SEXUALBEHAVIOR,POLITICS,and COMMUNITIES SBPC a division of the SSSP Spring 2015 Notes from the desk of: Dawn Michelle Baunach - Division Chair ItÕs spring! Well, at least here in the Òdeep southÓ itÕs spring. I think the temperature has even broken 90 degrees already. As a transplanted northerner, though, what I wouldnÕt give to be shivering and shoveling with our colleagues in states with better climates (at least to this transplantÕs view). In my last column I described all of the many exciting sessions our section is sponsoring (or co-sponsoring) at this yearÕs annual meetings in Chicago. By now your submissions have been, well, submitted, and the organizers are going through the fancy electronic submission system to create an interesting and enlightening program. In this short column IÕm going to ask a favor of you. I mentioned this topic at the tail end of my last column, but I want to bring it back. At the business meeting in San Francisco we talked about adding a lifetime achievement award for our division. Like other divisions we could name the award for a long-serving division member. Currently our division only has one award, the Graduate Student Paper Award. I think we are a strong and vibrant enough division that we could support a second award. But what do you think? Please email me at dbaunach@gsu.edu. Or better yet, attend our business meeting in Chicago! LetÕs recognize our colleagues for all that they do in the areas of sexual behaviors, politics, and communities. IN THIS ISSUE: Division News & NotesÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ..2 SSSP News & NotesÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ.3 Humanist Sociology Book AwardÉÉ4 WSQ Queer Methods CFP..........5 WSQ Queer Methods CFP..........6 Editor's Notes.................7 Division News & Notes Publications of interest: Meyer, Doug. ÒÔOne Day IÕm Going to be Really SuccessfulÕ: The Social Class Politics of Videos Made for the ÔIt Gets BetterÕ Anti-Gay Bullying Project.Ó Critical Sociology [published online, ahead of print, doi: 10.1177/0896920515571761] Division Service: The chair of the Graduate Student Paper Award committee for the Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities division of the SSSP, Dr. Lloyd Klein, is seeking volunteers to read and evaluate the submissions. If you are interested in serving on the committee please email Dr. Klein at lklein@hostos.cuny.edu. Those who submitted papers (and their mentors) should not volunteer to serve on the committee. Conference of interest: The Association for Humanist Sociology announces its Call for Participation for our 2015 annual meetings, Oct. 21-25, 2015, in Portland, OR. The meeting theme is "Locavore Sociology: Challenging Globalization, Embracing the Local." We welcome submissions related to the conference theme or more broadly to the AHS mission of activism and social justice. You can submit your abstracts to 2015 Program Chair Dr. Anthony E. Ladd (aladd@loyno.edu) or through our online portal at http://www.humanist-sociology.org/#!portland-2015/c1c3k SSSP News & Notes 1) Registration for the 2015 Annual Meeting, pre-registration ends July 15 The 65th Annual Meeting will take place from August 21-23 at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago, IL. To register, visit: http://sssp1.org/2015_Annual_Meeting_Registration 2) Make your hotel reservation by July 28 We're happy to announce that our single/double room rate of $185.25 includes complimentary internet in your guest room. To book, modify, or cancel a reservation, go to: www.radissonblu.com/reservation/ itineraryEntrance.dohotelCode=ILCHIAQU&promotionalCode=SOCIAL 3) Nominations for the Joseph B. Gittler Award, due April 15 The Joseph B. Gittler Award is made in recognition of the significant scholarly achievements that a SSSP member has made in contributing to the ethical resolution of social problems. For more information, visit: www .sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/294 4) Nominations for the Lee Founders Award, due April 15 The Lee Founders Award is made in recognition of significant achievements in a career that demonstrate a lifetime commitment to the ideals of the founders of the Society and especially to the humanist tradition of Alfred McClung Lee and Elizabeth Briant Lee. For more information, visit: www .sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/260 5) Call for Nominations for the 2016 General Election, due June 15 Nominations are open for candidates to run in the SSSP 2016 General Election. For more information, visit: www .sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/310/2016_General_Election_Candidate_Nominations/ 6) Sign-up for the 2015 Meeting Mentor Program, deadline June 30 The Meeting Mentor Program is designed to facilitate interaction between new members or graduate students and meeting veterans at the Annual Meeting. Mentors provide valuable knowledge about the SSSP and Annual Meeting activities as well as insight into their own experiences as scholar activists. To apply as either a mentee or mentor, visit: www .sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/312/Mentoring_Program/ Call for nominations! The Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award The Association for Humanist Sociology is pleased to announce The Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award