The 60th Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems was held in Atlanta, GA August 13-15. ਍ഀ The Environment and Technology Division sponsored a number of very interesting sessions involving papers focused on health, social justice, and the environment, globalization, animal rights, and heritage and place based narratives. See the President Joann Miller’s address and other meeting summaries here: http://www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/376਍ഀ The papers and dialogue following these presentations was very exciting and I look forward to that same excitement with our 61st Annual meeting in August 2011. ਍ഀ As you may have read, the American Sociological Association has canceled there meeting in Chicago due to a labor dispute within the hotel. At this point it is unclear whether the SSSP will be in Chicago or not. Please see Executive Office, Hector Delgado statement to members, #at #www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/395#.਍ഀ We have worked hard to put together a wonderful slate of sessions for 2011 and hope that you consider submitting a paper. Remember, the deadline for submissions is Januray 31, 2011. Follow this link for 2011 Meeting Information. www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/392#਍ഀ In an effort to provide our members with more news of the division and research that our members are involved in, I am asking that anyone who wishes to contribute a piece about their work in environment and technology, please consider submitting to our newsletter. Whether you are interested in sharing an experience with teaching, research, writing, publishing, community partnerships, among other things, we would love to hear about what our members are engaged in. Please forward any short narratives, blurbs, or summaries to Erin Robinson at robinso5@canisius.edu. Our spring newsletter deadline will be March 31. ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 2010 Atlanta Meetings A Grand Success!਍ഀ A Call for Content ਍ഀ Environment and Technology Division Newsletter਍ഀ A Note From the Chair…਍ഀ Hello and thank you for electing me your chair person for 2010-2012. My name is Erin Robinson and I am an Associate professor of sociology at Canisius College. I also direct our new program in Environmental Studies. I appreciate and this opportunity to work with the division and hope to have another successful year of research and discussion in 2011. ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 2011 Meetings: Service ਍ഀ Sociology਍ഀ 2਍ഀ Student Paper Competition਍ഀ 3਍ഀ 2011 Call for Papers਍ഀ 4਍ഀ Call for Chapter Proposals਍ഀ 5਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ Inside this issue:਍ഀ Society for the Study of Social Problems਍ഀ Fall 2010਍ഀ “To investigate humanity for the purpose of service.” Emory S. Bogardus, motto of Alpha Kappa Delta (1920).਍ഀ ਍ഀ "The real question is, does our special expertise and information [as sociologists] give us a special obligation to act?" ਍ഀ John F. Galliher, What They Said and What They Did: Some Early SSSP Presidents (2002).਍ഀ During the past 61 years our Society, journal, and members have endeavored admirably, each in their own way, to promote social justice and solve social problems. But when it comes to the larger discipline of sociology, these goals have been largely neglected, and it hasn’t provided much of a framework for pursuing them. Thus, I propose an alternative sociology; one that I’m calling service sociology.਍ഀ Service sociology is a sociology of social problems intended to ameliorate conditions of life for those in need of assistance, and to ensure and promote the welfare of the community. Motivated by care and compassion a service-oriented sociology is aimed at helping people meet their pressing social needs. As such, service sociology involves the application of sociological knowledge combined with the expression of humanitarian sentiment in neighborly service.਍ഀ I mean the word “service” in two senses. The first meaning, which is pragmatic, refers to a variety of practices—aid-actions—that are informed by sociological knowledge. These aid-actions may be performed regularly, sporadically, or once-only, but they are intended, first and foremost, to address the social, physical, and/or psychological exigencies of individuals and communities. The second meaning of the term “service” is valuative and gets to the essence of our profession—a word that comes from the Latin meaning to declare one’s values openly. And the values of service sociology that motivate the aid-actions intended to alleviate and ameliorate social problems are those of justice, equality, and neighborliness.਍ഀ Service, as an ethos and a practice, was once at the core of our discipline; particularly given the fact that early American sociology was primarily a reformist endeavor. Thus, it is only fitting that the 2011 SSSP meetings are held in the city of Chicago and the Midwest region where the earliest forms of service sociology took root—in the social gospel, settlement sociology, and charity sociology—as practiced by, among others, Albion W. Small, Jane Addams, and Charles A. Ellwood.਍ഀ The theme of service sociology will give us the opportunity to discuss various forms of, and opportunities for, implementing aid-actions: from providing charity to rendering humanitarian relief; from community organizing to social planning; from civic engagement and volunteerism to philanthropy.