Conditions:
Cynical Hostility and Neighborhood Ambient Stressors. Sabrina Pendergrass
King, K.E., Morenoff, J.D., & House, J.S. 2011. Sabrina Pendergrass is a Provost's Postdoctoral Fellow at
Cumulative Biological Risk Factors: Neighborhood Duke. She completed her Ph.D. in May 2010 at Harvard
Socioeconomic Characteristics and Race/Ethnic University. Her research interests are race, inequality,
Disparities Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral internal migration, and culture. Her work has received
Medicine, 73, 572-579. awards from the Association of Black Sociologists and the
Society for the Study of Social Problems. Sabrina is
King, K.E. Under Review. Comparison of Systematic
working on a book manuscript that examines a major
Social Observation and Aerial Photography Data on Land
trend over the past few decades, the reversal of the
Use in Chicago
African American Great Migration. Drawing on more
than 120 in-depth interviews in an emerging black magnet
Jacob Moorad
city, Charlotte, North Carolina, the book offers the first
Jacob Moorad is a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Duke extensive field study of non-southern-born blacks who are
Population Research Institute. He researches the moving to the urban South and it reveals divergent
evolution of aging in human and animal populations. This pathways of reverse migration, especially between
involves the investigation of the demographic, ecological, middle- and working-class blacks. In August 2012,
physiological, social, and genetic processes that relate Sabrina will join the faculty at the University of Virginia
fitness to vital rates, vital rates to phenotypes, and as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology
phenotypes to genes. His current work focuses on how and the Carter G. Woodson Institute of African American
social interactions contribute to evolutionary change by and African Studies.
modulating natural selection and the genetic expression of RECENT JOB PLACEMENTS!
traits.
Lane Destro
Recent and ongoing projects include: 1) descriptive Assistant Professor
studies of how natural selection for longevity has changed Department of Sociology
with the demographic transition and with changes in Ronoake College
marital practices using longitudinal human data from a
historical population (the Utah Population Database); 2) Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman
theoretical investigations into how social interactions can Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology &
encourage the evolution of elevated juvenile mortality;
Institute for the Study of Latin American and the Caribbean
and 3) comparative studies of how sex has evolved to University of South Florida
determine longevity and aging using zoological records of
200 captive animal species. Ben Kail
Assistant Professor
Selected Publications: Department of Sociology
Georgia State University
Moorad J.A. and D.E.L Promislow. Forthcoming.
“Evolution of Aging and Menopause” Invited book chapter Sarah Mayorga
for Princeton Guide to Evolution. (J Losos, ed). Princeton: Assistant Professor
Princeton University Press. Department of Sociology
University of Cincinnati
Moorad JA, D.E.L. Promislow, K.R. Smith, and M.J.
Wade. 2011. “Mating system change reduces the strength Sabrina Pendergrass
of sexual selection in an American frontier population of Assistant Professor
the 19th century.” Evolution & Human Behavior, 32:147- Department of Sociology &
155.Moorad J.A. and D.E.L Promislow. 2011. Carter G. Woodson Institute of African-American Studies
University of Virginia
“Evolutionary demography and quantitative genetics:

~15~

CONGRATULATIONS RECENT PH.D. RECIPIENTS!
Steven Frenk (March 2011)
Dissertation: “The Role of Religious Congregations in the Mental Health Care System”
Current Position: Research Associate at UNC's Carolina Population Center
with a joint appointment at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Chapel Hill, NC
Jillian Powers (March 2011)
Dissertation: “Going Away to Find a Home: A Comparative Study of Heritage/Homeland Tourism”
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow in American Culture Studies
Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Whitney Welsh (March 2011)
Dissertation: “Unthinkable: Mathematics and the Rise of the West”
Current Position: Research Scientist SSRI
Duke University
Mari Jean Armstrong-Hough (April 2011)
Dissertation: “Imperial Splenda: Globalization, Culture, and Type 2 Diabetes in the U.S. and Japan”
Current Position: Assistant Professor, Institute of Social Sciences
Meiji University Tokyo, Japan
Rebekah Burroway (April 2011)
Dissertation: “Structural Violence and Child Health:
A Multi-Level Analysis of Development, Gender Inequality, and Democracy in Developing Countries”
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Sociology
SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island, NY
Allison Wisecup (April 2011)
Dissertation: “Do We Have Consensus?
Examining the Sources of Systematic Variation in Cultural Identity Meanings”
Radford University, Radford, VA
Hui Zheng (April 2011)
Dissertation: “Medicalization as A Rising Rational Myth:
Population Health Implication, Reproduction, and Public Response”
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Joonkoo Lee (June 2011)
Dissertation: "Animating Globalization and Development:
The South Korean Animation Industry in Historical-Comparative Perspective"
Dietrich Awarded (July 2011)
Dissertation “Rebellious Conservatives: Social Movements in Defense of Privilege”
Texas State University, San Marcos, TX
Michelle Christian (December 2011)
Dissertation: “"It's so Pura Vida":
The Tourism Global Value Chain and Ethnoracial Stratification in Costa Rica”.

