Awards and achievements

Departmental briefs about graduate student and faculty accomplishments

Sociology faculty and graduate students make a positive impact in multiple ways. Sometimes they make a significant difference through publications. In other cases, impact occurs through teaching and service outside the University or participation in workshops. Listed here are some of their recent accomplishments and recognition of achievement.

Sociology Graduate Students

Annika Anderson and Andrew Crookston have coauthored a book chapter, “The Structural Origins of Stereotype Threat and Its Impact on Racial/Ethnic Groups at Predominantly White Institutions.” Pp. 19-35 in The Plight of Students of Color at Predominantly White Institutions: a Critical Reader, edited by R.V. Robertson. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing (2013).

Valerie Adrian accepted an invitation to teach “American Families in Historical and Sociological Perspective” at The Evergreen State College for two weeks in the spring quarter 2014.

Jon Schreiner is one of six sociology graduate students nationwide to be invited to participate in an international workshop, “Measuring the Diverging Components of Race in Multiracial America,” at Texas A&M University this summer. His participation is supported by The American Sociological Association’s Fund for the Advancement of the Discipline.

Hao Feng had two papers accepted for publication: Hao, Feng. In Press. “The effect of economic affluence and ecological degradation on Chinese environmental concern: A multilevel analysis.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. Hao, Feng. Forthcoming. “Material Extraction/Consumption and Global Trade: An Empirical Examination for 95 Countries between 1980 and 2009.” Perspectives on Global Development and Technology.

Hong Zhang and Michael Lengefeld have each received $1,500 Graduate Fellowships from the WSU Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service.

Jose Collazo received the Burgess Brothers Memorial Scholarship for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Sociology Faculty

Christine Horne provided training in social science research methods to managers of a rural electrification program in Bangladesh. This training was provided as part of the WSU Energy Systems Innovation Center’s work with the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board. She also served on a National Science Foundation Review Panel this spring.

Christine Oakley (2000, PhD) associate clinical professor in sociology and director of Global Learning, WSU International Programs, became president-elect of Alpha Kappa Delta, the National Honor Society for Sociology.

Amy Wharton completed her term as president of the Pacific Sociological Association this spring.

Alair MacLean published: Alair MacLean and Meredith Kley Kamp. 2014. “Coming Home: Attitudes toward U.S. Veterans returning from Iraq.” Social Problems 61(1):131-154.

Jennifer Schwartz was selected to receive the 2014 College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Graduate Teaching and/or Mentoring Award. Dr. Schwartz also received funding from the U.S. Department of Justice for a three-year research project to deliver the first comprehensive, multilevel data set on major white-collar crime. (https://news.wsu.edu/2014/04/03/identifying-risk-factors-for-corporate-financial-fraud/)

Julie Kmec was appointed on July 1, 2014, as the Edward R. Meyer Distinguished Professor of Sociology. She has also had three articles published: Kmec, Julie A. and Sheryl. L. Skaggs. (Forthcoming, November 2014). “The ‘State’ of Equal Employment Law and Managerial Gender Diversity.” Social Problems. O’Connor, Lindsey T. (2012 Sociology PhD), Julie A. Kmec, and Elizabeth Harris. (Forthcoming, 2014) “Giving Care and Perceived Discrimination: The Social and Organizational Context of Family Responsibility Discrimination.” Research in the Sociology of Work. Kmec, Julie A., Lindsey Trimble-O’Connor and Scott Schieman. 2014. “Not Ideal: Working Anything but Full Time and Perceptions of Unfair Treatment.” Work and Occupations 41: 3-17.

Julie Kmec is co-principal investigator of a $450,000, three-year grant received from the National Science Foundation, “The Two-Body Problem: An Evaluation of University Partner Accommodation Policies with Implications for Recruitment, Retention, and Promotion of STEM Women.” She participated in the inaugural EEODATANET Conference at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) headquarters in Washington, DC, in May. The aim of this conference is to create an interdisciplinary conversation among social scientists currently using EEOC data and to deepen ties between the academic research community and research at the EEOC.

Erik Johnson has published, “Toward international Comparative Research on Association Activity: Variation in the Form and Focus of Voluntary Associations in Four Nations,” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 2014. Vo. 43(2s) 163S-181S.

Mikhail Balaev has published, “Improving Models of Democracy: The Example of Lagged Effects of Economic Development, Education, and Gender Equality.” Social Science Research, 46:169-183.

Monica K. Johnson is one of the first two College of Arts and Sciences faculty to be awarded a two-year appointment as a distinguished professor in the WSU Honors College. Earlier this year she presented an invited lecture on “Parental financial Assistance in the Transition to Adulthood” at Duke University, and had an article accepted for publication: Monica K. Johnson, J. Staff, M. Patrick and J. Schullenberg, “The Great Recession and Recent Employment Trends among Secondary Students in the United States.” 2014. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies.

Lorine A. Hughes (2003, PhD) and James F. Short Jr. are authors of “Partying, Cruising, and Hanging in the Streets: Gangs, Routine Activities, and Delinquency and Violence in Chicago, 1959-1962.” Journal of Quantitative Criminology (online first), 2014. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10940-013-9. Dr. Hughes also had the lead article in the November 1913 issue of Criminology: “Group cohesiveness, gang membership prestige, and delinquency and violence in Chicago, 1959-1962,” pp. 795-832.

Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth (2007, PhD), and Leah Melani Christian (2007, PhD) are authors of the book, Internet, Phone, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys; the Tailored Design Method, 4^th edition (2014, John Wiley, Hoboken, NJ).

Don A. Dillman has been appointed to the Committee on National Statistics for the National Research Council (of the National Academies of Science and Engineering) for a three-year term, July 1, 2014–June 30, 2017. Dr. Dillman also presented the keynote address, “Letting Go of Survey Methods That No Longer Work and Creating New Ones,” at the International Field Directors and Technologies Conference (IFDTC) in Pasadena, CA, in May. In addition, he taught a short course, “Designing Mixed Mode Surveys,” at the American Association for Public Opinion Research annual conference in Anaheim, CA, in May.

The work of Clay Mosher on investigating and understanding social justice, “Looking behind the Numbers,” was featured in the spring 2014 (4:2) issue of Northwest Crimson and Gray, published by Washington State University Vancouver. It describes his significant impact on understanding law enforcement practices in Washington and the nation.