SSSP 2026 Annual Meeting
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 081: Community Approaches to Mental Health: Educators, Policy-Makers Activists, and Social Identities
Room: Belasco
Sponsor: Disability, Mental Wellness, and Social Justice
Organizer: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia
Presiders: Lily Ivanova, University of British Columbia
Rebecca Qin, University of British Columbia
Discussant: Keith R. Johnson, Independent Scholar
Description: How do activists, communities, experts, and researchers come together to understand, support, frame, and advocate for community mental health and disability? Disabled bodies and people experiencing mental illness have long been marginalized and continue to be controlled and disenfranchised. However, people with disabilities and mental illness, along with community leaders, have organized and fought for their rights to exist and thrive within society. These efforts take many forms, including traditional protests, internet activism, artistic expression, organizational work, and policy advocacy. This session explores the innovative ways disability and mental health activists, their communities, organizations, and researchers collaborate to address complex community challenges.
Papers:
“‘Hope Is Our Guiding Light’: How Social Workers Experience Hope in Their Practice,” Alison Fedoris Leslie, Widener University
“Bridges Through Wellness: Inclusive Mental Health Education for International Students and People with Disabilities,” Natasha I. Kabir, Community School; and Bosch Alumni Regional Coordinator, South Asia
“Repowering Indigenous Knowledges in Colonial Spaces,” Stephen Silva-Brave, The University of Texas at Arlington
“SafeSport: Is It Really Keeping Athletes Safe?” Sophia Hodowanec, West Virginia University
“When Policy Enters the Home: Dependent Visas and the Colonization of Everyday Life among South Asian Migrant Spouses,” Melicha Rahaman, The University of Texas at El Paso
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 082: How Institutional/Systemic Factors Impact Family, Health & Well-Being
Room: Broadway I
Sponsors: Health, Health Policy, and Health Services
Institutional Ethnography
Organizer &
Presider: Hans-Peter de Ruiter, Minnesota State University
Description: This session explores how institutions extend their reach into the lifeworlds of individuals and communities, shaping the rhythms of daily life in ways that often remain hidden. By mapping these processes, we uncover how policies, organizational practices, and global systems influence personal choices, relationships, and opportunities. Drawing on examples from diverse contexts, the session highlights both the subtle and overt ways institutions colonize lived experience, and considers how approaches such as Institutional Ethnography (IE) can make these dynamics visible and open pathways for change.
Papers:
“‘Reading for Social Organization’ in Music Students’ Health Research: What Institutional Ethnography Makes Visible,” Jeffrey Sabo, University of Ottawa, Winner of the Institutional Ethnography Division’s Student Paper Competition
“An Institutional Ethnography of Graduate Student Enrollment and Retention,” Fredricka R. Saunders, Laura J. Parson, Isaac Mensah, Doriane E. Paso and Francisca Dadzie Nyarko, North Dakota State University
“Disappearing by Design: The Disabling Politics of Homelessness,” Brenna E. Jones, Illinois State University
“Making the Model Work for All: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Hospital-at-Home Programs,” Nels R. Paulson, University of Wisconsin-Stout, Andrew D.A. Marshall and David M. Levine, Harvard Medical School
“Mental Health of U.S. Return Migrants to Mexico City,” Esmeralda Ramirez, The University of Texas at Austin, Alice Cepeda, Arizona State University, Jessica Frankeberger, Arizone State University, Kathryn Nowotny, University of Miami, Nefertari Rincon-Guerra and Avelardo Valdez, Arizona State University
“When Policy Meets Practice: How Healthcare Systems Shape Nursing Clinical Care Leaders’ Work,” Emily S. Johnson and Laura J. Parson, North Dakota State University
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 083: Rural Spaces and Services II
Room: Broadway III
Sponsors: Community, Research, and Practice
Sociology, Social Work, and Social Welfare
Sport, Leisure, and the Body
Organizers: Linda Lobao, The Ohio State University
Michael O. Johnston, William Penn University
Presider &
Discussant: Michael O. Johnston, William Penn University
Description: This thematic session examines the challenges and opportunities shaping rural communities. Rural areas face persistent inequalities, limited resources, and structural barriers across health, education, housing, and social services. At the same time, they foster resilience, care, and solidarity that warrant sociological attention. Presentations explore structural constraints and opportunities within rural environments, analyze how policies and politics shape service delivery, and consider how residents navigate and resist systems of support. Drawing on sociology, social work, and social welfare, the session highlights rural life as essential for understanding broader issues of justice, equity, and social well-being, emphasizing both constraint and creativity in these communities.
