Affiliate Dan Goldhaber, Director of the UW Center for Education Data & Research, was recently quoted in an Education Week article about The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s new focus on K-12 education. The Foundation has pledged nearly $1.7 billion towards education initiatives over the next five years, approximately 60% of which will be centered on building networks of existing schools and developing improved curricula. Regarding the Foundation’s most recent shift in focus and historical challenges in improving learning outcomes for students on a broad scale, Goldhaber said, “My sense is that the foundation has had bigger tangible impacts on affecting health outcomes around the world than they have in education, and they’ve been at it for a while.” He acknowledges, however, that this is not necessarily due to inherent shortcomings on the part of the Foundation. “I think this is just sort of the way it is. It’s hard in developed countries to change well-entrenched institutions.” The full article is available below.
Childhood Neighborhood Disadvantage and Adult Social and Economic Well-Being: Evidence from Sibling and Cousin Fixed Effects Using the NLSY
Steven Alvarado, Department of Sociology, Cornell University
Recent neighborhood effects studies have largely focused on proximate associations between childhood ecological conditions and childhood outcomes. In contrast, Steven capitalizes on restricted data from the NLSY 1979 and NLSY Child and Young Adults cohorts to study how childhood neighborhood disadvantage impacts joblessness, income, obesity, and criminal justice contact in adulthood. Sibling fixed effects and cousin fixed effects models, which address unobserved confounding at the parental and grand-parental levels, suggest that exposure to childhood neighborhood disadvantage indeed impacts adult well-being. Moreover, he analyzes whether these neighborhood effects operate through sensitive childhood years, teen socialization, duration effects, and cumulative effects across respondents’ life-course. Lastly, he explores whether familial exposure to multiple generations of neighborhood disadvantage yield pernicious effects on well-being for grandchildren.
Steven has some availability on Friday morning; please contact him directly at alvarado@cornell.edu if you would like to speak with him.
CSSCR Course/Workshop Offerings, Autumn Quarter Part II
The Center for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR) is an interdepartmental computer center in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington. CSSCR provides facilities and consulting support for computing activity related to teaching and research at the University.
This is the second CSSCR announcement for the quarter. You will find a listing of additional workshops for the remainder of the quarter at the following link: http://csscr.washington.edu/courses.html
CSSCR has a special workshop coming up this quarter provided by Dr. Shuming Bao from the University of Michigan. Dr. Bao is the Director for Spatial Data Center and China Data Center at the University of Michigan. A brief abstract for the workshop follows:
Abstract: The US NSF/SBE Advisory Committee released a report on “Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Perspectives on Robust and Reliable Science” in 2015, which encourages research that is reproducible, replicable, and generalizable. This workshop/seminar will address how to build reproducible, replicable, and expandable case studies in data analysis by applying some workflow based tools. It will present some sample case studies in the spatial studies of population, religion, and industries. Future directions of the development and applications of workflow based case studies will be discussed.
As always, registration is open and free to anyone in the UW community.
Individuals can subscribe to the CSSCR newsletter here, and the CSSCR newsletter archive is availble here.
Associate Professor/Professor of Public Policy
The University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy invites applications from social scientists with a PhD in sociology, social psychology, social demography, social policy, public policy or other closely-related disciplines for one or more tenured positions at the associate or full professor rank. The Ford School is committed to attracting and retaining a distinguished and diverse faculty. Areas of specialization and methodological approaches are open, with a particular interest in candidates whose scholarship addresses questions relating to poverty and inequality, stratification, economic sociology, science and technology studies and the sociology of diverse societies (including political sociology and race/ethnicity). Focus may be domestic/US or comparative. Successful candidates must demonstrate a record of outstanding research impact; ability and willingness to teach core and elective courses in undergraduate, master and PhD degree programs in public policy; dedication to public engagement; and a keen interest in interacting with students, faculty, staff, and policy practitioners in an interdisciplinary professional school environment. Candidates should combine relevant substantive expertise with strong interests in public policy.