~16~

After graduating, he worked at the twentieth century Marxist and
M.A. RECIPIENTS McKinsey & Co. as a Research liberation theology movements in
(December 2011 & May 2012) Analyst, and later for Distressed Latin America. She presented her
Children & Infants International senior thesis: “The Culture War’s
Regina Baker doing public health research in Littlest Crusaders: Competing
Sancha Doxilly Bangladesh. Most recently, he Discourses in Scouting
David Eagle worked as a research assistant at the Organizations,” at the 2011
Institute of National Security Southern Sociological Society
S. Joshua Mendelsohn
Studies in Tel-Aviv, Israel focusing annual meeting. Currently, Mary
Feng Tian on the impact of bureaucracy on the Beth’s research interests include the
Chinese military. construction of perceptions and
worldviews, particularly with
Collin Muller regards to their influence on
Collin graduated from Rice altruistic behaviors.
NEW GRADUATE University in 2009 with Honors in
STUDENTS Religious Studies before enrolling
in a Master’s program at Duke
In Fall 2011, we welcomed six
Divinity School as a Duke Scholar.
students in the incoming cohort.
His research interests include the
These students have diverse
intersection of racial inequality,
experiences and research interests.
religious and non-profit
We are happy to have them join us!
organizations, and health. He is
Raphaël Charron-Chénier currently assisting Linda George to
Raphaël received his B.A. (2009) design and implement a mixed- Joshua Fink
and M.A. (2011) in sociology from methods study of neighborhood Joshua graduated with a B.A. in
McGill University in Montreal. His primary care clinics that serve low- Sociology from Pepperdine in May
M.A. thesis examined the impact of income populations. He worked 2011. He thought he had a
asset-specifity in a country's export with Mark Chaves, Shawna reasonably narrow research agenda
sector on a variety of social Anderson, and Cyrus Schleifer during the graduate school
institutions. A native French- earlier this fall in pre-testing the application process, but his research
speaker from Quebec, Canada, survey for the third wave of the interests have actually broadened as
Raphaël joined Duke in 2011 as an National Congregations Study. a result of greater exposure to
international PhD student in the Collin is married to Jenna, a third various literature during his first
sociology department. His research year Ph.D. student in Duke's semester at Duke. Now, he wants
interests include the sociology of Department of Biomedical to study various aspects of
markets, credit and transactions. Engineering. They both enjoy stratification, hopefully in relation
He is currently working with Lisa cooking, living in Keohane Quad to education and/or criminology.
Keister on the impact of car-debt in (where Collin serves as a Graduate
the United States. Resident), and exploring Durham Laura Weimer
by bike. Laura received her BS in
Jonathan Coleman Chemistry/ Life Sciences from the
Jonathan graduated from Brandeis Mary Beth Fallin United States Military Academy
University with degrees in Politics Mary Beth received her B.A. in (USMA) at West Point in 2003,
and Sociology. While at Brandeis, Sociology with a minor in Spanish and has served as a Military Police
he worked as a research assistant in from Western Carolina University officer in the Active Duty Army for
Brandeis’ Heller School for Social in 2010, graduating with honors. the last 8 ½ years. Through her
Policy and Management. He also Her undergraduate research leadership and staff positions,
worked for the William J. Clinton focused on political and religious specifically those during two
Foundation during his senior year. discourse in youth scouting deployments to Iraq, Laura
organizations, as well as mid-
~17~