਍ഀ In considering anew the recurrent question, Sociology for whom?, the co-founder of SSSP, Alfred McClung Lee, wisely stated that we should respond in this manner: Sociology for the service of humanity. “This answer,” said Lee, “refers to the need to develop knowledge of direct service to people as citizens, as consumers, and as neighbors.” Let us once again, at the 2011 meetings of SSSP, consider a sociology for the service of humanity.਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ  A. Javier Treviño, SSSP President, Wheaton College਍ഀ 2011 Program Committee਍ഀ Karen M. McCormack, Chair, Wheaton College਍ഀ Luis A. Fernandez, Northern Arizona University਍ഀ Holly Foster, Texas A&M University਍ഀ Michelle Janning, Whitman College਍ഀ Monica M. White, Wayne State University਍ഀ Service Sociology ਍ഀ "If each of us chooses some ... form of public service and puts himself thoroughly into it, things will go very well." ਍ഀ Charles Horton Cooley, Social Organization (1909). ਍ഀ Reprinted from Society for the Study of Social Problems 2011 Call for Papers਍ഀ www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/392਍ഀ Page #਍ഀ Environment and Technology Division Newsletter਍ഀ The Environment and Technology Division is pleased to announce its 2011 Brent K. Marshall Graduate Student Paper Award. This award honors the late Brent Marshall’s (1965-2008) personal and professional commitment to the Division and encouragement of student engagement in academic scholarship and research. Papers will be considered in the areas of environmental sociology including, but not limited to political economy of the environment, social movements and the environment, technology and society, natural disasters and society, risk and risk perception. The winner will receive a $150 cash award, membership dues, annual meeting registration, and a ticket to the annual SSSP awards banquet where the winner will be acknowledged.  The winner will also be offered the opportunity to present this paper at one of the Environment and Technology sessions held at the 2011 SSSP meeting in Chicago, Il.  To be eligible, the paper must meet the following criteria: 1) the paper must have been written between January 2010 and March 2011; 2) the paper may not have been submitted for publication (papers presented at other professional meetings or that have been submitted for presentation at other meetings are eligible); 3) the paper must be authored by one or more students and not co-authored by faculty or a colleague who is not a student; 4) the paper must be 25 pages or less, including notes, references, and tables; and, 5) the paper must be accompanied by a letter from a faculty member at the student’s university nominating the work for The Brent K. Marshall Graduate Student Paper Award (formerly the Environment and Technology Division Graduate Student Paper Competition).  Students should send one copy of the paper accompanied by a letter of support to: Erin E. Robinson, Ph.D., Canisius College, 2001 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14208. ਍ഀ ਍ഀ Electronic submissions to robinso5@canisius.edu are preferred.  Submissions must be received no later than midnight on March 15, 2011.਍ഀ I often find myself with an email inbox bombarded with information that I rarely have time or the need to look at . However, a few weeks ago, a colleague sent this site my way. You may have heard of it or are already using this as a resource: AboveTheFold @ newsletters.਍ഀ environmentalhealthnews.org]਍ഀ I am working on a variety of community based projects and I find that this site provides me with my daily dose of environmental news, much of which has direct implications for the work I am pursuing in Buffalo, NY. ਍ഀ The aggregate compilation of environmental health news from around the world saves me time searching and gives me a great set of current articles to use in class, providing my students with up to date information on society’s most pressing environmental issues. Check it our for yourself by browsing or subscription to their daily email. ਍ഀ Graduate Student Paper Competition Announced਍ഀ Environmnetalhealthnews.org: Resources At Your Fingertips਍ഀ "A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."਍ഀ — John Sawhill, former president/CEO of The Nature Conservancy਍ഀ Page #਍ഀ Fall 2010਍ഀ Call for Papers for the 61st Annual SSSP Meetings਍ഀ Environment and ਍ഀ Technology Sessions ਍ഀ and Organizers for 2011਍ഀ (includes co-sponsored sessions)਍ഀ ਍ഀ 1. Social Reconstruction After Natural and Unnatural Disasters ਍ഀ Organizer: Lang, Steven R. slang@lagcc.cuny.edu ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 2. Recruiting for Service Sociology: 'Stop the Poison (STP)' and other Campaigns for Pollution Control ਍ഀ Organizer: Mix, Tamara L. tamara.mix@okstate.edu ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 3. Environmental Activism: Race, Class, and Inequalities ਍ഀ Organizer: Alessio, John C. JOHN.ALESSIO@MNSU.EDU਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 4. Building Greener Communities: Redefining Quality of Life ਍ഀ Organizer: Lorenzen, Janet A. ਍ഀ jlorenzen@sociology.rutgers.edu਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 5. Papers in the Round: Issues in Environment and Technology ਍ഀ Organizer: Zilney, Lisa Anne LISA.ZILNEY@MONTCLAIR.EDU ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 6. Teaching Environmental Sociology: Sharing Techniques and Perspective ਍ഀ Organizer: Robinson, Erin E. [robinso5@canisius.edu ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 7. Globalization and Environmental Justice ਍ഀ Organizers: Robinson, Erin E.