Family Friendly?

Last updated on: June 19, 2012 at 12:21 pm By Amy Reynolds

In the days leading up to Father’s Day this past Sunday, one could find a number of advertisements providing helpful suggestions on what to buy for Dad. Home Depot, for example, suggested men really wanted to be fixing things and involved in construction—a task much easier accomplished with the help of their special “Man” gift card. Just last month, diamond and flower companies were busy spending dollars encouraging families to give Mom the gifts she deserved. These holidays remind many... Read more

Tiger Alumni Giving – An Outsider’s View

Last updated on: June 24, 2012 at 10:25 pm By Jerry Park

Hep! Hep! Rah! Rah! Rah! Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! Sis! Sis! Sis! Boom! Boom! Boom! Bah! ’92! ’92! ’92! This was the chant yawped at the recent legendary reunions of the College of New Jersey (aka Princeton). I had the privilege to witness this ritual experience recently and despite being on vacation, I often can’t help but keep the sociological analysis from intruding. Reunions are a sociological idea after all, it assumes that we identify with a group of people who... Read more

Do We Do What is Important in Life?

Last updated on: June 14, 2012 at 11:12 am By Bradley Wright

At some point in my life, maybe last Tuesday, I realized that what I, and others, want in life is sometimes very different than what we put our time and energy into. I suppose that I have mostly assumed that people do what they want—within the boundaries of external constraints and opportunities. So, if someone spends a lot of time at work, they main value is getting ahead in their career and maybe providing for others, and if someone else... Read more

Part 2: More Info about the Study on Adult Children of Parents who have Same-Sex Relationships

Last updated on: June 11, 2012 at 8:35 am By Mark Regnerus

Part 2 in a series on the New Family Structures Study I conducted. Just a few links, as well as the answer to some common criticisms of the study… The study itself is free and publicly available, beginning today, at this site, together with another study on the matter by Loren Marks (LSU professor), and three comments on the studies, including one by Paul Amato, Penn State sociologist and current president of the National Council on Family Relations. My short summary piece... Read more

Q & A with Mark Regnerus about the background of his new study

Last updated on: June 11, 2012 at 8:18 am By Mark Regnerus

Part 1 in a series on the New Family Structures Study I conducted. Figured it was worth answering some basic background questions about the new study, me, etc., given all the hubbub it’s receiving. Q: Why did you undertake the study about adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? A: Two reasons. First, because I thought I could pull together a diverse group of people to figure out how best to test the “no differences” hypothesis. And second, because... Read more

Tracing Your Ancestry? Thank a Mormon!

Last updated on: May 30, 2012 at 10:48 pm By Jerry Park

Work in the summer continues and while the emphasis is on getting research papers written, I still keep an eye out for good “edu-tainment” pieces that might be useful in the classroom. One of the ones I have been trying out has been the genealogy series’ that have been shown on two networks: NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are and PBS’s Henry Louis Gates’s Finding Your Roots. I admit that while the NBC one is probably well produced, I... Read more

The Opportunity Cost of Cannibalism, A Reflection on Aging

Last updated on: June 8, 2012 at 1:51 pm By Bradley Wright

For reasons that I don’t fully understand, I seem to be getting older every year; in fact, if memory serves, I have yet another birthday coming in the next twelve months. Part of aging for me, and I suppose everyone else, involves reflecting on how I’m changing with age. Of course there are the usual things—knee pain, graying hair, and the accumulation of millions of dollars, but in addition, my prioritization in day-to-day life is changing. Specifically, I’m becoming more... Read more

How Effective is Online Learning? Insights from Sociology of Religion Online

Last updated on: June 6, 2012 at 7:28 am By Margarita A. Mooney

Part 4 of a Series on Teaching Sociology of Religion Online. Earlier in this series of posts about my experience teaching sociology of religion, I wrote about the promise of delivering lectures online and the challenges I faced in actually doing it. Today I’ll explain how I finally created my first narrated presentation on YouTube, how I got small group discussions going on Elluminate, and how my 8-year old nephew taught me about online teaching all the while teaching me... Read more

Fair Trade Battles

Last updated on: March 10, 2017 at 6:06 pm By Amy Reynolds

At the end of 2011, Fair Trade USA resigned from its membership in FairTrade International (FLO). Just last month, an advertisement in the Burlington Free Press (Vermont) made headlines. Equal Exchange, the largest fair trade coffee company in the United States, urged Green Mountain Coffee to leave the Fair Trade USA network. Business Week and others covered the conflict. This incident represents growing division over how to best help the population that fair trade was intended to represent. Perhaps the... Read more

Liking the Quotes more than the Books

Last updated on: June 3, 2012 at 6:47 pm By Mark Regnerus

I read, for the first time, Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” to my family the other day. Seemed like a better idea than yet another iteration of “International House Hunters” on the television. I’ve been a fan of Flannery O’Connor for a few years, but upon reflection my interest in her may be less literary than biographical. I think she lived an interesting, and unusual, life. A year or two ago my former graduate... Read more