developed her interest in cultural 2012-13 Sulzberger/Levitan Social Wendy Brynildsen
Sociology, and how understanding Policy Fellowship sponsored by the Wendy is currently working on a
other cultures and societal Center for Children and Family number of projects that examine
influences can improve her insight Policy and a Duke Graduate School the importance of social
into nation building and training Summer Research Fellowship. relationships throughout the life
police forces. She will study toward course, from adolescence through
a masters in Sociology in order to Paige Borelli older adulthood. Her dissertation
teach undergraduate Leadership and Paige is currently working on her work looks at how social networks
Sociology at USMA in the fall of second year paper, which examines of close confidants differentially
2013. Her research interests the effects of bounded solidarity affect the mental and physical
include the role social capital in the and enforceable trust on immigrant health of American men and
military and its transition to the economic outcomes. She intends to women, and the possible
civilian work sector, as well as present her results at the Southern mechanisms responsible for these
cultural sociology in an Sociological Society conference in relationships. As a recipient of the
international context. the spring. Paige is also Phillip Jackson Baugh fellowship for
collaborating with Lisa Keister on research on aging, she will continue
papers exploring the market to focus on her dissertation, as well
GRADUATE transition in China and Chinese as other related projects.
STUDENT NEWS immigrant wealth. In addition,
Paige is co-authoring a book on Rose Buckelew
China’s economic development Rose is currently collecting data for
with Bai Gao and her cohort-mate, her dissertation, "Betting on Black
Xiaohan Xu. Last summer Paige and White: Race, Gender, and the
improved her Mandarin speaking Medicalization of Problem
abilities by attending intensive Gambling." She recently finished
language courses in Beijing, funded conducting ethnographic research
through the Foreign Language and on lottery gamblers and is currently
Areas Studies Fellows conducting interviews with
Regina S. Baker problem gambling counselors.
Regina is currently in her third Amie Bostic
Over the summer, Rose was
year. For her dissertation research, Amie is in her second year and awarded the NSF Dissertation
she wants to examine why child interested in the interactions Improvement Grant. More
poverty in the South has remained between stratification and recently, she was awarded Duke's
so high and persistent compared to institutions. Primarily her research Summer Research Fellowship.
the rest of the U.S., as well as how interests center around issues of
region of residence influences life gender inequality, income Trenita Brookeshire Childers
outcomes. In addition she worked inequality, immigration, the
Trenita is a second year student
with David Brady and Ryan welfare state and power
with interests in medical sociology
Finnegan on a paper examining the resources. Currently, Amie is
and race. Specifically, she is
effects of unionization on working working on her second year paper
interested in the social
poverty. Regina’s second year which evaluates cross-national
determinants of health disparities.
paper, which focuses on how the variation in immigrant poverty,
This past summer, Trenita worked
effects of marriage and work on utilizing a multilevel modeling
with Debby Gold as a research
child poverty in the U.S. have strategy. She will be presenting this
assistant on a project entitled
changed over time, recently won paper at the SSS Annual Meeting.
“Racial and Ethnic Differences in
the Southern Sociological Society She also will be presenting a paper
Osteoporosis Medication Decision-
Odum Award for Outstanding titled, “New Social Risk: The Effect
Making”. This year, she is working
Graduate Student Paper. She will of Political Factors on Children of
closely with Linda George on her
present this paper at the annual SSS Single Mothers in Poverty” at the
second-year paper which examines
meeting. Regina also received the ASA annual meeting.
~18~

racial differences in mental health from the Family Life Project to paper, "An Ethnographic Study of
service use. She is most interested explore low-income families’ Welfare Participation Decisions of
in how stigma and religiosity affect evaluations of employment quality Low-Income Mexican-immigrant
service use for black, white, Asian, as well as their subjective Women in Chicago post Welfare
and Latino respondents. Trenita is understanding of economic Reform" at the 2012 Southern
also currently volunteering with mobility given a transforming, Sociological Society annual meeting
TROSA (Triangle Residential nonmetropolitan economy. Lane is in New Orleans.
Options for Substance Abusers), really excited about how these
and she hopes to do field research unique data will contribute to a
on racial identity in the Dominican sociological understanding of what
Republic this summer. the “American Dream” means for
low-income American families.
Michelle Christian This year, Lane is thrilled to be a
Michelle successfully defended her recipient of the Anne T. and
dissertation on December 7, 2011. Robert M. Bass Fellowship for
The title of her dissertation is "'It's Undergraduate Instruction. She is
so Pura Vida': The Tourism Global honored to teach a senior research
Value Chain and Ethnoracial seminar this spring (“Working David Eagle
Stratification in Costa Rica." She Families in the Great Recession”) In his third year, David's research
will spend 2012 as a postdoctoral which is funded by the fellowship focuses on the social organization of
fellow with the Social Science and related to her dissertation American religion. He recently
Research Institute at Duke project. In addition, Lane is looking defended his field exam and is hard
University. In 2011, Michelle forward to presenting her work in at work developing a dissertation
traveled to Kenya to conduct March at the SSS Annual Meeting in proposal on the social and cultural
research on gender constraints to a special session , “Gender, Family factors that have contributed to the
economically upgrading in tourism and the Recession” co-sponsored by rise of the megachurch as a popular
on behalf of the World Bank, and in SWS-South. She plans to graduate form of Protestant congregational
winter 2012 she will travel to this summer and has accepted a organization. David has a paper
Uganda to study economic and tenure track assistant professor forthcoming in Research in the
social upgrading in tourism on position at Ronaoke College to Sociology of Work entitled, "The
behalf of the UK Department for begin Fall 2012. myth of the megachurch" that looks
International Development (DFID) at the correlation between high-SES
research program, "Capturing the Sancha Doxily and attendance at larger churches.
Gains." In October, 2011 Michelle Sancha is in her third-year. Her He is under contract with SAGE
was invited by the Better Work research interests include publications to write a chapter on
program from the International immigration, social capital, social leadership in the mainline U.S.
Labour Organization (ILO) to networks, and stratification. She is Protestant context and he is also
present her research on gender currently working on her working on a comparative paper on
inequality in the Kenyan hotel dissertation proposal supervised by Hispanic religiosity. This summer,
sector at a multi-stakeholder her dissertation chair, Dr. Nan Lin. he participated in a spatial statistics
conference in Washington, D.C. Her dissertation will examine the seminar at Penn State and
social capital and labor-market completed interviews for a major
Lane Destro experiences of low-status project on clergy compensation.
Lane is currently spending most of Anglophone Caribbean immigrants David is teaching the Sociology of
her sixth year at Duke writing her in New York. She was recently Deviance at Kings University
dissertation. Entitled “Up the awarded a Duke Graduate Summer College in Edmonton, Alberta.
Down Escalator: The Research Fellowship, which will David is grateful for the generous
Heterogeneity of Families’ support her data collection in New financial support for his doctoral
Pathways Through Poverty,” her York this summer. Sancha will also research from the Social Sciences
dissertation uses qualitative data be presenting her second-year and Humanities Research Council
~19~

