SSSP 2025 Annual Meeting
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Budget, Finance, and Audit Committee, 2025-26
Room: Medinah Parlor
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 045: Workshop: Building Communities of Praxis: Insurgent Sociology at the Center CANCELLED
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 046: Immigration and Transnational Blackness
Room: Indiana Room
Sponsor: Transnational Initiatives Committee
Organizer, Presider &
Discussant: Jamella N. Gow, Bowdoin College
Description: This session will explore the way Blackness as a racial, political, and cultural embodiment of belonging/non-belonging becomes transnational through immigrant pathways, intergenerational cultural and familial practices, social movements, and cultural production. By centering how Blackness is understood by communities and nations in and from the Global South. This session also highlights how immigration, race, and racisms converge around Blackness to reveal past and present traces of colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism that situate nations and diasporas in the present.
Papers:
“‘We are Here, but Our Hearts are in Haiti’: Temporal and Racialized Emotive Existences of Ethnically Identified Haitian Americans,” Vadricka Etienne, University of Nevada, Reno
“Belonging Gone Foreign: Reclaiming Jamaican Citizenship in Wake of US Migration,” Marcelle Medford, Bates College
“Black Caribbean Immigrants and the Educational Legacies of Empire,” Derron Wallace, Brandeis University
“Damning the Planet: Feeding White Supremacy’s Delusion with the Blood of Blackness,” Vilna Bashi, Northwestern University
“Racialized Im/mobility and Travelling Blackness: Transnational Organizing across Black Migrant Communities,” Jamella N. Gow, Bowdoin College
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 047: Reparations, Reckoning, and Regeneration from Global and Local Contexts
Room: Kimball Room
Sponsors: Community, Research, and Practice
Critical Race and Ethnic Study
Organizer, Presider &
Discussant: Sarah E. Stanlick, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Description: Reparations for traumatized communities have been long advocated for by historians, social scientists, and community activists. Yet, the realization of reparations has not yet come to pass. In the US, conversations have focused on financial reparation to descendants of racial slavery. However, from a broader and transnational perspective, reparations extend beyond financial into practices and processes that fall into 5 distinct categories as put forth by the United Nations: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction, and guarantees of non-repetition. At the same time, there are formal and informal bodies that have successfully implemented reparations from whom we can learn. In this session, we seek to highlight these emerging movements and practices, as well as the burgeoning research around reparations and their impact.
Papers:
“Grappling with Change in Grixdale Farms: A Community Research Partnership,” Paul J. Draus and Koby Buford, University of Michigan-Dearborn
“Holding Police Accountable in California: Citizen Complaints against Police and Challenges of Data Collection,” Alexandra Hiropoulos, California State University, Stanislaus
“Towards Intentional Racial Reconciliation: Digital Tools for Practical Dissemination and Application of Oral Histories, Archives, and Artifacts of Racial Truths in Classroom and Communities,” Florence Emily Castillo, Sanjana Chowdhury Cohn and Amiso George, Texas Christian University
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 048: PAPERS IN THE ROUND: Reproductive Autonomy, Justice, and the Law
Room: Marshfield Room
Sponsors: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services
Law and Society
Organizer: Virginia Kuulei Berndt, McDaniel College
Description: Reproductive autonomy and justice encompass the ability to have children, not have children, and to care for families and communities in safety and with dignity. This session features work on the impact of policies and law on reproductive autonomy and justice at local, national, international, and global levels.
Roundtable #1 Title: Reproductive Autonomy, Justice, and the Law
Presider & Discussant:
Virginia Kuulei Berndt, McDaniel College
Papers:
“Abortion Stigma: The Mother of All Deviance?” Darci K. Schmidgall, The University of Oklahoma
“Community Organizing: Alternatives to Assist Undocumented Communities Experience with Intimate Partner Violence,” Leticia Morales, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
“On Maternity Leave Policies in the United States,” Samantha (Sammie) Hailey Seymour, The George Washington University
“State of Change: Emotional, Physical, and Political Dimensions of Providing Abortion Care in Arizona After Roe,” Reagan E. Warner, Northern Arizona University
“Evaluating the Sustainability of the Delaware Contraceptive Access Now (DelCAN) Intervention: Implications for Reproductive Autonomy,” Virginia Kuulei Berndt, McDaniel College, Jamie Manzer, Access Community Health Network and Ann V. Bell, University of Delaware
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 049: WORKS IN PROGRESS: ”Bring Your Own Brilliance”: Sharing our Ideas That Have Been Successful in Teaching
Room: Marshfield Room
Sponsor: Teaching Social Problems
Organizers: Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University
Janelle M. Pham, Oglethorpe University
Description: In this session, presenters are invited to bring their most innovative and successful teaching strategies, techniques, and ideas to the floor. Participants can share insights, experiences, and best practices that have enhanced learning in their higher education classes. Presenter could showcase their unique approaches, from engaging pedagogical methods, creative use of technology, strategies for ensuring inclusivity and supporting student well-being, to writing practices to improve the class's contents. This session is an excellent opportunity to learn from each other's brilliance and build a collective resource of teaching excellence. Participants can be seasoned educators or junior scholars who desire to share their experiences.
