Spring 2025 Seminar Series

Wednesday February 5th, Emma Zang (Yale University), Life-Course Exposure to State Policy Liberalism Contexts and Later-Life Cognitive Health, 12:00 pm, 96 Cummington Mall, Room 241

Wednesday March 5th, Emilio J. Castilla (MIT), The Unfulfilled Promise of Meritocracy in Organizations, 12:00 pm, 96 Cummington Mall, Room 241

Wednesday April 9th, Cinzia Solari, (UMass Boston), The Gender Order of Neoliberalism, 12:00 pm, 96 Cummington Mall, Room 241

    Past Seminars

    Spring 2024

    • Bandage, Sort, and Hustle: Ambulance Crews on the Front Lines of Urban Suffering, Josh Seim Boston College
    • Global fertility Industry and the Transnational Reproduction of Whiteness, Amrita Pande, University of Cape Town

    Fall 2023

    • The Many Lives of Migrant Death: Toward a Critical Sociology of Loss. Jyoti Puri, Simmons University, Hazel Dick Leonard Chair and Professor of Sociology

    Spring 2023

    • The Trafficking Deportation Pipeline: Asian Massage Work and the Racialized Policing of Poverty. Elena Shih, Brown University, Manning Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnic Studies
    • The Great Refusal: The Global Struggle For & Against Gay Rights. Jason L. Ferguson, University of California-Los Angeles, Assistant Professor of Sociology 

    Fall 2022

    •  Stacked Decks: Building Inspectors and the Reproduction of Urban Inequality. Robin Bartram, Tulane University, Assistant Professor of Sociology
    •  The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of American Policing. Michael Sierra-Arévalo, University of Texas-Austin, Assistant Professor of Sociology

    Spring 2022

    • At Risk: Indian Sexual Politics and the Global AIDS Crisis. Gowri Vijayakumar, Brandeis University, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
    • Data Money Makers: A Sociological Analysis of a Global Cryptocurrency Community. Koray Caliskan, The New School, Associate Professor of Strategic Design and Management at Parsons 
    • Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics: Madness and Inequality in Los Angeles. Neil Gong, UC San Diego, Assistant Professor
    • The Chimera of Market Prices in US Hospitals: The Case of Henry Ford. Roi Livine, University of Michigan, Associate Professor
    • Class Traitors: Wealthy People Working Against Accumulation. Rachel Sherman, The New School, Professor & Chair of Department of Sociology

    Fall 2021

    • Losing Ground: Values at Risk in an American Floodplain. Rebecca Elliot, London School of Economics, Assistant Professor
    • Grounds for Play: Race, Gender and Leisure in Lawrence’s Public Parks. Teresa Gonzales, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Assistant Professor
    • All It Takes Is One Block: The Legacy of Redlining in Lethally Surveilled Neighborhoods. Alyasah Ali Sewell, Emory University, Associate Professor
    • Color, Class, and Context: Examining Heterogeneous Family Structure Effects. Christina Cross, Harvard University, Assistant Professor (2022)
    • Tell All the Stories: Memory, Inequality, and Urban Agriculture. Sara Shostak, Brandeis University, Associate Professor

    Spring 2021

    • Social Determinants of Covid-19 and Excess Mortality in the United States. Andrew Stokes, BU School of Public Health, Assistant Professor.
    • Delaying Sex & Wrapping it Up: HIV Stigma Beliefs, Media Exposure, and Risky Sexual Behavior in Sub-Saharan Africa. David Cort, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Associate Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
    • Fatphobia as Misogynoir: Gender, Race, and Weight Stigma. Sabrina Strings, University of California-Irvine, Associate Professor of Sociology.
    • Public Investments, Private Investments and Class Gaps in Child Development. Margot Jackson, Brown University, Associate Professor of Sociology.

    Fall 2020

    • There Were Black People in the Past: Gentrification, Displacement and the Making of A Food Oasis. Waverly Duck, University of Pittsburgh, Associate Professor.
    • Learning Her Place: Black Girlhood Lessons on Policing and Marginalization. Shannon Malone Gonzalez, University of Texas-Austin. Doctoral candidate and American Sociological Association Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) Fellow.
    • Racialized Organizations, Diversity, and the Maintenance of the Racial Order. Victor Ray, University of Iowa, Assistant Professor.
    • What Really Caused the Flint Water Crisis? Louise Seamster, University of Iowa, Assistant Professor.

    Spring 2020

    • Yesterday’s Monsters: The Manson Family Cases and the Illusion of Parole. Hadar Aviram, UC-Hastings College of Law, Professor.
    • Does Demand Lead Supply? Gentrifiers and Developers in the Sequence of Gentrification. Brendan Beck, University of Florida, Professor.
    • Public Investments and Class Gaps in Parents’ Developmental Expenditures. Margot Jackson, Brown University, Professor.
    • The Making of Homo Financius: Conventions, Emotions, and Morality in Financial Education. Daniel Maman, Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Professor.
    • The Punitive Turn in Latin America: Comparative and Theoretical Perspectives. Maximo Sozzo, National University of Litoral (Argentina), Professor.

    Fall 2019

    • The Last Plantation: The Politics of Food, Space, and Work. James Jonas, Rutgers University, Professor.
    • Health Migrations: How Social and Socio-Cultural Factors Shape Latin American Immigrants’ Healthcare Practices. Tiffany Joseph, Northeastern University, Professor.
    • The Company We Keep: Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships from Adolescence to Adulthood. Grace Kao, Yale University, Professor.
    • Producing Racial Profiles: Global Cosmetic Surgery and the Art of Standardization. Alka Menon, Yale University, Professor.

    Spring 2019

    • Twitter Wars, Teens, and Tolerance: Negotiating Inequality Online in the Anti-Bullying Era. Sarah Miller, Boston University, Lecturer.
    • Down, Out, and Under Arrest: How Policing Shapes Everyday Life in Urban Poor Communities. Forrest Stuart, Stanford University, Associate Professor.
    • Constructing Need and Fostering Trust: Grassroots Leaders at the Nexus of Religious and Social Welfare Fields in Uganda. Nicolette Manglos Weber, Boston University School of Theology, Assistant Professor.