of Canada and the Graduate School be presented at the Population magazine published by Duke’s
at Duke. Association of America conference, Social Science Research Institute.
has focused on female sex workers
Ryan Finnegan in two cities in China. In his own Qiang Fu
Ryan's dissertation, New Urban research, he continues his study of Qiang is working on several
Inequalities and Racial and Ethnic informal peer groups among projects: childhood well-being and
Stratification in Homeownership, adolescents in a school context. bullying behaviors (with Kenneth
Wages, and Health, examines the C. Land), homeowners associations
effects of urban structural changes (with Nan Lin) and childhood
on longstanding racial/ethnic obesity (with Linda K George). In
disparities. He previously presented 2011, he gave conference
a portion of this project in the presentations at five different cities
DuPRI Seminar Series, and the (Las Vegas, Washington D.C.,
Annual Meetings of the Population Beijing, Changchun and Canton)
Association of America. Ryan's outside Duke. Meanwhile, he was a
other ongoing research projects winner of pre-dissertation travel
similarly focus on structural effects Steven Foy grant (Duke), summer research
and racial/ethnic inequality. His fellowship (Duke), APSI summer
second year paper examined Over the last year, Steven has been 2011 research fellowship (APSI,
racial/ethnic differences in hard at work on his dissertation Duke) and Chow Teaching
homeownership as a health which explores how medicalized fellowship (OYCF). His book
resource. A paper with his advisor, labeling impacts task performance chapter is forthcoming (Qiang Fu,
David Brady, studies the in perception and reality. Vicki L. Lamb, and Kenneth C.
relationship between immigration Regarding other projects, he Land) at Springer Press and two of
and support for the welfare state presented a paper with Victor Ray his working papers are revised and
cross-nationally. Another paper on the impact of incarceration on resubmitted at Environment and
with postdoctoral scholar Ben Kail racial attribution given phenotypic Planning A and the International
analyzes the effects of local labor ambiguity at the2011 annual Journal of Urban and Regional
market characteristics on labor meeting of the European Research. Other of his first-
force reentry among retired adults. Sociological Association and a paper authorship manuscripts are
Beyond research, Ryan's teaching with Andrew Miles on the relative currently under review. In
assistantships for quantitative impacts of religious and secular addition, he is a weekly
methods courses complement his organizational involvement cross- correspondent for China Social
interests in econometric and nationally on self-rated health at the Sciences Today published by Chinese
demographic techniques. Ryan is 2011 annual meeting of the Academy of Social Sciences.
also very gratefully supported Association for the Sociology of
through the National Institute of Religion. He is also working on a Brad Fulton
Aging's training grant on the Social, paper with Ed Tiryakian and Cyrus Brad is in his fourth year and his
Medical, and Economic Schleifer which applies Alvin research focuses on the intersection
Demography of Aging. Gouldner’s frame for how societal of religion and social inequality. His
events shape the rise and fall of a article on black churches and
Jake Fisher theory’s influence in sociology to HIV/AIDS recently received an
rational choice theory. Having award from the Society for the
Over the past year, Jake has
completed a term as co-chair of the Study of Social Problems. As a
continued to study social networks.
Graduate Student Forum in 2011, follow-up to this study, Fulton is
As a research assistant for Giovanna
he currently serves as a faculty collaborating with researchers from
Merli and Jim Moody, he studied
committee representative for the the RAND Corporation to evaluate
the accuracy of respondent-driven
Graduate Student Forum and as an the effects of community
sampling as a method for sampling
advisory board member for Gist institutions working together to
hard-to-reach populations. In
from the Mill, a social science address public health issues. For his
particular, this research, which will
~20~