਍ഀ robinso5@canisius.edu ਍ഀ McCormack, Karen ਍ഀ Mccormack_karen@wheatonma.edu ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 8. Law and Environment ਍ഀ Organizer: Lang, Steven R. slang@lagcc.cuny.edu ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 9. Non-human/Human Species and Inequalities ਍ഀ Organizers: Andrzejewski, Julie JRANDRZEJEWSKI@STCLOUDSTATE.EDU਍ഀ Nocella, II, Anthony J. ਍ഀ nocellat@yahoo.com ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ 10. Issues in Technology and Sexuality ਍ഀ Organizer:Costello, Cary Gabriel COSTELLO@UWM.EDU ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ Please consider submitting a proposal for the 2011 meetings by January 31, 2011!਍ഀ www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/392#਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ Call for Chapter Proposals਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ In 2004 and 2008, the SSSP and the Justice 21 Committee published the first two volumes of the Agenda for Social Justice. Those reports contained chapters on a variety of social problems, among them poverty, educational inequality, unemployment, environmental health risks, global economic change, capital punishment, post-Katrina disaster response, gender inequality in the criminal justice system, the vulnerability of ESL students in public schools, surveillance technologies, civil unions, domestic violence.਍ഀ ਍ഀ We are now beginning our work on the third publication--Agenda for Social Justice-2012. This publication is designed to inform the public-at-large about the nation’s most pressing social problems and to propose a public policy response to those problems. This project affirms the commitment of SSSP to social justice, and enables the members of the association to speak on public issues with the sponsorship of the corporate body. This report will be an “agenda for social justice,” in that it will contain recommendations for action by elected officials, policy makers, and the public at large. The report will be distributed as widely as possible to policy makers, those in progressive media, and academics.਍ഀ ਍ഀ The quadrennial report will be a product of the most valid and reliable knowledge we have about social problems and it will be a joint effort of the members and Divisions of SSSP. We invite you to consider preparing a chapter for the 2012 publication. We ask you, individually or with colleagues, to consider submitting a brief proposal (1-2 pp) identifying a social problem of concern to members of SSSP, and respond to the questions: ਍ഀ ਍ഀ What do we know? ਍ഀ How do we know it? ਍ഀ What is to be done? ਍ഀ ਍ഀ As the coordinating committee for Justice 21, we invite members to prepare a draft statement for a proposed contribution to the 2012 publication, tentatively to be produced and distributed by the Edwin Mellen Press (http://www.mellenpress.com/). For the 2012 edition, confirmed contributors include the following well-known sociologists: Frances Fox Piven, Alejandro Portes, and Amatai Etzioni. Please submit a copy of your 1-2 page proposals to each of the members of the committee by March 1, 2011, and contact us if you have questions or would like additional information. Final manuscripts will be due near the end of 2011, and will appear in print prior to the 2012 SSSP annual meetings in August 2012.਍ഀ ਍ഀ Glenn Muschert (chair), Miami University, muschegw@muohio.edu਍ഀ Kathleen Ferraro, Northern Arizona University, kathleen.ferraro@nau.edu ਍ഀ Brian Klocke, SUNY Plattsburgh, bkloc001@plattsburgh.edu ਍ഀ JoAnn Miller, Purdue University, jlmiller@purdue.edu਍ഀ Robert Perrucci, Purdue University, perruccir@purdue.edu ਍ഀ Jon Shefner, University of Tennessee, jshefner@utk.edu਍ഀ ਍ഀ For an expanded discussion of Justice 21, see the May 2001 issue of Social Problems (“Inventing Social Justice”). To see the 2004 and 2008 publications, see the SSSP website at the following address: http://sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/323਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ "Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a songbird will come."਍ഀ Chinese proverb਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ ਍ഀ Downtown Atlanta਍ഀ ਍ഀ Atlanta Symphony਍ഀ Agenda for Social Justice Seeks Proposals਍ഀ Environment and Technology Mission Statement:਍ഀ ….A just world seeks to make explicit the connection between environmental exploitation, human exploitation and social justice. Questions such as the following need to be addressed: why and through what political, social and economic processes are some people denied a clean and safe environment; why is it that certain groups of people are denied basic resource rights or are burdened with pollution of environmental hazards to a greater extent than other groups; what are the social relations of production and power that contribute to these outcomes; what is the role of technology in environmental inequities; and what can be done to correct the histories of inequality? ...਍ഀ Excerpt from A Vision for a Just World, 2009 ਍ഀ Lisa Anne Zilney਍ഀ Montclair State University਍ഀ We will be revisiting our vision and mission statement as a division very soon. Anything you would like to see included? Please email me your comments by January 14, 2011. robinso5@canisius.edu਍ഀ Erin E. Robinson, PhD.਍ഀ Department of Sociology਍ഀ Canisius College਍ഀ 2001 Main Street਍ഀ Buffalo, NY 14208਍ഀ Phone: 716-888-2748਍ഀ E-mail: robinso5@canisius.edu਍ഀ Check out the latest SSSP updates and information at sssp1@org਍ഀ