This is an ongoing search. First consideration will be given to applications received by December 31, 2017, but applications will be considered until the position is filled. The following application materials should be sent in PDF format to fspp-facultysearch@umich.edu – a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, statement of current and future research plans, statement of teaching philosophy and experience, and teaching evaluations. In addition, candidates should include a brief statement describing how their work would contribute to the Ford School’s and University of Michigan’s strategic commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM
Sponsor: NSF
Program: Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM)
https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15528/nsf15528.htm
Program number: NSF 15-528 (2018)
Award amount: $600,000
Number of applications UW can put forward: 1
OR internal deadline: 11/30/17
OSP deadline: 2/7/18
Sponsor deadline: 2/15/18
Program Description
Cultivating Cultures for Ethical STEM (CCE STEM) funds research projects that identify factors that are efficacious in the formation of ethical STEM researchers in all the fields of science and engineering that NSF supports. CCE STEM solicits proposals for research that explores the following: ‘What constitutes ethical STEM research and practice, and which cultural and institutional contexts promote ethical STEM research and practice and why?’ Factors one might consider include: honor codes, professional ethics codes and licensing requirements, an ethic of service and/or service learning, life-long learning requirements, curricula or memberships in organizations (e.g. Engineers without Borders) that stress social responsibility and humanitarian goals, institutions that serve under-represented groups, institutions where academic and research integrity are cultivated at multiple levels, institutions that cultivate ethics across the curriculum, or programs that promote group work, or do not grade. Do certain labs have a ‘culture of academic integrity’? What practices contribute to the establishment and maintenance of ethical cultures and how can these practices be transferred, extended to, and integrated into other research and learning settings?
Pre-proposal instructions
Please submit:
- a one-page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach
- Biosketch or CV of the PI
- A letter of support from the Dean or Chair. This letter of support signifies that the Dean or Chair have ensured that the nominee and application are likely to be of sufficient quality to be competitive nationally
to research@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Thursday, November 30, 2017. Full proposals are due to the sponsor 2/15/18, so you will need to have your materials in to OSP by 2/7/18 for processing if given the go-ahead by the review committee. Other open limited submissions opportunities, as well as the internal proposal review committee review and selection process outline, are here: http://www.uw.edu/research/funding/limited-submissions/. Please feel free to email us at research@uw.edu with questions or information on any limited submission opportunities that should be but are not already listed on that page.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
The Department of Sociology at the University of South Carolina invites applications for TWO tenure-track Assistant Professor positions. For both positions, we seek candidates with research and teaching interests in Social Stratification and Inequality. This solicitation seeks candidates who also have the ability to teach quantitative methods at the graduate level. Candidates who have research and teaching interests in Social Stratification and Inequality but are not interested in teaching graduate quantitative methods are encouraged to see our other solicitation. Applicants qualified for both positions are encouraged to apply for both. Both positions are to begin in August 2018. Completion of PhD degree by the time of employment is expected.
Applicants should submit their curriculum vitae, a statement outlining their research and teaching agenda, three letters of recommendation, and up to three samples of writing. All material should be submitted via our online portal.
The faculty will begin reviewing applications by November 6th and review of applications will continue until the position is filled. For additional information contact the Recruitment Committee Chair, Matthew E. Brashears, at brasheam@mailbox.sc.edu.
Postdoctoral Fellow in Sociology and Social Demography
The Department of Sociology, University of Oxford is seeking to appoint a Postdoctoral Researcher to work on the project ‘Critical Life Events and the Dynamics of Inequality: Risk, Vulnerability, and Cumulative Disadvantage’. This is a transnational research programme involving four institutions: University of Amsterdam, University of Oxford, Stockholm University and the University of Lausanne. The project will run until 2020 and is funded by a Euro NORFACE DIAL grant.
The project’s main objectives are to understand (1) how job loss and union dissolution contribute to the accumulation of (dis)advantage over life course: (2) what mechanisms explain the (unequal) impact of these events: and (3) which work and family policies are effective in targeting these mechanisms in order to reduce inequality.