dissertation Fulton is conducting a cross-national homogamy, and a to complete her dissertation by the
national study of religious and research project with Giovanna end of the Spring semester and has
secular organizations that form Merli, Jim Moody and other accepted a joint, tenure-track
coalitions to pursue structural graduate students studying patterns position at the University of South
reform. He has collected detailed of sexual contact in Shanghai. She is Florida, in in the Department of
information on 4,000 churches and also working with her advisor Jim Sociology and the Institute for the
community organizations engaged Moody examining gender Study of Latin America & the
in justice work. With this data, he differences in network structure. Caribbean for Fall 2012. Her
is analyzing how the racial, class, proudest accomplishment of the
and religious composition of these Elizabeth Hordge-Freeman year is the birth of her son,
coalitions shape their understanding Elizabeth is a sixth year student Nathaniel McArthur Freeman.
of social problems and influence who is completing her dissertation,
their effectiveness in addressing "Battling the Enemy Within: Racial Hang Young Lee
them. Fulton’s research is being Socialization, Stigma and Well- Hang Young is currently working
funded by the Hearst Foundation, being in Afro-Brazilian Families, on his dissertation project that
C.S. Mott, the Veatch Program, which explores how white focuses on how immigrants access
the Religious Research Association, supremacy shapes racial and mobilize social capital. Another
and Duke University. The Religious socialization in Afro-Brazilian his research collaborated with
Research Association has awarded families. During the past year she Joonkoo Lee is on the effect of
Brad Fulton a Constant H. Jacquet was awarded a Ford Dissertation Asian production networks on U.S.
research grant to cover expenses Fellowship, Duke Summer trade deficit with China and is now
for his dissertation research on Research Fellowship and Sage/Pine under review. At the 2010 annual
Community Organizing in the 21st Forge Press Teaching Innovations & meeting of the American
Century. Professional Development Award. Sociological Association in Las
She also co-authored a book chapter Vegas, he presented a paper titled
Select Recent Publications: with Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and “Social Capital and Finding a Job: A
Fulton, Brad. 2011. “Black Sarah Mayorga which appeared in Further Investigation” that was
Churches and HIV/AIDS: Factors Researching Race and Objectivity in collaborated with Nan Lin and Ao
Influencing Congregations’ Research Methods. She is currently Dan. This paper is now under
Responsiveness to Social Issues.” revising an article, "What's Love review. He was a recipient of the
Journal for the Scientific Study of Got to Do With It?: Racial Stigma, 2011 Summer Research Fellowship
Religion 50: 617-30. Affect, and Racial Socialization in and the 2011 Korean Honor
Afro-Brazilian Families, as part of a Scholarship.
Robin Gauthier Special Edition on Race in Latin
Robin is in her fourth year. She has America to appear in the Journal of
just defended her dissertation Ethnic & Racial Studies. She will be
proposal which develops a model of presenting her dissertation research
families in the U.S. from the at several conferences in the Spring,
ground up, beginning with the including the Triangle Race
fundamental building blocks of co- Conference and the UNC-Duke
residence and relatedness, then Consortium of Latin American &
moving to a more relational Caribbean Studies (CLACS). She
definition derived from patterns of received a CLACS Mellon travel Sarah Mayorga
social behavior. She is interested in award to fund her trip to the Latin
developing and applying network Sarah is a sixth year doctoral
American Studies Association 2012 candidate currently working on her
methods and applying them to International Congress in San
models of family, mate selection dissertation. Her project, for which
Francisco, California, where she has she was awarded the NSF Doctoral
both in the U.S. and internationally organized a panel and will present
and to adolescent networks. She is Dissertation Improvement Grant, is
her research in May. Elizabeth plans an in-depth study of a local
also working on a paper comparing
~21~