Roundtable #1 Title: WORKS IN PROGRESS: ”Bring Your Own Brilliance”: Sharing our Ideas That Have Been Successful in Teaching
Presider & Discussant:
Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University
Papers:
“A Process-oriented Approach to Teaching Critical Thinking in Sociological Criminology,” Jacqueline Johnson, Adelphi University
“AI Challenges: Artificial Intelligence vs. Authentic Insights,” Ronald E. Bulanda, Miami University
“The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good: The Enduring Value of Textbooks,” Ira Silver, Framingham State University
“The Power of Storytelling: A Creative Tool for Faculty, Scholars, and Students in Navigating Academia,” Meghna Bhat, Independent Scholar and Consultant
“Upending Virtual Learning Spaces: Community Engagement, Critical Consciousness, and Project-based Learning in Online Social Problems Classes,” Sara Sutler-Cohen, Independent Scholar
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 050: Racial Disparities in CJ/CL System
Room: Buckingham Room
Sponsors: Crime and Justice
Sociology, Social Work, and Social Welfare
Organizer, Presider &
Discussant: Christopher Dum, Kent State University
Description: This session examines issues of racial disparities in the criminal justice and criminal legal system.
Papers:
“‘The Way This System Is’: Exploring the Sources of Racial Disparities in Drug Courts in Ohio,” Additti Munshi, Tasha Perdue, Lydia Applin, Dexter Ridgway, Krystel Tossone and Alex Fraga, The Ohio State University and Sadé Lindsay, Cornell University
“Black Women’s Experiences with State Violence: An Analysis of Complaints against Police,” Miltonette Olivia Craig, Sam Houston State University
“Race, Racism, and Racial Systems: Assessing the Cost of the Cradle to Prison Pipeline,” Rodney D. Coates, Miami University
“Racial Alienation and the U.S Carceral State: A Structural Public Health Critique,” Redha Qabazard, Columbia University
“The Unresolved Blind Spot: Barriers to Policing Gender-based Violence in South African Immigrant Population,” Emeka E. Obioha, Walter Sisulu University
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 051: Insurgent Sociological Theory
Room: Grant Park Parlor
Sponsor: Social Problems Theory
Organizer &
Presider: Joshua H. Stout, Illinois State University
Discussant: David C. Lane, Illinois State University
Description: This session explores how theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches can challenge the status quo and provide avenues for generating social change, emphasizing critical theory, constructionist frameworks, and their application.
Papers:
“A Categorical Problem: How Rigid Classifications Lead Us Astray in Defining and Responding to Social Problems,” Brian Monahan and Dale Sheptak, Baldwin Wallace University
“Beyond Public Sociology: Navigating Tensions between Theory Building and Epistemic Justice,” Molly Clark-Barol, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“Collective Somnambulism and Fascinated Receptivity in the Insurgent Sociology of C. Wright Mills,” Stephen Pfohl, Boston College
“Measuring Carcerality in an Increasingly Datafied World,” Amelia Roskin-Frazee and Christine Head, University of California, Irvine
“The Latent Social Structure of a Narrative of Success: The Father of the Year,” Keith R. Johnson, Retired Scholar
Date: Saturday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 052: Engaged Sociology and Activism: Crisis Narratives, Lived Experiences and Poverty Abolition
Room: Spire Parlor
Sponsor: Poverty, Class, and Inequality
Organizers: Sara Maani, University of Milan-Bicocca
Tracy L. Vargas, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Presider &
Discussant: Tracy L. Vargas, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Description: This session critically examines the narratives constructed around crisis, focusing on their impact on our understanding of poverty, class, and inequality. Welcoming scholars, activists, and practitioners, it explores the everyday experiences of poverty, particularly housing struggles, the relationship between work and poverty, and the geographic dimensions of inequality. The session also highlights the work of poverty abolitionists, offering insights from grassroots movements and activist efforts aimed at dismantling the structural roots of economic injustice. Through these discussions, participants aim to challenge dominant crisis narratives and engage in a dialogue that bridges sociological theory and activism, fostering new approaches to eradicating poverty.
Papers:
“Dollar Store Crises, Class Inequality, and Grassroots Groups Challenging Corporate,” Tracy L. Vargas, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
“How Americans Evaluate Fairness in the Housing Market: An Experimental Approach,” Angela He, Stanford University
“Urban Development Induced Displacement in the Case of Addis Ababa City Administration Corridor and River Front Development,” Piniel T. Tessema, Fayyaa Integrated Development Organization
“Why Incarceration?” Stephanie Southworth and Sara Brallier, Coastal Carolina University
“Why So Angry: Understanding Resentment among Majority Populations,” Jeffry Will, University of North Florida Center for Community Initiatives
