This post is by Leslie R. Hinkson, Outgoing Chair, Dissertation Award Committee, and Zulema Valdez, Incoming Chair, Dissertation Award Committee The deadline for nominations for the ASA Dissertation Award is fast approaching (January 31). As the outgoing and incoming Chairs of the Dissertation Award Committee, we exhort our colleagues to help us increase not just…

The American Sociological Association (ASA) issued a press release today applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling today in the affirmative action case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. The judgement allows the university to continue using race as a factor in admissions decisions. “This ruling is an important victory for diversity in higher education,”…

Earlier this month, ASA elected leaders sent two opposing letters to Dr. Phyllis Wise, UIUC chancellor, regarding the decision to not hire Dr. Steven G. Salaita as a faculty member at the University of Illinois. These letters and the circumstances of their submission have generated discussion among ASA members in social media and in the…

I invite ASA members to post comments on this new blog. It is a place where members can comment on ASA issues, and on public issues of particular interest to sociologists. Members may want to use this space to talk about public sociology. We can discuss how to engage sociologists in public debates and get…