neighborhood. Her project centers due to node removal (with Jim longitudinal data from Ad Health,
on the experiences of white, black, Moody), and various dynamics of which she presented at the 2011
and Latino residents. Mayorga the global city phenomenon. Annual Meetings of the Population
conducted participant observation, Methodologically, he considers Association of America. She is also
interviews, and a household survey network analysis, geo-spatial trying to improve her second year
to document how neighbor-to- analysis, and scientific programing paper that studies health differences
neighbor social interactions are (particularly using R) to be his between men and women in India
structured in a multiethnic primarily strengths. as a function of their living
neighborhood. She is also currently arrangements and familial roles.
working with Dr. Rebecca Bach on Andrew Miles Her most challenging project
an assessment of the undergraduate Andrew is currently pursuing however, is teaching her one year
sociology program. Sarah has multiple lines of research. old son to sleep through the night.
accepted a tenure-track Assistant Foremost among these is his
Professor position in the Sociology dissertation, which examines how Victor Ray
Department at the University of people's different conceptions of Victor’s dissertation research
Cincinnati. who they are (called identities) focuses on how race and gender
influence their behaviors. In shape the transition to civilian life
particular he is examining how for veterans of the Iraq and
people's sense of self as moral, Afghanistan conflicts. In the last
political, and religious beings year, Victor has presented early
regulates their consumption of analyses of his qualitative data at the
sexual content in media and annual meetings of the Association
influences their decisions to donate of Black Sociologists and the
money to charitable organizations. Association of Humanist
S. Joshua Mendelsohn His other research includes projects Sociologists. In addition to this
Joshua has been enamored with the examining the connections between work, Victor and fellow graduate
macro-scale of emergent human religion and health, explorations of student Steven Foy presented a
organization since his first forays occupational health among clergy, paper on racial attribution at the
into social science as a Berkeley and the social psychological meeting of the European
freshman. Currently in his fourth processes underlying religious Sociological Association in Geneva,
year at Duke, his work gravitates influences on behavior. He is also Switzerland. Victor has been very
toward the intersection of working with Stephen Vaisey and a successful in acquiring funding for
economic sociology, network number of scholars from across the his work, as the National Science
analysis and geographic research. United States on a project intended Foundation and the Ford
His dissertation examines how to chart the moral domain and Foundation, among others, have
physical places are embedded in determine how moral intuitions can supported his dissertation research.
global networks, allowing the best be measured. The Graduate School also honored
global economy to influence the Victor this year with the highly
aggregate socioeconomic outcomes Soyma V. Rajan competitive Dean’s Award for
of populations situated in those Sowmya is currently working on Excellence in Mentoring. He also is
places. His secondary projects are multiple projects. The first is her a recipient of the ASA Minority
extremely varied, including dissertation proposal in which she Fellowship for 2012-2013.
explorations of Russian population examines the determinants of
movement and urbanization over fertility variation over time and Megan Reynolds
the 20th century (with Charlie across states in India using data Megan’s second-year paper (co-
Becker), shifts in Chinese mate from the Demographic and Health authored with David Brady and
selection patterns throughout its Surveys. The second is an presented at the Atlanta ASA
economic transformations (with investigation into the concentration annual meeting) examining the link
Giovanna Merli), changes to the of unintended fertility among between union membership and
mathematical structure of networks women in the United States using
~22~

health among Americans is Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Black Face: Explaining the
forthcoming in the journal Social Sociology in January, and a ‘Miracle,’ Debating the Politics,
Forces. With Bruce Link, Megan is commentary on the social and Suggesting a Way for Hope to
now investigating the potential construction of emotion, which will be ‘For Real’ in America.” Political
relationships between labor unions be published in Emotion Review in Power and Social Theory (22),
and mortality using newly available 2012. A manuscript from her 139-175.
GSS data. A manuscript resulting research on cross-cultural
from her work with Jen'nan Read stereotype content is currently Seamster, Louise, and Eduardo
on gender differences in immigrant under review at Social Psychological Bonilla-Silva (2011). “Examining,
health is currently under review. and collaborative Personality Science. Debating, and Ranting about the
After defending her proposal at the She has also been awarded the Obama Phenomenon: Introduction
start of the new year, she continues Summer Research Fellowship for to Special Issue on Obama.”
work on her dissertation, which 2012, and the 2012-2013 Bass Political Power and Social Theory
aims to identify the effects of Fellowship for Undergraduate (22), 3-16.
organized labor and the welfare Instruction. Melanie Sereny
state on population health. She is Melanie is a doctoral candidate in
currently serving as a research Louise Seamster her fifth year of study. Her
assistant for Anna-Gassman Pines, Louise is a second year graduate dissertation is titled “Adult
Liz Ananat and Christina Gibson- student. In the past year, she has Children’s Support of Older
Davis in the department of Public co-edited a special section on Parents in China.” It looks at
Policy on a project studying Obama in the journal Political intergenerational relations, health
county-level job losses and student Power and Social Theory with of older adults, and variations
outcomes in North Carolina. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva. She across regions of China with
presented a paper on private different levels of socio-economic
Kimberly Rogers contracting and labor in Afghanistan development. Multiple waves of
Kimberly is currently working on this past May at a UCLA student the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy
her dissertation project, entitled conference on Labor in the Global Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and
“Mapping the Social Ecology of South. Seamster is writing several Chinese Census data are used for
Culture: Social Position, articles with Linda Burton on this project. In addition to her
Connectedness, and Influence as cumulative disadvantage and its dissertation work, Melanie
Predictors of Systematic Variation ramifications for low-income continues to study biomarkers of
in Affective Meaning.” The project, women’s romantic prospects. She is health and social determinants
which was funded by a National also helping organize a graduate among older adults in China. She
Science Foundation Dissertation student conference on race to be collaborates with colleagues at
Research Improvement Grant, held at Duke, UNC and NCCU in Duke University including
explores how social position, March of 2012. For her second- Professors Zeng Yi, Linda George,
connectedness, and the network year paper, she is using Three-City and Matt Bradshaw. She spent the
distribution of influence contribute ethnographic data to examine the summer in Beijing, China serving as
to the emergence of normative impact of welfare bureaucracy on a visiting scholar at the Chinese
consensus in social meaning. Initial the lives of low-income women. Center for Disease Control and
findings from this research were She was recently awarded a Peking University. There she
presented over the summer at the Summer Research Fellowship from researched biomarkers of health
meetings of the American the Graduate School, which will and social support, as well as
Sociological Association in Las facilitate preparatory work for her helping colleagues submit
Vegas and the International Society dissertation. manuscripts to international
for Research on Emotion in Kyoto, journals. This year Melanie receives
Japan. Kimberly has written a Select Recent Publications: funding from the National Institute
chapter on action, interaction, and Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo, with Louise of Aging training grant on the
groups with Lynn Smith-Lovin, Seamster (2011). “The Sweet Social, Medical, and Economic
which will be published in The Enchantment of Color Blindness in Demography of Aging. Melanie
~23~

