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THE BULLETIN

of the North Carolina Sociological Association
Volume 43, Issue 1                          September 2016

THE BULLETIN  is a publication of the North Carolina Sociological Association. The NCSA is open to any person engaged in teaching or research in sociology, or in a field of applied sociology, as well as to any student whose major interest is sociology. Members receive


NORTH CAROLINA SOCIOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
2016-2017
gunkel

President: Steven Gunkel, Wake Forest University, gunkelse@wfu.edu

 hayes
President-Elect: Terrell Hayes, High Point University,
thayes@highpoint.edu

Treasurer: Beth Davison, Appalachian State University, davisonb@appstate.edu

Secretary: Sue Pauley, Wingate University, supaul@wingate.edu

Editor of Sociation Today and Webmaster: 
George H. Conklin, NC Central University, Emeritus. gconklin@nccu.edu

Facebook and Bulletin Editor: Cameron Lippard, Appalachian State University, lippardcd@appstate.edu

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEMBERS

2017
Heather Griffiths, Fayetteville State University, hgriffit@uncfsu.edu

2017
Ana Maria Wahl, Wake Forest University, wahlam@wfu.edu

2018
Kim Ebert, NC State University, kim_ebert@ncsu.edu

2019 Jake Day, UNC - Wilmington, dayj@uncw.edu


2019 Cindy Dollar, UNC - Greensboro, cbdollar@uncg.edu

2019 Catherine Harnois, Wake Forest University, harnoice@wfu.edu

2020 Kimya Dennis, Salem College, kimya.dennis@salem.edu

2020 Tangela Towns, Winston-Salem State University, townsta@wssu.edu

2020 Stacye Blount, Fayetteville State University,
sblount@uncfsu.edu


Keep up with the North Carolina Sociological Association
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We regularly post links to items of interest to North Carolina sociologists, along with updates about the NCSA's events.
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Contact Cameron Lippard for more information (lippardcd@appstate.edu).



uncle sam

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Interested in getting involved with NCSA? The Executive Council is looking for volunteers to serve as an Executive Council member or the Newsletter editor for the association immediately. If you are interested, then please contact President-Elect, Terrell Hayes at thayes@highpoint.edu.





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Dr. Rebecca Matteo presenting on PTSD at the 2016 NCSA Annual Conference


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Dr. Kimberly Cook presenting on wrongful convictions at the 2016 NCSA Annual Conference
CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
"Institutions in Transformation: The Quest for Social Justice."

High Point, NC
February 17, 2017
High Point University

by Terrell Hayes, President-Elect

   
 
I am pleased to announce that the 2017 Annual Meeting will be hosted by High Point University at its main campus on Friday, February 17th.   The 2017 meeting is organized around the theme “Institutions in Transformation: The Quest for Social Justice.” Nationally, both the Republican and Democratic parties have been challenged by political outsiders as Americans have expressed a yearning for something different than politics as usual. Violence in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shooting, the deaths of Philandro Castile and Alton Sterling by police, and the deaths of five Dallas police officers, have prompted renewed calls for police accountability and stricter gun control laws. Closer to home, those of you in the UNC system, have witnessed firsthand the impact a Republican led state legislature has had on NC educational institutions. Then, of course, there is HB2 and it’s far reaching implications for discrimination beyond the transgendered. As noted in last year’s conference theme, “Justice remains both elusive and contentious.” 

I have begun to assemble a group of individuals to serve as part of a panel discussion of HB2. Volunteers are still needed to organize and preside over six panels broadly related to the conference theme. Additionally, volunteers are needed to serve as presider for the Himes Student Paper Competition at both the Graduate and Undergraduate Divisions and to serve as organizers for three student poster presentations. A call for papers, along with submission guidelines will go out sometime around mid-September once panel organizers and themes have been identified. If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating in that discussion, please forward their names to me as soon as possible at thayes@highpoint.edu.


NCSA Takes a Stand Against HB2


North Carolina's HB2, also known as the bathroom bill, has attracted widespread protests and threats of major business groups to leave the state, sending many high-paying jobs to other states and spreading baseless fear of the LGBTQ community.  Led by President Bill Smith, the Executive Committee of the NCSA prepared the statement listed below in response to HB2 and sent it to the Governor's office.

