New York Times Looks to Fordham Sociologist Orit Avishai for Comment on FLOTUS and Body Image

Last week Professor Orit Avishai commented for the New York Times (10/09/14) on the First Lady's embrace of shapewear, observing:

“There’s a paradox, though, when we think about highly accomplished women who are in the public eye,” Dr. Avishai said. “On the one hand, they may be best positioned to reject beauty standards — they have other sources of identity, power, social status. On the other hand, they’re constantly in the public eye, and one muffin top can overshadow years of accomplishment.”

Congratulations to the New York Times for seeking out her astute counsel, and to Professor Avishai for the nice ink!

Fordham Sociologist Jeanne Flavin Speaks on Reproductive Justice to Standing-Room Only Crowd

Last week Jeanne Flavin, Professor of Sociology and President of the Board of Directors for National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW), and Farah Diaz-Tello, NAPW staff attorney, co-presented a lecture on reproductive justice, "Seeking Justice for Women and Families: An Activist and Academic Partnership" to a standing-room only audience at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. The event was part of the activities organized to honor the 20th anniversary of TCU's Women and Gender Studies program. Jeanne and Farah also spoke to several other groups of students and faculty about their collaboration.

ASA Claude Award Goes to Professor Micki McGee for Neurodiversity Article

Professor Micki McGee

The American Sociological Association's Claude Award was presented to Professor Micki McGee this weekend at the ASA's Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  McGee received the award for her essay on neurodiversity published in Contexts in Summer 2012.  The Claude Awards are designed to recognize "outstanding contributions to Contexts . . . as judged by the members of the magazine's editorial board." The award series is named after Claude Fischer, the ASA magazine's founding editor.  Join me in congratulating Professor McGee on this honor.

Marie La Vina, Sociology Master's Program Graduate, Joins Oxford University Press Editorial Department

Marie La Vina, M.A.

Marie La Vina (GSAS-Sociology-2014) recently joined the Oxford University Press Higher Education Group as an Editorial Assistant for the Communication, Journalism & Media Studies. La Vina recently completed her Master's thesis entitled "Shy Times" under the direction of Professor Micki McGee with E. Doyle McCarthy as her second reader. Congratulations to Marie on her new position!

Professor Doyle McCarthy Serves as Mentor at NIH-Sponsored Ethics Training Program

Professor Doyle McCarthy

Doyle McCarthy, sociologist, served as faculty member and mentor at the university's 2014 HIV and Drug Use Prevention Research Ethics Training Institute (RETI 2014) held at Lincoln Center July 5-15. In 2014. this NIH-sponsored training program admitted six new postdoctoral fellows to the Institute. This year, Professor McCarthy was mentor to Dr. Julia Lechuga, University of Texas at El Paso, whose HIV prevention research project is located in El Salvador. The Institute is sponsored by the Fordham Center for Ethics Education.

Sociology Doctoral Candidate Trinidad Valle Presents at 2014 ISA World Congress of Sociology in Yokohama

Sociology Ph.D. student Maria Trinidad Valle attended the ISA World Congress of Sociology in July 2014, where she presented a paper entitled “The Resistance of Bare Life: Media Narratives on Mapuche Hunger Strikes in Chile.” The objective of this research is to identify and compare the media narratives of mainstream and ethnic media regarding the Mapuche hunger strikes of 2008 and 2010 in Chile. At the same conference, Ms. Valle organized a panel and began a term as a member of the Executive Board of the Research Committee on Language and Society.

Sociology Professor Jeanne Flavin to Keynote Texas Christian University Women's Studies Program 25th Anniversary Celebration

On September 15, Dr. Jeanne Flavin, Professor of Sociology & President of National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) and NAPW staff attorney, Farah Diaz-Tello, will deliver a keynote public lecture at Texas Christian University (Wendy Davis's alma mater) entitled,  “Seeking Justice for Women and Families: An Academic and Activist Partnership.” The talk is part of the 20th anniversary celebration of TCU's Women's Studies program.

Sociology Professor Micki McGee Cited in May Harper's Cover Story on Life Coaching

 

Professor Micki McGee's research on self-help culture is cited in the May 2014 Harper's cover story “50,000 Life Coaches Can’t Be Wrong.” The article explores the emergence of the profession of life coaching, with Dr. McGee's insights on the role of self-help culture in entrepreneurial individualism framing journalist Genevieve Smith's discussion of the new profession.

23 Fordham College Sociology Students inducted into Sociology Honors Society Alpha Kappa Delta

Twenty-three Fordham College Sociology students received their Alpha Kappa Delta certificates today, and were inducted as lifetime members of the Sociology honors society. Alpha Kappa Delta seeks to acknowledge and promote excellence in scholarship in the study of sociology, the research of social problems, and such other social and intellectual activities as will lead to improvement in the human condition. Students with GPAs of 3.25 or higher are eligible for membership. Congratulations to our new Alpha Kappa Delta members!

For more information on Fordham's Alpha Kappa Delta chapter, contact Professor Doyle McCarthy at mccarthy [at] fordham [dot] edu.

HuffPo Features Sociologist Jeanne Flavin on Tennessee's Pregnancy Criminalization Law

Sociology Professor Jeanne Flavin is featured this month in the Hufffington Post (4/21/2014) commenting on Tennessee's Pregnancy Criminalization Law that would allow prosecutors to charge women with criminal assault for giving birth to babies with health problems or for losing pregnancies. The proposed law specifically targets the vulnerable population of women suffering from opiate addiction. Flavin's post, written at the Easter holiday, meditates on the meaning of mercy in this context and urges all people of conscience to oppose legislation that criminalizes pregnancy.