Papers:
“A New Rurality: Rethinking Health Systems, Environment, and Everyday Life in North Louisiana,” Carlos N. Chapman II and Junior R. Hopwood, Grambling State University
“Digital Market Access, Unequal Services: How Platform Rules Shape Farmers’ Net Returns and Risk,” Qingze Zhu, University of Wisconsin–Madison
“Masculinity, Structural Precarity, and the Erosion of Rural Support Systems: Dairy Farm Consolidation and Mental Health in Rural New York,” Conor Hammersley, New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health; Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety
“Understanding Immigrant Bargains at the Margins of the State,” Akanne S. Torres Beltran, The Ohio State University
“Variations in the Local Welfare State: Social and Public Service Paths across U.S. Rural and Urban Communities,” Paige Kelly, The Pennsylvania State University and Linda Lobao, The Ohio State University
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 084: Racial Politics and Resistance in the Midst of Settler Colonialism II
Room: Manhattan
Sponsors: Conflict, Social Action, and Change
Critical Race and Ethnic Study
Organizers: Sara Tehrani, University of Central Florida
Foroogh Mohammadi, Acadia University
Presider &
Discussant: Sara Tehrani, University of Central Florida
Description: Only recently have Ethnic and Racial Studies and Indigenous Studies begun to engage in systematic dialogue about how the racial state has long functioned as a settler colonial state. This session explores how both historical and contemporary racial politics and social movements confront and resist the intertwined structures of settler colonialism and racial capitalism. It highlights the work of racialized social movements in exposing, challenging, and disrupting ongoing colonial violence, racialized dispossession, and carceral regimes.
Papers:
“A Place Called Liberty: Education,” Rodney D. Coates, Miami University
“Living the Contradictions: International Students’ Experiences of Shifting Immigration Policies in Canada,” Isla Parker, Acadia University
“The Threat Is Internal: Emotional Segregation and Racist Targeting of Faculty by Faculty in Higher Education,” Angie Beeman, Baruch College, CUNY
“Nullifying Sanity: How Prominent Think Tanks Oppose Social Activism through Racialized Framing,” Annie Jones, Ricardo Garcia-Rivera and J. Scott Carter, University of Central Florida
“Bounded Belonging: Discrimination and the Limits of Social Networks,” Rafia Javaid Mallick and Deirdre Oakley, Georgia State University
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
THEMATIC
Session 085: CRITICAL DIALOGUE: American Colonization of the Sociological Imagination: The Intersection of Colonization and PCI
Room: Melville
Sponsor: Poverty, Class, and Inequality
Organizer &
Presider/Discussant: Nicole Kraus, West Texas A&M University
Description: This session examines how American hegemonic dominance has shaped the broader sociological imagination. It asks how scholars might move beyond U.S.-centric frameworks without marginalizing non-American research and considers how these questions intersect with scholarship on poverty, class, and inequality.