On March 23, 2016, the North Carolina General Assembly and Governor passed House Bill 2 or the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (HB2). HB2 reverses a Charlotte ordinance that had extended rights to people who are gay or transgender.  This new law also nullifies local ordinances designed to protect gay and transgender people from being fired for their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Legislation that engages in overt discrimination against groups of people needs be publically condemned. As such, the Executive Council of the North Carolina Sociological Association (NCSA) express disapproval of this legislation. 

There are three specific points we make here. One, legislators are acting out of fear and ignorance of the populations represented by the acronym LGBTQ.  Decades of sociological research allows us to understand the processes of emotional distance that stems from “othering” people on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.  

Two, through their actions, the legislators and governor are casting those who self-identify as transgender as not only “deviants,” but lacking knowledge of their own identity.  From the lawmakers’ perspective, the transgender population could suddenly revert to the gender they were ascribed with at birth and pose a risk to others in public facilities.  Again, the empirical evidence indicates that transgender populations virtually NEVER do this.  Also, it is feared that men would pose as women to gain access to women’s restrooms.  Again, this is rare behavior and is unlikely to be deterred by HB2.

Three, the legislator’s passing such a law can only be understood as trying to protect North Carolinians from having to reflect on gender identity outside of the “born binary” world that biology determines sexual and gender identity.  It is virtually “unthinkable” for legislators to contemplate that someone could change in their preferred gender identity and deviate from the implications of a birth certificate classification.  

The mission of NCSA as summarized in our Constitution is as follows: “The objectives of the Association shall be to stimulate and improve research, instruction and discussion, to encourage cooperative relations among persons engaged in the scientific study of society, and to encourage cooperative relations between academic sociology and other agencies with related interests.”   Now is the time for us to point to sociological research, both done here in North Carolina and elsewhere, as a source of information and indeed of enlightenment on how to create environments that calls for inclusive and respectful treatment of ALL people.

The Executive Council of NCSA wish to emphasize that the HB2 legislation in North Carolina does not reflect the beliefs of the sociological community of North Carolina, nor that of those who are informed on the topic.  NC State University's Chancellor,  Randy Woodson released a letter to the public stating that the University has a "deep commitment to welcoming and supporting all people at NC State, regardless of age, color, disability, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or veteran status. We strive to ensure that our environment supports and encourages the free and open exchange of ideas and opinions, while also ensuring that all members of our community are treated with dignity and respect."  The North Carolina Sociological Association can stand with Chancellor Woodson to support this position.

The Executive Council of the North Carolina Sociological Association.

Reflections on the 2016 NCSA Annual Conference
by Steve Gunkel, President


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Conference Highlights

    The Annual Meeting of the NCSA convened in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter Biotech Place located in downtown Winston-Salem.  Approximately ninety participants attended the conference and some guests took advantage of the amenities and discounted room rates at the Historic Brookstown Inn.  The classroom suites as well as the auditorium and atrium were excellent spaces in which to gather around the theme “Doing Justice: Community, Social, or Criminal?”  Sumptuous food was catered by Salem Kitchen including a continental breakfast (during our registration period) and a sandwich buffet for attendees.  Several conference attendees joined in the frivolity at the President’s Retreat hosted by Foothills Brewery (where we almost created a shortage of the famous Hoppyum IPA!).  In short, participants enjoyed a very successful conference!   

     Several panels provided excellent coverage of many topics related to the central theme for the conference.  These included: two panels examining the etiology, stigmatization, and disparities in treatment of mental illness (with one panel including a visiting scholar from Brazil!); a panel assessing the impact of race, class, and gender on political activism; a panel evaluating the effectiveness of prisoner re-entry programs; a panel covering factors shaping wrongful conviction and the plight of exonerees; a panel exploring social forces shaping immigration; and a panel examining the many struggles for social justice (including LGBTQ inequality in housing and controversies surrounding community policing).  We also included a teaching and research workshop covering grant funding strategies as well as pedagogical tools for improving our teaching of sociology (and a visiting scholar from Poland provided a fascinating overview of Blender software on the atrium big screen!).  There were also two new additions to this year’s conference designed to increase student participation within the NCSA.  To this end, this year’s conference included two panels consisting of those graduate and undergraduate students who participated in the Himes Outstanding Student Sociology Paper competition.  Second, we also included several student poster sessions which provided another venue for students to present their work and receive valuable feedback from faculty and peers.  Lastly, the Presidential Address, “From East of Eden to the Pyramids: White-Collar Crime in the North Carolina Context”, wrapped-up the conference and be sure to look for the print version of the address in the next issue of Sociation Today.     