continues to take an active role in Inseo Son is currently working on relations, and matters of academia
the Graduate Student Forum his dissertation project that or sociology, generally. The GSF
(GSF), serving as graduate policy explores how racialized meaning of also seeks to provide impetus for
representative and student lounge work and success shapes career action with regards to pertinent
coordinator. In addition to her paths and group consciousness departmental matters including,
research activities, she is also among second generation Korean but not limited to, academics,
mentoring a freshman student- Americans. He is conducting in- course content, preliminary exams,
athlete this year. depth interviews and ethnographic dissertation support, and intra-
field research in several major cities departmental communication.
Jeffrey Smith in the U.S. His project was Additionally, the GSF aims to
Jeffrey is a fellow in the SSRI awarded The Global Society Korea provide opportunities for graduate
affiliated PARISS program. He is and America Dissertation student community involvement,
currently working on his Scholarship from The Research encourage graduate student
dissertation, which develops a Center for Korean Community, professionalization, and celebrate
framework to characterize and CUNY. He will be presenting a and expand on the on the
explain changes in paper on preliminary findings of his successes of Duke Sociology. Last
mobility/interaction patterns, dissertation research at the semester, GSF sponsored the Job
while taking seriously the idea that Association of Asian American Market Workshop. The panelists
demographic categories are fluid, Studies Conference on May, 2012. were recent faculty hires Matt
non-essential and socially He is also working on an Bradshaw and Steve Vaisey, as
constructed. Based on this work, he independent research on the well as Post-Doc Ben Kail
was recently awarded the ASA racialized influence of social
Mathematical Sociology Section networks on socioeconomic
Outstanding Dissertation in mobility with his colleagues.
Progress Award. Additionally, his
Graduate Student Forum
second year paper is forthcoming in Felicia Feng Tian Chair:
the next issue of Sociological Felicia is currently in her third year Felicia Feng Tian
Methodology. This paper develops and working on her dissertation
a new methodology which takes project, which explores the Colloquium Committee:
independently sampled ego transition to adulthood in China Paige Borelli
networks and uncovers the during the market reform. Her
GPSC Representative:
properties of the full, unknown research interests are globalization,
Laura Weimer
network. He also working on a family change and social inequality
paper with Lynn Smith-Lovin (with in China. Faculty Committee:
Miller McPherson) mapping the Brad Fulton & Steven Foy
change in demographic based Graduate Student
homophily over the last 20 years. Forum News Social Chairpersons:
He is also working with Jim Moody Heather Rackin & Megan Reynolds
on a few papers. One paper uses The Graduate Student Forum is the
official discussion forum and Graduate Policy Committee:
dynamic exponential random graph
governing body for all graduate Jake Fisher & Melanie Sereny
models on classroom social
networks; another series of papers students in the Sociology Community Interest Coordinator:
looks at the effect of missing data Department at Duke University. Kim Rogers
on the validity of network The GSF provides a round-table
measures. Finally, he is working on environment for Sociology graduate International Student
a paper with Bob Faris (UC-Davis) students to discuss their opinions Representative:
which models status hierarchies in a and concerns with regard to Xiaohan Xu
multilevel context. departmental matters, the
department’s relationship to the Secretary:
university, interdepartmental Amie Bostic
Inseo Son
~24~

