Dr. Erin Maher, Associate Professor of Sociology just launched a major 4 million dollar new project to replicate and evaluate an award-winning program in Oklahoma. The program, The Parent Child Assistance Program will work with pregnant and parenting mothers struggling with substance abuse.
Associate Professor of Sociology Samuel Perry and his co-author Andrew Whitehead received the 2021 Distinguished Book Award from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion for their book Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.
Congratulations to OU Sociology's Professor Sam Perry for the recent award for his research excellence. The Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality has presented Dr. Perry with the 2021 Hugo G. Beigel Award "to recognize research excellence in sexual science" for his 2020 article in the Journal of Sex Research, the leading journal in sexuality studies.
Dr. Meredith G. F. Worthen has joined efforts with the Federal Correctional Institution located in El Reno, Oklahoma to promote awareness and education about LGBTQ diversity. FCI El Reno is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates which houses about 1,000 inmates. Dr. Worthen has been working closely with Adam Ebacher, the Diversity Instructor at FCI El Reno, to put together LGBTQ educational resources for the prison’s employees.
Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Miller, PhD who successfully defended her dissertation titled: "Peoples’ Experiences with Pouches (PEWP) Study: Medical Clinician Communication and the Stigmatization of People with an Ostomy.” Her committee members included Mitch Peck (chair), Ann Beutel, Stephanie Burge, Amy Kroska, Miriam Gross (Departments of History and International and Area Studies).
Dr. Ian Carrillo, an assistant professor in the OU Sociology Department, published an article in the recent issue of Footnotes, the public magazine of the American Sociological Association. His article “Power and Race in Brazil’s Labor-Environment Nexus” is based on years of researching the Brazilian agribusiness sector.
Congratulations to Leslie Miller who recently accepted a Visiting Assistant Professor position in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign starting in August, 2021. Leslie will miss Norman and OU and getting to bug Dr. Peck from across the hall, but she is excited for this next step at UIUC.
Congratulations to Matt Bejar, who will be joining the Carceral Studies Consortium as the 2021-2022 graduate fellow, starting July 1, 2021. Matt is pursuing his Ph.D. in Sociology with an emphasis in Criminology and his research interests include the agents of the carceral state, the situational opportunities of crime, and the limitations of the criminal legal system.
The department of sociology is proud to introduce the newest member of our faculty, Assistant Professor John Leverso! Professor Leverso's completed his PhD from the University of Washington in 2020 and his research focuses on urban street gangs. Dr. Leverso will join us for the Fall 2021 semester.
Congratulations to Rick Wolford, PhD., who recently accepted a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the Department of Sociology Lane College in Tennessee. Rick will be starting at Lane in the fall of 2021, and will continue do research in environmental sociology and will teach courses in environmental sociology, sociology of gender, and social research methods.
Congratulations to Heather Lepper-Pappan, who recently received the Alice Mary Robertson Award (2021) from the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. The purpose of the award is to stimulate an interest among graduate students in the study and interpretation of the contributions made by women to the culture and society of Oklahoma.
Congratulations to all the Undergraduate Sociology Award winners for 2021. The Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma recognizes its outstanding undergraduate students with two awards and one scholarship for excellence in the classroom and through their research.
Congrats to Dr. John Carl, who was awarded the Longmire Prize for teaching and innovative thinking. The Longmire Prize is awarded to a faculty member who holds the rank of assistant professor or higher and exhibits a scholarly and thoughtful approach to innovative thinking.
Congratulation to Haifan Xiao, who successfully defended her MA thesis: "How does perceived discrimination affect voter turnout among registered Asian Americans?" Haifan's thesis committee members included Loretta Bass (Chair), Mitch Peck, and Trina Hope.
Congratulations to Amber North, who successfully defended her Master’s thesis “Examining the Relationship Between Education and Personal Control Over Health: A Mediation and Moderation Analysis."
Congratulation to Rafia Mallick who successfully defended her MA thesis: “Who is the Culprit? Is it Religion or Patriarchal Traditionalism that Justifies Physical Violence?”
Congratulations to Dr. Rick Wolford, PhD who successfully defended his dissertation titled: “Environmental Allyship: How Trusting the Government Impacts Environmental Dispositions.”
Congratulations to all the graduate Sociology Award winners for 2021. The Department of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma presents two graduate students awards for excellence in research, teaching/TA work, and service to the department as well as several fellowships for summer research.
Congratulations to Emily Reel who successfully defended her master’s thesis “Patient Expectations Predicting Medical Requests Based on Status Characteristics.” Emily is the first student to complete the MA degree via the accelerated BA/MA program.
Congratulations to Dr. Meredith Worthen who recently received The Provost's Community Engagement Award for Outstanding Scholarship, Research, and Creative Activity (2021). This award recognizes faculty members for engaged scholarship, research, and creative activity that is conducted in a mutually beneficial community-university partnership addressing critical community needs.
OU Sociologist Dr. Sam Perry was in interviewed for a national CNN report on the response among some Evangelicals towards the COVID 19 Vaccine. He states: "There is a tendency within White Christian nationalism, to want to believe these kinds of conspiracies, because I think it reinforces this idea of an us versus them."
Professor Ian Carrillo’s article “Racialized Organizations and Color-Blind Racial Ideology in Brazil” recently received honorable mention for the Sérgio Buarque de Holanda Prize as the best article in the social sciences in the Brazil Section of the Latin American Studies Association.
OU Sociology Graduate Students Tiffanie Vo, Sally Wiser, and Haifan Xiao organized university wide a rally last weekend in response to the growing wave of anti-Asian sentiment and hate crimes as well as the Atlanta, Georgia Spa shooting on March 16th.
Congratulations to Assistant Professor Ian Carrillo! Dr. Carrillo has been named "Sociologist of the Month" for March 2021 by the journal, Current Sociology, in recognition of his article "The Racial Fix and Environmental State Formation."
Congratulations to Wil Scott, Professor Emeritus of OU Sociology, who was recently honored with the Morris Janowitz Lifetime Achievement Award! This award is presented by the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society to a senior scholar whose career has most demonstrated excellence in the study of armed forces and society and important service to the discipline.
