Undergraduate News Archive
Anna Jo Bodurtha Smith Receives Marshall Scholarship
December 26, 2009 Congratulations to Sociology Major Anna Jo Bodurtha Smith '10 for a Marshall scholarship! The Marshall Scholarships were established in 1953 as a British gesture of thanks to the people of the United States for the assistance received after the Second World War under the Marshall Plan. Financed by the British government, the scholarships provide an opportunity for American students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership to continue their studies for two to three years at the British university of their choice. Anna will pursue a master's degree in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a second master's degree in public policy and management from the London School of Economics.
Senior Dinner
May 26, 2009 Click here for senior dinner photo.
Mikkel Kruger Krenchel Receives Mildred Priest Frank Prize
May 26, 2009 Congratulations to Mikkel Kruger Krenchel '09, majoring in sociology and International Studies, who received the 2009 Mildred Priest Frank Prize. The Mildred Priest Frank Memorial Prize was established by Adam R. Rose, '81, in honor of his maternal grandmother. It is awarded each year to the graduating senior whose work in the Department of Sociology reflects the standards of excellence and love of people that characterize Mildred Priest Frank. Mikkel is also this year's winner of the WREXHAM-HEINZ PRIZE which is awarded for the best senior essay or other substantial piece of writing in the field of the social sciences. In his senior essay "Unthreatened Nation: Swedish Attitudes Towards Immigrants in Comparative Perspective" Mikkel shows that Sweden is an outlier in the Western hemisphere with respect to the extraordinary tolerance towards immigrants among ordinary Swedes. The essay aims at explaining this instance of "Swedish exceptionalism". Mikkel devised an analytic strategy, in the tradition of the best case-comparative work, of examining Sweden in the context of countries which show less tolerance but are otherwise maximally similar, namely, Norway and Denmark. Quantitative analysis with survey data is used to isolate the factors that are most likely to explain differences in tolerance. These factors are in turn evaluated with a qualitative approach that locates the explanation in a unique configuration of historical circumstances that lead to the development of an inclusive national identity in Sweden.
All Our Kin Conference Offers Advance Registration for Roundtables
April 3, 2009 This spring marks the 35th anniversary of the publication of All Our Kin, Carol Stack's path-breaking ethnography of the survival strategies of African-American women living in poverty in urban America. A conference honoring the legacy of Stack's work will be held at Yale University May 1-2, 2009. The conference celebrates more than three decades of Stack's contribution to ethnography as a method of critical inquiry into the social conditions and public policies that shape people's everyday lives.
Before the registration site is opened to the general public, organizers are offering advance opportunity to Yale students to register to participate in one of three roundtables held during the conference on Friday, May 1st. Seating is limited to 15 participants per roundtable. To ensure a seat you MUST register within the next few days. Lunch will be served. You may register for the conference and roundtables at https://apps.business.yale.edu/dc/aok/new.do. For information about speakers and conference registration, please visit the American Studies website http://www.yale.edu/amstud/aok/index.html. Download PDF Announcement
Patri Friedman at Yale on Wednesday at 7:30pm in WLH119.
March 3, 2009 Bio: Patri Friedman, grandson of Milton Friedman and executive director of the Seasteading Institute. Friedman is a computer scientist, visionary entrepreneur, and advocate for floating homesteads ("seasteads") around the world's oceans as a kind of global experiment in distributed political economy.
Topic: The prospects for seasteading, structured liberty, and the new field of experimental political philosophy as it relates to technological innovation. The project's venture capitalists include Peter Thiel, one of the original investors in PayPal. Friedman's talk will be followed by a Q&A session. This event is cosponsored by the College Libertarians, the Yale Entrepeneurial Institute, the Yale Transhumanist Society, and the Yale Undergraduate Computing Organization.
There is also an RSVP-only (first-signup/first-serve basis) dinner at 5:45 pm before the talk. Anyone interested in attending the dinner should contact william.wilson@yale.edu. Download the Poster.
Sociology Student Advisory Committee Forming
March 1, 2009 What it is [from ycc website]: In most departments, the DUS organizes and chairs an advisory committee that includes students and that meets at regular intervals during the year to review aspects of the department's undergraduate curriculum as it affects both majors and nonmajors. Typically it advises the department on such matters as ideas for new courses and programs, proposals for improvement of instruction or advising in the department, and suggestions for changes in the requirements of the major. The Sociology Student Advisory Committee will meet once or twice per term over dinner or lunch to discuss the undergraduate program and develop ideas for social and intellectual activities. If you are not able to serve at this time but have suggestions, please send DUS,Hannah Brückner an email detailing your ideas. If you would like to serve on the sociology student advisory committee, please enter the times you are available for a meeting here: http://www.doodle.com/cryxtf592y27mqfv
Come Learn About the Sociology Major at Yale!
February 14, 2009 Not sure what to major in? Tired of looking over the same old parts of the Blue Book? Thinking about a career in education, law, public health, business, consulting or public service? Meet with professors and current majors to learn about why Sociology might be a good choice for you at the Undergraduate Sociology Study Break in the Hall of Graduate Studies, Room 119, on February 27th, 5:00pm - 7:00pm. Free and Tasty Thai Food! Please RSVP with our registrar by emailing nancy.hopkins@yale.edu.
Master's Tea at Davenport with Margaret Talbot
February 13, 2009 Master's tea at Davenport College, Feb 16th, 4 pm, with Margaret Talbot, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of "Red Sex, Blue Sex" - an event organized in the context of Socy 221: Sex and Romance in Adolescence, and sponsored by the Poynter Fellowship.
Amy Jones Receives Emerging Trailblazer Award
January 30, 2009 Kudos to Amy Jones '09, double major in sociology and cognitive science, one of three seniors to receive the 2009 Emerging Trailblazer Award from the Union of Black Men at Yale!
Adam R. Rose Sociology Resource Fund Established.
September 2, 2008 Funding for senior essay projects and undergraduate social activities is now available due to a generous gift from Adam Rose '81, a sociology graduate himself and benefactor of the undergraduate program since then. See Department Prize. For more information, contact the DUS. Pics from the 2008 Mildred Priest Frank Memorial Prize Dinner, courtesy of Alondra Nelson.
Sociology Project Website Established on the Classes Server.
September 2, 2008 Sociology project website established on the classes server. Join the site to sign up for DUS office hours and receive emails with news and updates from the DUS.
Opportunities to Get Involved.
September 2, 2008 Get involved: Join the Undergraduate Advisory Committee, volunteer for organizing sociology study breaks, contribute content to the project website! For more information, contact the DUS.
Yale Journal of Sociology 2007 Now Online.
September 2, 2008 The 2007 edition of the Yale Journal of Sociology is online and available for downloading. Three papers published in this edition, Education and Aids: How HIV and AIDS Influence Attitudes to Education and Affect Students in Poor, Urban South Africa Townships, by Janine Morna; Diversity in Classroom and Curriculum? Discourses of Race and Homosexuality in Elm City High School Social Studies Classrooms, by Elizabeth Humphries; and Intergenerational Mobility by Race: Can the Black Middle Class Reproduce Itself?, by Sarah Ireland, whose paper won the First Prize in the undergraduate paper competition of the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).
Header Photos Courtesy of Alondra Nelson