Papers:
“‘Comfort Woman’ as a Form of Collective Rape: Theorizing Maria Rosa Henson’s ‘Story on Prostitution and Slavery under the Japanese Military’,” Raisa L. Ty, University of the Philippines Diliman and University of Eastern Philippines
“Beyond the ‘Leaky Pipeline’: Domesticated Sponsored Mobility of Credentialed Daughters in South Korea, 1950s–1980s,” HongJin Jo, The University of Chicago
“Creating Panethnicity: Latino/a and Asian American Identity and Attachment in the United States,” Christine M. Capili, University of La Verne
“The Institutional Production of Housing Instability: Neighborhood Exposure to Intensive Low-Level Policing and Extractive Landlord Practices,” Aaron Stagoff-Belfort, The University of Chicago
“Why So Angry: A Redux: Understanding Resentment among Majority Populations,” Jeffry A. Will, University of North Florida Center for Community Initiatives
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 086: WORKS IN PROGRESS: "Bring Your Own Brilliance”: Sharing Our Ideas That Have Been Successful in Teaching
Room: Palace
Sponsors: Educational Problems
Teaching Social Problems
Organizers: Janelle M. Pham, Oglethorpe University
Jacqueline M. Zalewski, West Chester University
Presider: Janelle M. Pham, Oglethorpe University
Description: In this session, presenters are invited to share their most innovative and successful teaching strategies, techniques, and ideas. Participants may offer insights, experiences, and best practices that have enhanced learning in higher education classrooms. Presenters may showcase unique approaches, including engaging pedagogical methods, creative uses of technology, strategies for fostering inclusivity and supporting student well-being, and writing practices that strengthen course content. This session provides an opportunity to learn from one another and to build a collective resource for teaching excellence. Participants may include seasoned educators and junior scholars who wish to share their experiences.
Papers:
“Demonstrating the Practical Value of Sociology through Applied Research and Career Preparation,” Melissa A. Alvare, Monmouth University
“Laughing to Learn: Inclusive Humor as a Teaching Strategy in Higher Education,” Monnica Gavin, Clark State College
“Self-Coding: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach to Developing Critical Praxis,” Lesley N. Siegel, West Chester University of Pennsylvania and Kristina M. Valtierra, Colorado College
“Sociological Pedagogy in the Age of ChatGPT: Critical Thinking and Curriculum in Transformation,” Martin Jacinto, California State University, Chico and Jess Lee, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
“Teaching Ethics,” Stephani Williams, Northern Arizona University
“The Sociological Top 100: Using Music Videos as Entry Points to Sociology,” Claire M. Reardon, University of Kentucky
Date: Sunday, August 9
Time: 12:30 PM - 2:10 PM
Session 087: Gender and Violence: Structural Issues
Room: Plymouth
Sponsors: Crime and Justice
Gender, Sexual Behavior, Politics, and Communities
Law and Society
Organizer: Lloyd Klein, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
Presider: Cory Rowe, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
Description: This session examines strain and the formation of values—such as gender norms, attitudes toward pornography, and perspectives on feminism—at the intersection of gender and violence. Presentations draw on theoretical and empirical approaches to analyze how social stressors, gendered expectations, and ideological frameworks shape experiences of victimization, emotional responses, and patterns of violence.
Papers:
“An Application of General Strain Theory and Feminist Theory Examining the Relationship between Sexual Victimization, Negative Emotions, and Violent Crime in Early Adulthood,” Alennys Gabriella Taveras Seda, University of Central Florida and Abigail A. Fagan, University of Florida
“Gender? Responsivity: An Argument for Incorporating a Multilevel Framework,” Mackenzie Niness, University of Delaware
“Abolition Feminism: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice,” Clarissa M. Punla, University of California, Irvine
“Stress, Depression, and Gendered Vulnerability in Young Women’s Sexual Decision-Making,” Tania Ravaei, Indiana University Bloomington
“Radicalization, Masculinity, and Adolescent Violence: A Case Study of ‘Adolescence’,” Lydia M. Ryan, The George Washington University
“Target and Perpetrator Behavior Indices: A New Framework for Assessing Pornography’s Relationship to Gender-Based Violence,” Mara I. Hernandez Estrada, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Jennifer A. Johnson, Virginia Tech, Ana C. Gómez-Ugarte, Insad.mx, Sarah Aadahl, Virginia Tech, Ana J. Bridges, University of Arkansas, Fernanda Conde, National Autonomous University of Mexico, José Luis Palma, Insad.mx, Matthew B. Ezzell, James Madison University and Chyng F. Sun, New York University
