Stefanie Israel, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology, has been awarded a Social Science Research Council International Dissertation Research Fellowship to support her comparative ethnography of four “pacified” favelas in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Earlier this year, she was awarded a Fulbright Study-Research Grant for the same project. The funding will allow Israel to spend all of 2016 conducting research in Rio. She will observe urban reform efforts in favela communities at a key point in time: before, during, and after the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, which have been a focus of protests sweeping across Brazil.

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The Fulbright Exchange Program, National Science Foundation, and other national and international organizations have awarded postgraduate scholarships and fellowships to 13 members of the University of Notre Dame’s Class of 2012, 10 of whom are students in the College of Arts and Letters. Two Arts and Letters graduates of earlier classes also received prestigious fellowships and scholarships this year.

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The American Sociological Association has appointed three sociologists from the University of Notre Dame to serve as the next editors of the American Sociological Review, the association’s flagship journal. Associate Professor Omar Lizardo, Professor Rory McVeigh, and Professor Sarah Mustillo will begin their three-year term in January 2016.

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While recent research shows that Americans’ attitudes are converging on a broad range of social issues, the political gap between political party adherents is growing wider, said Rory McVeigh, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology at Notre Dame. “Democrats and Republicans have become increasingly cohesive in terms of their views on many issues, leaving very little room for compromise and collaboration across party lines,” he said. “As a result, we see gridlock in Washington during a time when the nation faces serious problems that need to be resolved.”

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Eleven Notre Dame graduate students—including three from the University’s Department of Sociology—have been awarded graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the 2014-15 academic year. Katie Condit, Danielle Fulmer, and Nicole Perez were among this year’s winners. 

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Stefanie Israel, a Ph.D. student in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology and Ph.D. fellow in the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, has been awarded a nine-month Fulbright Study-Research Grant. The prestigious funding, to begin in March 2016, will allow her to complete dissertation research in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she is conducting a comparative ethnography of four “pacified” favelas.

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Most people are familiar with the “trophy wife” stereotype that attractive women marry rich men, placing little importance on their other traits, including physical appearance, and that men look for pretty wives but don’t care about their education or earnings. New research, however, by University of Notre Dame sociologist Elizabeth McClintock shows the trophy wife stereotype is largely a myth fueled by selective observation that reinforces sexist stereotypes and trivializes women’s careers.

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Kellogg PhD Fellow Stefanie Israel (sociology) reports from Rio de Janeiro where she is conducting pre-dissertation field research on slum “pacification” with an Institute graduate research grant.

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The notion of generosity, and the ways in which we deal generously—or not—with our friends, family and communities—is the heart of the book, The Paradox of Generosity by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson, which is based on empirical data collected during five years of research as part of the Science of Generosity Initiative. The research draws on a survey of 2,000 Americans, 60 in-depth interviews with individuals across 12 states, and more than 1,000 photographs and other visual materials. The conclusion Christian Smith, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology, draws is that there’s a direct correlation with happiness and generosity. “The more generous Americans are, the more happiness, health and purpose in life they enjoy,” he says.

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“The capacity to project into the future is an essential component of our agency as human beings. It’s in our imaginations, yet it has a real impact upon what we do. It draws us forward in different ways,” said Ann Mische, an associate professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology and the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

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Joan Aldous, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology Emerita at the University of Notre Dame, died Wednesday, October 29, in the Kindred Transitional Care and Rehabilitation Center in South Bend, Indiana. She was 88 years old. Aldous joined the Notre Dame sociology faculty as the first female holder of an endowed professorship at a time when there were few women on the faculty. From 1976 until her retirement in 2012, she taught, studied, and wrote about family sociology, family policy, gender, work and families, and intergenerational relationships.

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Eleven Notre Dame graduate students—including four from the University’s College of Arts and Letters—have been awarded graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the 2014-15 academic year. Katie Condit, Danielle Fulmer, and Nicole Perez from the Department of Sociology and Charlotte Cunningham from the Department of Psychology were among this year’s winners.

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Two students from Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters—Bright Gyamfi and Ray’Von Jones—have been awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad. The Gilman Scholarship is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The nationally competitive award aims to diversify the kinds of students who study and intern abroad and the countries and regions where they go.

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Twelve University of Notre Dame researchers, students from the Graduate School and the College of Arts and Letters, have been selected by the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID’s) brand-new Research and Innovation Fellowship Program. They will travel to Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa to research global development challenges and create innovative solutions to address these issues.

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The American Sociological Association has appointed three sociologists from the University of Notre Dame to serve as the next editors of the American Sociological Review, the association’s flagship journal. Associate Professor Omar Lizardo, Professor Rory McVeigh, and Professor Sarah Mustillo will begin their three-year term in January 2016.

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Two recent faculty hires in Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters are generating excitement, even outside the University. David Gibson, associate professor of sociology, and Ann Mische, associate professor of sociology and peace studies, joined the faculty in the fall of 2013. Professor Rory McVeigh, chair of the Department of Sociology, says,  “I can’t tell you how many people—outside of Notre Dame—have said something along the lines of, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize David Gibson was on your faculty,’ or ‘Wow! When did Ann Mische come to Notre Dame?’

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What would make a patient withhold information from his or her doctor? How do class, race, and ethnicity affect the quality of health care a patient receives? What social factors help determine the illnesses we contract and the best treatment plan for them? A growing number of Notre Dame students who pursue a career in medicine are finding the answers to these questions through a combination of sociology and Arts and Letters Pre-Health coursework.

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Sociologist Sarah Mustillo ’96 combines real-world experience and statistical expertise to explore the social origins of child mental health issues. This fall she returned to Notre Dame’s College of Arts and Letters to continue her innovative research as a professor in the Department of Sociology.

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Meredith Whitnah took the first step along her journey to becoming a University of Notre Dame doctoral candidate in sociology when she was just 10 years old. “I borrowed a copy of Cry, the Beloved Country my sister was reading for a class,” Whitnah recalls.

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The University of Notre Dame’s Center for Research on Educational Opportunity (CREO) has been designated an “international research network” by the World Education Research Association (WERA). This recognition of CREO’s leadership in the sociology of education will open new doors for international scholarly collaborations in research on educational inequality.

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