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Fall/Winter 2012
SOCIOLOGY NEWSLETTER
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
This is an exciting time for the sociology department at Georgetown College. We closed out the 2011-2012 academic year by celebrating our largest graduating class to date! We applauded 15 seniors as they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas, and are currently supporting two other senior majors who will finish their sociology degree this fall. Two of our graduates entered highly respected PhD programs this fall. Two seniors also presented papers at international conferences. And, multiple others are now engaged in humanitarian work from the West coast to the Appalachian region and from South America to Western Europe. We are so proud of the work our graduates are doing, inside and out of the classroom. This academic year we have the privilege of sending two of our juniors to study at the prestigious Oxford University. Not only are our students achieving high marks academically, but they are also highly engaged in the local community. The majority of our majors and minors participate in our internship program which does a great job of bringing the classroom and community together. At the same time, many of these internship experiences also open up future employment opportunities for our students. Additionally, the department continues to be trailblazers for Georgetown Colleges service learning initiative. Well over half of the students taking sociology courses this year will have the opportunity through our service learning program to work alongside community partners in an effort to solve issues that affect the campus and our surrounding communities. I am so proud of our students and their many accomplishments. They are truly amazing young people who want to, and tell me they can, change the world! I ask for your continued support of our program and students. This comes in many forms: spreading the word about the wonderful things happening in the department, connecting us to community partners for our service learning program, and providing funds that will allow the sociology department to continue to prepare our students for the challenges of the 21st century. I cant thank you enough for your support and active role in our mission to develop advocates for change, committed to scholarship, social justice, and empowerment. Best Wishes, Eric Carter
The Oxford Connection . 2 Outstanding Students ... 3 Faculty Spotlights .......... 4 Kentuckians For The Commonwealth ............. 5 Campus Culture Change: Justice Initiatives .......... 6 Real Utopias with Erik Olin Wright7 Future Plans .................. 8 Make a Positive Difference ................................ 9
Darius Gates Community Commitment Award This award is presented to a sociology major through an internship/s who makes a difference in the Georgetown community. Aaron Padgett C.W. Mills Award This award is presented to a sociology major with at least a 3.0 GPA who exemplifies the intersection of scholarship and social activism.
Morgan Reeves C.W. Mills Award This award is presented to a sociology major with at least a 3.0 GPA who exemplifies the intersection of scholarship and social activism. Caliesha Comley Carlton/Deason Scholarship
This scholarship honors J. Richard Carlton and Mary E. Carlton and in Juniors: Morgan Reeves memory of Owen W. and Betty Jean and Caliesha Comley. Deason. The award is presented to a rising junior or senior who is majoring 3 in sociology or history and is based on student academic performance, promise, character, and need.
Seniors: Claire Strnad, Layla Padgett, Kelsey Ach, Brandy Smith, and Shelby Barron.
FACULTY SPOTLIGHTS
Dr. Eric M. Carter joined the faculty of Georgetown College in Fall 2006 as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. Dr. Carter received his bachelors degree in sociology from Carson Newman College. He went on to receive his masters degree in sociology from Marshall University, and his PhD in sociology from Kansas State University, where his work focused on the sociology of work and labor markets, social change, social stratifiDr. Sarah E. Cribbs joined the faculty of Georgetown College in Fall 2011 as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. Dr. Cribbs areas of teaching interest include race and ethnicity, gender, health and illness, applied sociology, research methods and other core courses. Dr. Cribbs currently serves as the faculty advisor for Sociology Club, Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD), and as the co-advisor for Student Women and Gender Society (SWAGS). She is the Chair of the committee on Civic Engagement (where service learning is housed) and member of the Honors Program Committee and Oxford Program Committee. Dr. Stephanie Holcomb-Kreiner joined the faculty of Georgetown College in Spring 2012 as Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and was promoted this Fall semester to Assistant Professor of Sociology. Dr. Holcomb-Kreiner received her PhD in sociology from the University of Kentucky in Spring 2012. Her dissertation, entitled Explaining Benefit Variability in FMNP in Kentucky: An Application of Pierre Bourdieus Theory, represents her diverse interests in food-related behaviors, social inequality, program evaluation, sustainability and community development. Dr. Holcomb-Kreiner has several projects underway. She is working to cation, and the sociology of sports and culture. Dr. Carters dissertation, titled, Failing at Success, centered on anomie and deviance in the National Football League. He is currently the chair of the department. Dr. Carter is the author of the book, Boys Gone Wild: Fame, Fortune, and Deviance Among Professional Football Players. He is also involved in research in the areas of sports, stratification, and education. Dr. Cribbs received her PhD in sociology from the University of Oregon in 2011. Her dissertation, Rooted in the Past, Blind to the Present: Health Care Administrators Perceived Role and Response to Spanish-Speaking Immigrants in a New Settlement Community, investigated the ways in which the administrators within one health care system perceived and framed their institutions changes resulting from new, Spanish-speaking immigrant population growth within their surrounding metropolitan area. Dr. Cribbs recently published in the Journal of Social Work and Social Welfare and the Journal of Black Studies. expand service learning into her courses, and this semester has worked with Habitat for Humanitys Restore on paint recycling. She is also guiding the implementation of a sustainable landscaping project on GCs campus, which will serve as a demonstration garden and eventually an outside classroom space. As part of her emphasis on engaged and applied scholarship, Dr. Holcomb-Kreiner is drafting an article on food-related behaviors among low-income individuals and pursuing LEED certification, initially as a Green Associate and culminating in LEED AP Neighborhood Development (LEED AP ND) credentials.
