Publications, Awards, and Other Accomplishments
If you graduated with a degree from the WSU Department of Sociology and have an accomplishment that relates to the education you received from the department that you would like to share in the newsletter, please send us an email to sociology.news@wsu.edu.
Faculty names are bolded; current graduate student names are bolded and followed by an asterisk (*); current undergraduate student names are bolded and followed by a plus symbol (+).
Congratulations
Mari Amorim and colleague Megan Bea were awarded a two-year grant from the National Institute of Health titled “Debt Fluctuation, Stress, and Health.”
Dylan Bugden’s 2020 paper in Socius titled “Does Climate Protest Work? Partisanship, Protest, and Sentiment Pools,” was among the ten most downloaded articles in the ASA journal Socius in 2023.
Caleb Cooley*successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Contextualizing Health Disparities: The Role of Social Support, Internalized Stigma, and State Policy Climate in Shaping Substance Abuse and Mental Distress Among Sexual Minority Adults.”
Caleb Cooley* accepted a position as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Texas Christian University. He will begin his appointment in fall 2024.
Vanessa Delgado:
Awarded an Early Career Research Grant by the Family Process Institute.
Selected as a 2024 Frank F. Furstenberg Early Career Scholar by the Council on Contemporary Families.
Justin Denney was interviewed and featured by the WSU Office of the Chancellor for his research on population health and well-being.
Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson was interviewed on Minnesota Public Radio about teen employment.
Erik Johnson was promoted to full professor.
Seon Yup Lee*successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Status Dynamics Beyond the Scope Conditions: Deference, Incompetence, and Group Contribution.”
Christian Maynard*:
Placed third at the GPSA Research Exposition & Academic Showcase within the Arts and Education Sciences section with his poster, “US Cannabis Legalization 2015–2021: Implications for Cannabis Use and Perceived Risks Among Adolescents.”
Awarded a Foley Summer Fellowship, which he will use to conduct research on drugs and drug policy to present at the 2024 American Society of Criminology meeting.
Thomas Rotolo received the 2024 Louis N. Gray Award from graduate students in the department, honoring his exceptional graduate student mentorship and advocacy this past year.
Jen Schwartz and Jenn Sherman were featured in Washington State Magazine about their rural incarceration research.
Sarah Whitley received a Smith Teaching and Learning Grant from the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement for the 2024-2025AY.
Luna Wu* placed third, within the Physical & Social Sciences, at the GPSA Research Exposition (Academic Showcase) 2024, with a poster titled “Return migrant Children in Contemporary China: Estimating the Impact of Return Migration on Children’s Educational Expectations.”
Anna Zamora-Kapoor was interviewed and featured in WSU Insider for her research using artificial intelligence to improve health equity in rural Washington.
Anna Zamora-Kapoor was featured in Politico for her work on her NIH AIM-AHEAD grant.
Publications
Dylan Bugden and former WSU undergraduate Jesse Brazil coauthored “The Role of Geostrategic Interests in Motivating Public Support for Foreign Climate Aid” that was accepted for publication in theJournal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.
Dylan Bugden authored “Color-blind Racial Ideology and Beliefs about Environmental Inequality among US Government Officials,” accepted for publication in Environmental Politics.
Azdren Coma*, Erik W. Johnson, and Philip Schwadel authored “Elite Cueing, Gender, and the Partisan Gap in Environmental Support,” accepted for publication in The Sociological Quarterly.
Vanessa Delgado authored a policy brief, “Supporting immigrant-origin college students’ transition to the workforce: Policy recommendations for postsecondary institutions,” accepted for publication by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.
Justin Denney, with a WSU undergraduate honors student and colleagues at the WSU College of Medicine, coauthored “Racial, Ethnic, and Rural Disparities in Distance to Physicians among Decedents with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias in Washington State,” accepted for publication in Alzheimer’s and Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
Don A. Dillman authoredYou Have Been Randomly Selected: A Life Dedicated to Turning Research Results into Practical Application. WSU Press: Pullman, WA.
Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson and former graduate student Sadie Ridgeway coauthored “Gender and Family Financial Support in the Transition to Adulthood,” accepted for publication in Sociological Forum.
Cassi Leonard* authored “The Sociology of Global Health: Inequality, Disease‐related Stigma, and the Rise of Nongovernmental Organizations,” accepted for publication in Sociology Compass.
Christie Miksys,* Cassi Leonard,*and Sam Castonguay,* along with sociology alum Sarah Morton and Maria Gartstein, coauthored “STEM in Higher Education: Analysis of Gendered Themes Across Pacific Northwest Institutional Policies,” accepted for publication in the ADVANCE Journal.