A Special Note of Thanks

     It was a pleasure to organize and host the Annual Conference for the NCSA and I would like to express my gratitude to the NCSA for their support and wisdom in the planning of the conference.  I would like to extend special thanks to my Wake Forest University colleagues for helping to organize and/or present their work for the benefit of the conference and I am so very grateful to Ms. Erica Talley (Administrative Assistant, WFU Sociology) for all of her assistance in virtually all facets of the conference.  I would also like to thank Provost Rogan Kersh and Dean Michele Gillespie for generous financial support of the conference.  A final note of thanks to the Council of the NCSA.  First, to those who have served their terms: Hideki Morooka (Fayetteville State University), Ken Muir (Appalachian State University), and Cecile Yancu (Winston-Salem State University); and second to the incoming members of the NCSA Council for agreeing to serve: President-Elect, Terrell Hayes (High Point University); Stacye Blount (Fayetteville State University), Kimya Dennis (Salem College), Catherine Harnois (Wake Forest University), and Tangela Towns (Winston-Salem State University).  Excitement is already building for next year’s conference under the guidance of President-Elect Hayes! 

  The North Carolina Sociological Association seeks papers that represent excellence in sociological analysis from both undergraduate and graduate students.

    
   


New Issue of Sociation Today
by George Conklin, Journal Editor

I am happy to announce that the Spring/Summer Edition of Sociation Today is now available at:

This issue has especially relevant to the issues facing the nation today.  Our Presidential Address from Professor Gunkel is on white collar crime.  We also have an article on police relations in Boston and on the continued Hispanic ethnic shifts in North Carolina.

But, above all, an article by Matthew Sheptoski  on how the mass media portrays terrorism.  Using the New York Times and Time Magazine as examples, Sheptosk finds that the more serious a terrorist seems to be, the more likely he is portrayed as being personally deviant and thus less of a threat then if he had a serious beef against society.  Just look at how the Times portrayed the situation in Nice this past week; the first stories showed the driver of the truck was personally deviant, thus medicalizing the event.  Read Professor Sheptoski’s article and then follow the on-going story.

Using the viewpoints of Weber, Bourdieu, and Baudrillard, Savage and Barringer argue that today we have a “Death of the Ideal in Education.” Lastly, an empirical test of the “Mrs. Hypothesis” refutes the idea that young women pick their major in order to influence their marital hopes.

Interested in publishing with Sociation Today?  Articles may be submitted at any time to the George Conklin (gconklin@nccu.edu , 919-225-3957).

A cumulative, searchable index of SOCIATION TODAY for the first 10 years of the journal is available from the Directory of Open Access Journals.


Himes Award Winners from 2016!

At the 2016 Annual Conference, there were several student participants, including poster presentations and a student panel of Himes Award paper participants. This year's winners in the Himes Award, given to students who produce a great sociological research papers, went to the following students:

Winning Undergraduate Submission

 Perceptions about the Causes of Intimate Partner Violence in Kisumu, Keny by Dianne Uwayo

Winning Graduate 
Submission
 

Meatless Meals and Masculinity: An Examination of Men's Use of Rationality and Scientific Research to Explain Their Plant-based Diets by Mari Kate Mycek

himesaward
Dianne Uwayo, NC State undergraduate student, receives the Undergraduate Student Himes Award


Grayson Bodenheimer, App State undegraduate student, presenting his research during the Student Poster Presentation.


In Memoriam: Darryl Hunt
by Cameron D. Lippard

hunt

At the 2016 NCSA Conference, Darryl Hunt presented on a panel focusing on research concerning wrongful convictions, particularly in North Carolina. Mr. Hunt was wrongly convicted twice and served 19 and half years in prison. However, he was exonerated in 2003 and 2004 after DNA testing cleared him of rape and murder charges. On March 13, 2016, Mr. Hunt passed away. He was a great speaker, involved with the Innocence Project, and strong advocate for reforming the American criminal justice system. Finally, he helped to shape the continuing conversation of race relations in North Carolina. Thank you Mr. Hunt for your words of wisdom and advocacy for change.