Working with Professors Christiaan Monden and Erzsebet Bukodi, the Postdoctoral Researcher will take the lead on analysing the prospective 1958 and 1970 birth cohort studies, and also investigate linkages to study outcomes earlier in life.
The successful candidate will hold or expect to obtain a PhD in sociology, demography, economics, social statistics, social policy or some related discipline. Strong grounding in quantitative research methods (methods for longitudinal data analysis, in particular), demonstrated by published (or accepted) research papers in academic journals, with evaluation judged relative to career stage, and a knowledge of the broadly defined subject area – inequalities over the life-course.
The post is full-time, on a fixed-term contract for 36 months starting as soon as possible.
Applications, including a covering letter, CV and the names of three referees, should be submitted by 12:00 noon on November 3, 2017.
Either Money or Manpower: Gender Inequality and Men’s and Women’s Unpaid Labor Migration in Nepal
“Either Money or Manpower”
Gender Inequality and Men’s and Women’s Unpaid Labor Migration in Nepal
Ande Reisman, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Sociology
November 8, 3:30 PM
CMU 226
Labor migration is a common household survival strategy in developing regions and, as a result, it is increasingly common to have families “left behind” by a migrant. What happens in a context with high gender inequality when men leave? Do customarily male spaces open up to women? What effect does this have on gender equity? This presentation explores the gendered social consequences of male labor migration on the wives of migrants who stay behind through enthographic fieldwork in rural Nepal.
Population Health Initiative: Mobile/Digital Health Networking Event
Population Health Initiative
Mobile/Digital Health Networking Event
Mobile and digital technologies hold great promise for enabling innovative research that is relevant to population health. The Population Health Initiative is therefore hosting a networking event for researchers who have an interest in using or developing mobile and digital technologies to solve pressing problems in health that are influenced by medical, environmental, educational and socioeconomic factors.
You will take part in a facilitated conversation with University of Washington researchers across various disciplines. The goal of the meeting will be to help you find new collaborators, either to enrich an ongoing research project or to develop new avenues of research.
Investigators who have experience in developing mobile and digital technologies as well as those who wish to explore the use of these technologies in their research are welcome to attend.
Date: Thursday, November 9
Time: 1:00-2:30 PM
Location: Suzzallo Library (Smith Room, 3rd floor, Room 324)
Attendance is free, but seating is limited. Please RSVP through the link below if you wish to attend.
MAGH Speaker Series: The Trouble with Circles – Monrovia’s Ebola Quarantine and the Future of Armed Humanitarianism
“The Trouble with Circles: Monrovia’s Ebola Quarantine and the Future of Armed Humanitarianism”
Daniel J. Hoffman, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Washington
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
3:30-4:50 PM
Kane Hall, Room 110
Abstract: In August 2014, at the height of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Liberian health and security forces instituted an emergency armed quarantine around West Point, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. When West Point residents protested, security forces fought back, killing one person and injuring many others. West Point is an extreme case. But events leading up to the quarantine, and the lessons being drawn from it, point toward a troubling future in which the line between humanitarian intervention and urban warfare is further eroded.
Daniel J. Hoffman is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Washington. His research has focused on the ways young men participate in various networks that offer them work, such as in resource extraction industries or on the battlefield. In his work and teaching, Hoffman uses visual anthropology and literary ethnography to debunk stereotypical representations of violence in West Africa. Hoffman’s work has been published in Cultural Anthropology, Anthropological Quarterly, and African Affairs, among many other journals. In 2011, Duke University Press published his book “The War Machines: Young Men and Violence in Sierra Leone and Liberia.” His second book, “Monrovia Modern: Urban Form and Political Imagination in Monrovia” (Duke University Press), is scheduled for publication in November 2017.
Next speaker: 8 November– Julius Doyle – PhD Candidate, University of Washington
“Dissertation Research: The Health Effects of Resilience among Black American Men in Metropolitan Seattle”
For more information about the MAGH Seminar Series, please contact coordinator Marieke van Eijk (mariev2@uw.edu)