Morgan Montañez* authored “Nowhere Else to Go: Housing Insecurity in a Hispanic-Majority, Rural County During the Covid-19 Pandemic,” accepted for publication in Rural Sociology.
Presentations
Mari Amorim presented:
“Universal Cash Transfers and Inequalities in Private Investments,” an invited talk, as part of the West Coast Poverty Center Roundtable on Work, Wages, and Economic Security at the University of Washington.
“The Fall and Rise of Parental Investments in Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” with co-authors Sabino Kornrich and Pat Hastings, at the 2024 Population Association of America Annual Meeting.
Participated on the panel, “Family, Law, and Policy,” at the 2024 Population Association of America Annual Meeting.
Dylan Bugden presented:
“Navigating Fear, Anxiety, and Hopelessness in Climate Change Pedagogy: A Defensive Pessimism Approach” as part of the Presidential Plenary Session at the Eastern Sociological Society Meeting.
Participated on the panel, “Sociology and the Climate Crisis: Engaging Inward,” as part of the Presidential Plenary Session at the Eastern Sociological Society Meeting.
Steven Cassidy* presented “Authoritarian Domination & Its Discontents: Strain and Organizational Authority in the Military Context” at the 2024 Pacific Sociological Association Conference.
Shekinah Hoffman*:
Presented “It Feels Ever-Present: Workplace Harassment in the Casino Gaming Industry” at the 2024 Pacific Sociological Association Conference.
Presented “It Feels Ever-Present”: Workplace Harassment in the Gaming Industry,” an invited talk, to the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health.
Cassi Leonard* presented “Socioeconomic Disparities in Grandparental Investments in Grandchildren: 1990-2018,” a co-authored paper with Mari Amorim at the 2024 Population Association of America Annual Meeting.
Luna Wu* presented a posted, “Return migrant Children in Contemporary China: Estimating the Impact of Return Migration on Children’s Educational Expectations” at 2024 Population Association of America Annual Meeting.
Spring 2024 Department Annual Awards
Cia Bell+ was awarded the Sociology Excellence Fund: Exceptional Senior award.
Lennon Brooks+ was awarded the Roberta Cline Frasier Anderson Scholarship.
Lennon Brooks+ was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Steven Cassidy*was awarded the Karen Jennison & Kenneth Johnson Graduate Student Travel Award.
Sam Castonguay* was awarded the Don Dillman Fellowship.
Tinashe Chirume* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Caleb Cooley* was awarded the James F. Short, Jr. Research Award.
Thomas Familia* was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Thomas Familia* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Ish Green* was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Safiya Hafiz* was awarded the Dolan, Susan, & Sarah Memorial Scholarship
Abigail Henriksen+ was awarded the John Wardwell Endowed Scholarship.
Shekinah Hoffman* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Stefan Istvan+ was awarded the Marjorie Talbott Tripp Scholarship Fund.
Stefan Istvan+ was awarded the John Wardwell Endowed Scholarship.
Jair Johnson* was awarded the Jeanne Jewett Scholarship.
Ruth Kebede Deresse+ was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Ruth Kebede Deresse+ was awarded the Paul and Bessie Landis Scholarship.
Ella King+ was awarded the Paul and Bessie Landis Scholarship.
Kate Lachica+ was awarded the Sociology Excellence Fund: CAS Outstanding Senior award.
Cassi Leonard* was awarded the Joseph R. DeMartini Travel Grant.
Isabela Loon+ was awarded the Ruth Magnuson Roberts Sociology Scholarship.
Izabella Maddaloni+ was awarded the Paul and Bessie Landis Scholarship.
Martha Martinez+ was awarded the Roberta Cline Frasier Anderson Scholarship.
Martha Martinez+ was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Christian Maynard* was awarded the Herbert and Mary Neil Scholarship.
Christian Maynard* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Rodrigo Rodriguez+ was awarded the Norman and Linda Baer Sociology Scholarship.
Cassie Rueda* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Erika Serrano+ was awarded the Jeanne Jewett Scholarship.
Sydney Silva* was awarded the Gordon D. and Izola P. Morgan Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Sydney Silva* was awarded the Milton Rokeach and Sandra Ball-Rokeach Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Abigail Smith+ was awarded the Jeanna Jewett Scholarship.
Michelle Weston* was awarded the Joseph R. DeMartini Excellence in Teaching Award.
Michelle Weston* was awarded the Gordon D. and Izola P. Morgan Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
Luna Wu* was awarded the Fred R. Yoder Memorial Graduate Fellowship in Sociology.
