November 2024: Dr. Deborah Carr (CAS)
Dr. Deborah Carr is an A&S Distinguished Professor of sociology and director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science. She is a life course sociologist who uses survey data and quantitative methods to study social factors linked with health and well-being in later life. She has written extensively on inequality in old age, death and dying, bereavement, family relationships over the life course, and the stigma associated with health conditions including obesity and disability. She has published more than 120 articles and chapters, and several books including Aging in America (University of California Press, 2023) and Worried Sick: How Stress Hurts Us and How to Bounce Back (Rutgers University Press, 2014), as well as several co-authored textbooks including Introduction to Sociology, Essentials of Sociology, and The Art and Science of Social Research (all with W. W. Norton). Her 2019 book Golden Years? Social Inequality in Later Life (Russell Sage) received the 2020 Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America. She is also co-editor of the Handbook of Aging & Social Sciences, 9th ed. (Elsevier, 2021). Her research has been funded by National Institutes of Health, RRF Foundation on Aging, Templeton Foundation, Borchard Foundation, and most recently Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. She was editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences (2015-20), and is principal investigator of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79). She currently serves as editor-in-chief of Journal of Health and Social Behavior (2023-26). Dr. Carr has served on the Board of Directors of the Population Association of America, and as chair of the sections on Aging & the Life Course and Medical Sociology of the American Sociological Association. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, a member of the honorary Sociological Research Association, and the recipient of the 2022 Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award and 2023 Outstanding Mentorship Award from the ASA Aging & Life Course section. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in 2024. Her research and op-eds have been featured in national media including The New York Times, USA Today, CNN, Los Angeles Times, The Conversation, PBS programs including Story in the Public Square and To the Contrary, podcasts including the New Books Network, and other sources.What made you decide to be a social scientist/ why does social science matter to you?
I was a very nosy child (much to my parents’ embarrassment). When I took my first sociology course in college, I discovered that I could make a career out of asking people questions and analyzing what they do, say, and feel. Sociology also gave me a framework and method for studying topics I was impassioned about – especially the profound impacts of social class on our lives. To this day, I believe that social science research is essential for informing evidenced-based policies.
Can you tell us about a recent research project that you’re excited about?
With some colleagues at Vanderbilt, we recently received NIH funding to pilot the first-ever national survey of never-married older adults. About 10 percent of U.S. adults fall into this category, yet we know little about their health, social lives, and much more. Do they have enough money to live on? Who provides them care? How will they prepare for end-of-life decisions? We’re eager to find answers and solutions.
What is the best piece of professional advice you ever received?
“Don’t make the reader work so hard.” Crystal-clear, lively text is critical for academics. Even the most brilliant and innovative study will have little impact if readers are bored, confused, or frustrated with the first page.
What is your favorite course you’ve taught at BU?
I love teaching my Death and Dying seminar. Our BU students are so bright and engaged, and have such wise insights into death beliefs, rituals, fears, and practices around the globe. I also appreciate that this class gives students a place to talk about their own losses and work through their own grief in a world that still is reluctant to grapple with issues of death.
Tell us a surprising fact about yourself.
I’ve had many, many jobs. Not coveted academic jobs, but those “pay-the-bills” jobs that helped me save for and pay for college (assisted by Pell Grants and low-interest loans). Babysitter, newspaper deliverer at low-income senior housing development, fast-food worker, waitress at a Chinese restaurant, barmaid, pizza maker, bank teller, ice cream scooper, bead sorter at a costume jewelry distributor, convenience store cashier, and more. My favorite: a hired flute/piccolo player at Italian and Portuguese church feasts (photographic evidence, for your amusement). These experiences taught me the value of all work – and that academic careers are a luxury.