for 2015. Authors, publishers, and AHS members may nominate books for consideration. The winner will be recognized at our annual meeting October 21-25, 2015 in Portland, OR. Nominations should be for Sociology or interdisciplinary social science books that approach their subjects from a humanist perspective. Founded in 1976, the Association sees its mission to strive as professionals, as scholars and as activists to uncover and address social issues. We view people not merely as products of social forces, but also as agents in their lives and the world. We are committed to a sociology that contributes to a more humane, equal, and just society. Eligible books should have been published in the calendar year 2014 or the first half of 2015. If a book was submitted for last year's consideration, it cannot be nominated again. To nominate a book, authors/publishers/nominators should e-mail a letter of nomination with the subject line ÒBetty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award NominationÓ to Daina Cheyenne Harvey at dharvey@holycross.edu. Authors/publishers should send one copy of the book to each of the award committee members listed below. The deadline for nominations is May 15, 2015. Additional information about AHS is available at www.humanist-sociology.org The Betty and Alfred McClung Lee Book Award Committee (2015) Daina Cheyenne Harvey Ð Committee Chair College of the Holy Cross 1 College St. Department of Sociology and Anthropology Worcester, MA 01610 dharvey@holycross.edu Jill Bystydzienski 519 Evergreen Circle Worthington, OH 43085 bystydzienski.1@osu.edu W. Carson Byrd University of Louisville Department of Pan-African Studies Strickler Hall, Room 438 Louisville, KY 40292 wcarson.byrd@louisville.edu Sarah Ovink 1209 Brook Circle Blacksburg, VA 24060 WSQ Call for Papers Special Issue QUEER METHODS Guest Editors: Amin Ghaziani, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of British Columbia, Matt Brim, Associate Professor of Queer Studies, College of Staten Island, CUNY Queer Studies is experiencing a methodological renaissance. In both the humanities and the social sciences, scholars have begun to identify research protocols and practices that have been largely overshadowed by advances in queer theory. The fall 2013 ÒQueer MethodÓ conference organized by Heather Love at the University of Pennsylvania indexed this shift toward methods by reframing the question Òwhat is queer theory?Ó to Òhow is the work of queer theory done?Ó Evocative in this regard are David HalperinÕs works How to Do the History of Homosexuality and How to Be Gay, along with the 2010 collection Queer Methods and Methodologies: Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research, edited by Kath Browne and Catherine Nash. These efforts have pioneered a new conversation, one that links an account of a situation (or ÒtheoryÓ) with a set of guidelines about how to gather evidence to explore or test those particular propositions (or ÒmethodsÓ). Genny Beemyn and Susan RankinÕs large-scale empirical study, The Lives of Transgender People, exemplifies how queer methodologies can allow scholars to envision a world that is otherwise obscured by traditional approaches. Despite these early advances, however, vast opportunities for exploiting the innovations of queer methods remain. This issue of WSQ will take up some of the most pressing of those yet-unaddressed queries as it explores the queer take on research methods in the humanities and social sciences. The question of method inevitably incites a discussion of disciplinarity, since theories generally precede and largely determine particular research strategies. Yet queer studies, much like womenÕs and gender studies, stakes its claims by working at once within, against, across, and beyond disciplinary boundaries, which provocatively blurs distinctions between Òthe fieldÓ and Òits methods.Ó If inter-disciplinarity, multi-disciplinarity, and even anti-disciplinarity are all hallmarks of queer and feminist theories, then what promises and pitfalls inhere in the development of queer methods? What inferential and interpretive possibilities are afforded to scholars when we think about queer methods as a distinct analytical approach? How can we queer established protocols while generating new queer methodological possibilities? Finally, borrowing from Valerie Traub, how might traditional disciplinary-specific approaches to methodological scrupulousness and exactitude allow us to be precise about the imprecisions of queer? While this special issue understands theory and method to be in close conversation, it focuses on the methodological parallels to queer theory. To do this, it will create a forum among qualitative and quantitative scholars from the humanities and the social sciences to discuss either methodological challenges that arise when applying traditional methods to LGBTQ populations or innovations in methodology that can inform further theorizing on the epistemological distinctiveness of gender and sexuality. Conducting research with sexual and gender minorities raises a host of issues pertaining to recruitment (how can we reach hidden populations?), ethics (what are the potential negative impacts of unpopular findings on the communities of study?),measurement (how can scholars operationalize