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
President:
Steven Gunkel, Wake Forest University,
gunkelse@wfu.edu
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
between newsletters by joining our Facebook
page.
We regularly post
links to items of interest to North Carolina
sociologists, along with updates about the
NCSA's events.
Our page
can be found at
http://www.
facebook.com/
NCSOCIOLOGISTS
Contact Cameron
Lippard for more information (lippardcd@appstate.edu).
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.
Dr. Rebecca Matteo
presenting on PTSD at the 2016 NCSA Annual
Conference
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
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).
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
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
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.
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