UNDERGRADUTE NEWS SSS meeting in New Orleans and the other will be
presented at the 2012 annual meeting jointly by Kristen
Senior sociology majors are hard at work to complete and Simon. Congratulations to these outstanding young
the senior research requirement and graduate in May. scholars!
Nine seniors, Felicia Arriaga, Katie Brown, Tsering
Chen, Lilly Chow, Ryan Genkin, Precious Graham, Duke Senior Honors Students Present at
Lindsay Lincoln, Brian Litwin, and Hilary duPont are Duke/UNC Joint Conference
participating in the year-long Sociology Honors
program under the direction of Phil Morgan. They will In January, Duke and UNC co-sponsored the 2nd
present their work at the Department’s annual Honors Annual Sociology Undergraduate Honors Students
Workshop in April. Another 8 seniors are enrolled in Meeting. This inter-institutional collaboration was
Lane Destro’s senior research seminar focused on initiated last year by Dr. Linda Burton at Duke and Dr.
“Working Families in the Great Recession.” And, 13 Kenneth "Andy" Andrews at UNC to give the honors
students will conduct applied research in the context of students at both universities the opportunity to meet
the sociology internship seminar. Their internship and discuss their academic work and future plans. Due
placements range from Legal Aid, Project Access to the success of last year's event, the current
(public health), Teen Court, Durham Arts Council, Coordinators for Undergraduate Honors, Dr. S. Philip
Iron Dukes, Duke University Sports Marketing, John Morgan at Duke and Dr. Karolyn Tyson at UNC
Avery Boys and Girls Club, and a local dental clinic. decided to keep the event as part of the Undergraduate
Sociology Honors program.
This year’s program was structured differently than last
year to give the students the experience of being at an
actual professional as opposed to a casual get together.
The 16 students, nine from Duke and seven from
UNC, were divided into panels and each student was
given a chance to discuss her/his research project and
to field questions and/or comments from the audience.
Morgan felt the formal meeting structure, with
frequent breaks, worked well because it gave students
specific topics to talk about. They were able to ask
follow-up questions or to engage a questioner about
his/her question. The topics of these student projects
Three junior sociology majors are already making their cover a wide range of sociological areas. For many of
mark as researchers. Michael Habashi conducted the students, this was their first opportunity to present
research on homeless- ness in LA’s skid row under the their own research in an academic setting.
direction of Bonilla-Silva. Michael analyzed his data and
wrote a final paper through and independent study Morgan enjoys working with the honor students and is
project with Bach. His paper has been accepted for always impressed with the range of topics the
presentation at the 2012 Southern Sociological undergraduates tackle and the research methods they
Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans. Kristen Lee use. What Morgan enjoyed most about the honor
and Simon Ho conducted research on the experiences students participating in the Duke/UNC joint event
of Asian-American students at Duke under the was seeing the students “take their show on the road.”
direction of Dr. Rosalind Chou, the 2011 REGSS While they have talked to one another about their
postdoctoral scholar at Duke. They have written two projects, Morgan feels “they did a great job presenting
papers based on that research that have been accepted to a new audience that required a full introduction to
for presentation: one will be presented by Simon at the what they were doing.”

~25~

The honors students have been working hard with
Morgan and their TA, Trentia Childers, to complete
their research projects and prepare to present them at
the 10th Annual Honors Workshop at the end of the
semester. As the TA, Trenita has really enjoyed helping
students think through all the steps in the research
process. For Trenita, “It's also great to see them get
excited about their research question as they
unravel the process of getting an answer to their
question using the scientific method. The students are
really motivated to do quality work, which makes being
a TA even better!”

Class of 2012 Sociology
Honors Students
Felicia Arriaga:
"Reactions to Being Labeled as 'Acting White'"

Katie Brown:
"Gender in TV Commercials: Variation by age of target audience"

Tsering Chen:
"Racial/Ethnic Difference in Educational Attainment"

Lilly Chow:
"Structure and Sentiment of a 21st Century Southern Sorority"

Ryan Genkin:
"E-Recruiting and Campus Culture at Duke"

Precious Graham:
Racial Differences in Perception of Gender Identity"

Lindsay Lincoln:
"Predicting Recidivism"

Brian Litwin:
"Incentive Structures and the Mortgage Meltdown"

Hillary DuPont:
"Undergraduate Interracial Friendships"

~26~

CONGRATULATIONS
2011 Sociology Honors Graduates!

Courtney Arrindell:
“The Relationship between Sexual Abuse/Domestic Violence and Health Conditions”

Matthew Boyles:
“Render Unto Caesar:
The Relationship between Evangelical Christians and the Republican Party in the 2008 Presidential, Senatorial,
Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections”

Caroline Cappelli:
“Women in Print:
An Assessment of Women, Beauty, and Gendered Portrayals in Fashion Magazines”

Martin DeWitt:
“Is Racism Manly?
Racial Expressions of White Masculinity”

Nnenna Ene:
“Entrepreneurship as a Way of Life:
Insights on African American Female Business Owners”

Tiphany Jackson:
“Degrees, Babies, or Both?
Professional African-American Women’s Decision Regarding Motherhood”

Courtney Lam:
“Where's A Dentist?
The Geographical Distribution of Dentists and Access to Care”

Jennifer Solomon:
“The Feminization of Bankruptcy:
The Differential Impact of Dependents on Unmarried Men and Women”

Tracy Vallejo:
“Facebook and Myspace Friendships and the Role of Social Cues in the Presentation of Self”

Kate Zeligson:
“Socialization through Subtleties:
A Content Analysis of Children's Toy Commercials”
~27~

Sociology Department
Duke University
Durham, NC 27708

www.duke.soc.edu

Phone: 919-660-5614
Fax: 919-660-5623

Edited by Regina S. Baker

2012newsletter

More Related Content

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to 2012newsletter (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

2012newsletter