Registered voters on campus, at community festivals and in nearby African American Communities. Gained first-hand experience talking to legislators about a range of issues in Frankfort and participating in rallies there. Worked in solidarity with the Georgetown NAACP for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day march. Organized a tremendous Earth Day concert last semester that brought out hundreds of students. Began networking with student activists from UK, starting to make a space to learn from each other.
We hope and expect that the Georgetown Sociology Club will continue to play a vital role in the community and cant help but think that this kind of experiential learning will make them even better citizens of this Commonwealth and planet. Dave Newton, KFTC Deputy Organizing Director
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth is a statewide citizens organization working for a new balance of power and a just society. As we work together we build our strength, individually and as a group, and we find solutions to real life problems. We use direct action to challenge and change unfair political, economic and social systems. Our membership is open to all people who are committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.
No social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals. Martin Luther King, Jr. REAL UTOPIAS WITH ERIK OLIN WRIGHT
Sociology students and faculty met and conversed with American Sociological Association President Erik Olin Wright this past spring after attending his lecture on Real Utopias at Berea College. Wright inspired the crowd with a simple message, which he restated in his blog: In the ideal world I imagine there probably is some place for a bit of capitalism, some role for capitalism. No socioeconomic structure is ever purely one kind of economic system. American capitalism has public libraries, which distribute books in decidedly non-capitalist ways. So I suspect that there would be a niche for capitalism even in a radically democratic egalitarian society.
FUTURE PLANS
SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER
The Sociology Department Newsletter is published by: The Sociology Department of Georgetown College
The Sociology Department is looking forward with an eye for justice and a green thumb! As part of our sustainable community development emphasis, our environment and sustainability course has completed the preliminary steps to implement a demonstration garden behind the Sociology House. Along with research on the symbolic and social effects of resource-intensive landscaping, we have conducted research on climatology, native plants, and both the benefits and challenges to sustainable landscaping. We have proposed a Demonstration Garden that will serve as a model for sustainable landscaping and provide an outdoor classroom space. We will be completing Stage One, perennial perimeter plantings. This includes hardwood native trees to support the health of our urban forests and perennial wildflowers and bushes to promote water filtration and mitigate runoff from the parking lots adjacent to the Sociology House. Stage Two will include the planting of native grasses and the installation of benches and water barrels to collect rainwater. Several grants have been identified and proposals will be submitted in an effort to secure ample funding. Stage Two will begin in late Spring 2013 and will be completed during Fall 2013. Stage Three will include permeable walkways, arbors, and expanded native plantings. Stage Three is expected to begin late Spring 2014.
As the department works to make service learning an integral part of its curriculum, Dr. Holcomb-Kreiner and Ms. Shannon Cribbs, director of the Center for Civic Engagement, are in the exploratory stages of planning a trip for globalization and development students to participate in an international build with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity builds simple, decent homes in an effort to eliminate poverty housing in the United States and worldwide. Partnering with Habitat would give students the opportunity to apply their sociological imagination to a significant social problem and see firsthand the results of social engagement. It would also facilitate international understanding and bring to life the principles discussed in our globalization and development course. Costs for participation in a Global Village build vary, but those costs do include in-country transportation, food, accommodations and travel medical insurance. Travel to the country is not included. The range for currently arranged trips is $1200 to $2500 per person for two weeks. We are tentatively setting the date for Spring 2014 to allow for sufficient fundraising.
Sociology is the study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. Sociologists investigate the structure of groups, organizations, communities, and societies, and how people interact in these contexts. Since human behavior is shaped by social factors, the subject matter of sociology ranges from the family to education; from crime to religion; from the divisions of race, social class, and gender to the shared beliefs of a common culture; and from environment and sustainability to the sociology of sports. Few fields have such a broad scope and relevance for research, theory, service, and the application of knowledge. The Sociology Department emphasizes engaged pedagogy, critical thinking, theoretical and methodological understanding, service learning, and the application of theory to practice. Sociology majors have the opportunity to be involved in research and sustainable community development as well as local community service projects. Since many sociology majors continue their education in graduate school, the department seeks to prepare them for success at the graduate level. Others often utilize their sociology degree for work in community development, human and community services, the business world, and a wide variety of careers that involve problem-solving and gathering, organizing and analyzing information (i.e., data). The department sponsors the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International Sociology Honors Society. 2012-2013 College CatalogPage 197
ALUMNI QUESTIONNAIRE
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Combining our departments small size with intellectual diversity, commitment to community engagement and service learning, a generous studentfaculty ratio, and strong tradition of commitment to students, our current department seeks to provide students with the skills and values needed to understand complex social systems and to participate in empowerment and reform that can create a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.
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Mailing Address: Department of Sociology Georgetown College 400 East College Street Georgetown, KY 40324
Georgetown College Department of Sociology 400 East College Street Georgetown, KY 40324
Phone and Fax: 502-863-7968 E-mail: tigersociology@gmail.com