Blog.
Essays, media coverage & public sociology.
Getting both sides of the story
What can sociologists learn from interviewing multiple members of the same family? This week on the Contexts blog, I’m in conversation with Gaby Flores, Ariel Chan, and Angelica Qin to discuss our respective studies involving interviews with parent/young adult dyads.
What can sociologists learn from interviewing multiple members of the same family?
This week on the Contexts blog, I’m in conversation with Gaby Flores (University of California - Merced) and my dissertation research assistants Ariel Chan (Stanford University) and Angelica Qin (Princeton University) to discuss our respective studies involving interviews with parent/young adult dyads. Read our post here.
Related articles:
Priya Fielding-Singh and Marianne Cooper. 2023. “Negotiating Good Motherhood: Foodwork, Emotion Work, and Downscaling.” Journal of Marriage and Family. OnlineFirst.
Elena G. van Stee. 2023. “Privileged Dependence, Precarious Autonomy: Parent/Young Adult Relationships through the Lens of COVID‐19.” Journal of Marriage and Family 85(1):215–32.
Elena G. van Stee. 2023. “No Place like Home?” Contexts 22(3):12–17.
Nice is Not Enough: A Conversation with C.J. Pascoe
Why is *nice* not enough? I recently interviewed C.J. Pascoe about her new book, Nice Is Not Enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High. To learn more about American High’s culture of kindness—and why it’s insufficient to challenge systemic inequalities—check out our recorded conversation (along with a lightly-edited transcript) on the Contexts blog.
Why is *nice* not enough?
I recently interviewed C.J. Pascoe about her new book, Nice Is Not Enough: Inequality and the Limits of Kindness at American High. To learn more about American High’s culture of kindness—and why it’s insufficient to challenge systemic inequalities—check out our recorded conversation (along with a lightly-edited transcript) on the Contexts blog.
Moral Matters podcast ft. Shai Dromi & Sam Stabler
Introducing. . . . Moral Matters, a podcast produced by the Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Section of the American Sociological Association.
Introducing. . . . Moral Matters, a podcast produced by the Altruism, Morality and Social Solidarity Section of the American Sociological Association. We’re a group of sociologists who study social contexts of altruism, morality, and how people come together in solidarity. Sometimes we say we study the “sociology of the good.”
Kerby Goff and I are kicking off the 2023-24 season with an episode featuring Shai Dromi & Sam Stabler in which we discuss their new book, Moral Minefields: How Sociologists Debate Good Science. Shai Dromi is Associate Senior Lecturer on Sociology at Harvard University and Sam Stabler is a Doctoral Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at Hunter College (CUNY).
Seeing Others: A Conversation with Michèle Lamont
I recently sat down with Michèle Lamont, Mari Sanchez, and Shira Zilberstein to chat about Michèle’s new book and our respective studies on college students navigating COVID-19. You can find our recorded conversation, along with a lightly-edited transcript, on the Contexts blog.
I recently sat down with Michèle Lamont, Mari Sanchez, and Shira Zilberstein to chat about Michèle’s new book and our respective studies on college students navigating COVID-19. You can find our recorded conversation, along with a lightly-edited transcript, on the Contexts blog.
Watch our conversation here.
Read more:
Interview: “No place like home?”
Check out my recent interview with Contexts’ Rose Zhang about my Summer ‘23 feature essay, “No place like home?”
No place like home?
My Summer ‘23 feature article for Contexts uses the stories of two undergraduates, Ashley (working class) and Noah (upper-middle-class), to illustrate how young adults from different social class backgrounds understood and experienced parental support amid COVID-19 campus closures. I recently spoke with Contexts’ Rose Xueqing Zhang about the questions that inspired this project and the insights I hope readers will take away from these students’ stories.
Related Links:
Contexts feature article, “No place like home?”
Contexts blog, “Who’s the grown-up here?”
Journal of Marriage and Family, “Privileged Dependence, Precarious Autonomy”
Sociology Compass, “Parenting young adults across social class: A review and synthesis”
No place like home?
In my new feature essay for Contexts, I tell the stories of two college students navigating the transition to remote instruction in March 2020. As their experiences illustrate, the social class divides exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic reflected deeper differences than immediate resource constraints.
In my new feature essay for Contexts, I tell the stories of two college students navigating the transition to remote instruction in March 2020. As their experiences illustrate, the social class divides exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic reflected deeper differences than immediate resource constraints.
You can find my essay in the summer issue here (open access for the next 30 days!).
What is race, anyways?
If you ask a sociologist, you might get a 20-page journal article.
If you ask a sociologist, you might get a 20-page journal article.
In a new article for the Annual Review of Sociology, Wendy Roth, Alejandra Regla-Vargas and I discuss how people think about race and why this matters. We review research from diverse disciplines to describe how people (including sociologists!) think about race: the range of views they hold, the attitudes and behaviors associated with them, and what factors contribute to these views.
Read the full article here (no paywall!)
Who’s the grown-up here?
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how college students from different class backgrounds seek help from their parents.
I remember it vividly, like it was just yesterday.
I was a first-year PhD student in sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. It was March 2020. Like many students, I had been traveling for spring break—then, like many (privileged) students, I ended up spending the rest of the spring 2020 semester sheltering in place in my childhood bedroom.
Read the rest on the Contexts blog.
Editor cap: On
I'm excited to join the Contexts editorial team as the magazine’s newest blog editor.
I'm excited to join the Contexts editorial team as the magazine’s newest blog editor.
The Contexts Blog takes many of the magazine’s best features to the next level—blog essays are timely, jargon-free, and ultra-concise. Your grandmother probably won’t make it through the methodological appendix of your book, but she might actually enjoy reading your Contexts blog post!
Check out my recent interview with co-editors Amin Ghaziani and Seth Abrutyn, then send me a pitch!