the many modes through which people think about the origins, mutability, and stability of sexual orientation categories?), and meanings (what is the significance of engaging in particular sexual practices?), along with implications for challenging normative conceptions of what constitutes positivist, post-positivist, essentialist, constructionist, interpretivist, and queer social research. We solicit paper proposals that are theoretical, conceptual and/or empirical on a wide range of topics relating to queer methods, including but not limited to the following: *What are similarities and differences between queer and feminist methodologies? *How can queer methods, like feminist methods, overcome biases that inhere in traditional social scientific and humanist approaches? How can they bring about social change? *When is a queer method/intervention called for? *What interdisciplinary methodologies are employed by queer studies? In what ways is this methodological whole greater than the sum of its disciplinary parts? *How can humanities and social science scholars use scientific studies in their work? *How can humanities and social science scholars use humanist approaches in their work? *What do we gain and lose by queering established protocols versus generating new queer methods? *Is queer theory itself a method of inquiry, and if so, what kind? *How can we count the non-heterosexual and non-cisgender population? And are there ways to approximate random sampling? *What practices and protocols can we establish for constructing queer archives? And how can we index or historicize the ways queer methods change over time and across locations? *What methods and techniques can advance queer library sciences? Performance studies? Dis/ability studies? Trans* studies? *How can Òbig dataÓ produce queer subjectivities, bodies, and populations? *What procedures should we employ for queer oral histories? Queer reading strategies? *How can we queer the case study approach? *What are the links between queer research methods and critical pedagogies? *How might the institutionalization of queer studies affect how we conduct queer inquiry? *How might we queer Òbest practicesÓ for research? *How can we assess queer pedagogies? *What methodologies can we devise for conducting LGBTQ campus climate surveys? Scholarly articles and inquiries should be sent to guest issue editors Amin Ghaziani and Matt Brim at WSQqueermethodsissue [at] gmail.com. We will give priority consideration to submissions received by September 15, 2015. Please send complete articles, not abstracts. Submissions should not exceed 6,360 words (including un-embedded notes and works cited) and should comply with the formatting guidelines at http://www.feministpress.org/wsq/ submission-guidelines. Poetry submissions should be sent to WSQ's poetry editor at WSQpoetry [at] gmail.com by September 15, 2015. Please review previous issues of WSQ to see what type of submissions we prefer before submitting poems. Please note that poetry submissions may be held for six months or longer. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if the poetry editor is notified immediately of acceptance elsewhere. We do not accept work that has been previously published. Please paste poetry submissions into the body of the e-mail along with all contact information. Fiction, essay, and memoir submissions should be sent to WSQ's fiction/nonfiction editor, Asali Solomon, at WSQCreativeProse [at] gmail.com by September 15, 2015. Please review previous issues of WSQ to see what type of submissions we prefer before submitting prose. Please note that prose submissions may be held for six months or longer. Simultaneous submissions are acceptable if the prose editor is notified immediately of acceptance elsewhere. We do not accept work that has been previously published. Please provide all contact information in the body of the e-mail. Graduate Students! Check out the current list of SSSP Awards, Scholarships and Division Competitions here: <> <> Also check out the growing number of non-SSSP fellowships and scholarships here: <> EDITORÕS NOTES Spring is arriving and I know I needed it. After that Michigan winter, it's time for some sunshine, warmth, and (let's face it) summer break. I wish you all good luck in finishing out your semesters and I hope you are able to find peace and rest in this often hectic time! ***If you would like to be featured as a ÒGraduate Student on the Market,Ó please send me your name, affiliation, a short description of your work (300 words or less), and picture of yourself. ***We are looking for volunteers to help us continue our "featured members" page, where a member of the section is profiled in a short Q&A format. Volunteers are needed for both interviewers and interviewees. We are also welcoming suggestions for newsletter content. If you have an idea for a section/feature (such as pedagogy, publication tips and tricks, etc.), send me an email! ÑBethany Coston Visiting Assistant Professor Anthropology & Sociology Albion College Albion, MI 49224 Ph: 231.206.2195 bethany.coston@gmail.com We're on Facebook! You should like us as much as we like you... https://www.facebook.com/pages/SSSP-Sexual-Behavior-Politics-and- Communities-Division/343457819083988 Just search: "SSSP-Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities"