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  • UNL Sociology is in the top 10% of Ph.D. Sociology programs according to the NRC S-Rankings  (13thin the PhDs.org ranking, NRC 90% confidence range of 6-19)
  • UNL Sociology is in the top 5% of Sociology programs for graduate student support and outcomes (2nd in the PhDs.org ranking, NRC 90% confidence range of 1-7)

On September 28, 2010, the National Research Council (NRC) released its first review of U.S. graduate programs since 1995 (http://www.nap.edu/rdp).  This report provides rankings for many disciplines, including those from 117 Ph.D. programs in the Sociology category. 

The NRC report provides aggregate ratings for the Ph.D. programs.  The 2010 NRC program rankings are reported in terms of 90% confidence ranges.  The website PhDs.org uses the rankings distribution data to provide rank-ordering of programs based on centroid scores. Read More

Latest News

Annual Graduate Student Award Ceremony

Fourteen Sociology graduate students were recognized for their accomplishments in research or teaching during the annual graduate student award ceremony.    The award winners were:

Nick Babchuk Research Award, Anna Bellatorre.   Joyce Hertzler Award, Alian Kasabian.   Alice Frost Howard Fellowship, Megumi Watanabe.  James Reinhardt Fellowship, Kari Gentzler.  Sociology Department Travel Award, Laura Simon.   Summer Ogle Fellowships, Ben Cook, Michael Leber, Patrick Habecker, Rachel Schmitz, Sara Malone and Xiaomeng Zhang.  Department of Sociology Teaching Award, Kayla Pritchard.  Cherly Applegate Teaching Award, Stacy Tiemeyer.  Department of Sociology Research Award, Deadric Williams.   

A photo of the award winners at the cermony on April 17.  Dr. Jacob Cheadle, selected by the graduate students to recieve the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, is also in the photo.   For more details on each of the students who were recognized with fellowships or awards visit the Sociology Department Facebook page.

Three Sociology Faculty Awarded Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor

Three of our department faculty were recognized at the annual UNL celebration of promotion and tenure.   Jacob Cheadle, Christina Falci, and Kristen Olson are each being promoted to Associate Professor effective August, 2012.   Congratulations!!!


Bryan Snyder's Balancing a Sociology Ph.D. and Wrestling Coach Position 

Bryan Snyder's work to complete his Sociology Ph.D. while employed full time as a UNL wrestling coach was profiled in a recent article in the Lincoln Journal Star newspaper.  He has successfully defended his dissertation since this article was published and will graduate in May with his Ph.D. in Sociology.  Congratulations Dr. Snyder!

                                       Photo Credit:  Lincoln Journal Star

Elaine Hernandez, First Invited Speaker in our Early Career Scholars Series

Dr. Elaine Hernandez, a post-doctoral researcher at the Population Research Center at the University of Texas-Austin presented the first invited talk in the Early Career Scholar speaker series on April 6th. Her presentation was titled "The Unintended Consequences of Medical Advances: Educational Gradients in Prenatal Behaviors During First Pregnancy".  Dr. Hernandez also met with Sociology faculty to discuss common research interests.


Bridget Goosby Highlighted in UNL Annual Report 

Bridget Goosby's health disparities research is highlighted in the most recent UNL Office of Research and Economic Development 2010-2011 Annual Report.

This is the seventh time in the past nine years that the research of a Sociology faculty member has been profiled in this report of significant grant supported research activities at UNL.

Kort-Butler & Hartshorn Research in Contexts

Lisa Kort-Butler and Kelley Hartshorn's publication in the Sociological Quarterly (Winter, 2011) on how viewing television crime programs influences fear of victimization was summarized in the Discovery section of the American Sociological Association publication Contexts.  CSI: Nebraska

The data used in this publication were collected as part of the Nebraska Annual Social Indicator Survey conducted by the Bureau of Sociological Research.


Al Williams Research Featured on CAS Website 

The recent publication on the representation of the enviroment in award winning children's books by Emeritus Professor, Al Williams and his colleagues was featured in the College of Arts and Sciences web page and was picked up by several news sites.

Philip Schwadel's Research on Education and Religion

  • Dr. Phil Schwadel's research on the relationship of education with religion was highlighted in a UNL News release

    In his article in the Review of Religious Research, Professor Schwadel reports that, contrary to popular opinion, education has a positive effect on Americans' churchgoing habits, their devotional practices, their emphasis on religion in daily life and their support for religious leaders.

Bridget Goosby Awarded a Prestigious NIH K01 Mentored Scientist Grant 

  • Dr. Bridget Goosby has been awarded a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at the National Institutes of Health.  The five-year award will support the development of her research program in health disparities.  Dr. Goosby's was the only K01 grant awarded by NICHD in the current funding cycle.

    As noted in the UNL News Release on her grant, "Goosby will use the award to receive specialized training in the growing field of biodemography. The area examines from a biological perspective how social experiences affect people and influence health differences in the larger U.S. population."  

     

    Lory Dance Highlighted in Lund University Magazine

  • Dr. Lory Dance, Associate Professor of Sociology and Ethnic Studies, is Co-Principal Investigator for “The Middle East in the Contemporary World” (MECW) grant project. MECW is a multi-million research project awarded in 2009 by the Swedish Research Council and housed at Lund University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies in Lund, Sweden.

    Currently on leave from UNL, Dr. Dance was recently highlighted in the Lund University Magazine.