Wisconsin Update - Wisconsin Alumni Association

Welcome Newspolitical institutions, Gerber, applyingstate-of-the-art quantitative techniquesto survey data that he generated(with the assistance of major grants),leads the field in analyzing how thesechanges affected patterns of inequalityand the structure of labor markets.On top of these university awards, wetake pride in the wider professionalrecognition our faculty membersreceive. This year, at the annualmeetings of the American SociologicalAssociation, the Social PsychologySection presented Professor EmeritaJane Piliavin with the Cooley-Meadaward. This honor is bestowed annuallyto an individual who has madelifetime contributions to distinguishedscholarship in sociological socialpsychology. In addition to receivingthe award, the recipient addressesthe Social Psychology section atthe annual American SociologicalAssociation meetings. Jane, introducedby her former student Peter Calleroof Western Oregon University, gavea wonderful presentation at theAugust 2008 convention in Boston.Her presentation will be publishedas the lead article in an upcomingissue of Social Psychology Quarterly(along with Peter’s introduction).Additionally, Cora Marrett, currentlyon leave from our department to beAssistant Director for Education andHuman Resources at the NationalScience Foundation, is the recipientof the Cox-Johnson-Frazier award,for a lifetime of research, teaching,and service to the community in thetradition of these namesakes. Corautterly exemplifies this tradition. Asan accomplished teacher, researcher,administrator and program officer,Cora has been praised as anexceptionally powerful advocate forinclusion. She was recognized at theAwards Ceremony and PresidentialAddress at the Boston ASA meetings.All of these awards are highlycompetitive but, beyond thewell-deserved individual honors,indicate our overall excellence as adepartment. Yes, like the famouschildren denizens of Lake Wobegon,we are regarded — or at least regardourselves — as “all above average.”Excellence is cause for celebrationand, depending on the season,we had many this year, including a“bookwarming” party in Decemberwhen those who had publishedmonographs or edited volumes in thepast three years spoke briefly abouttheir books and then were feted withgood food and drink. There were 14books represented! You’ll find theircovers throughout this publication.A very special celebration was the 7thannual William H. Sewell MemorialLecture. When Bill Sewell (our formerchair and chancellor) passed awayin June 2001, he left us a legacy ofscholarly integrity and distinction.To honor his memory, we hold anannual lecture to demonstrate that thestandards Sewell established for ourdepartment remain intact and vibrant.A recently tenured faculty memberis asked to deliver the lecture andthis year that person was AssociateProfessor Giovanna Merli. Her talkwas entitled “Epidemiology, SocialSciences and the Spread of HIV/AIDSin China.” Merli’s Sewell lecture wasa most interesting and provocativeone, well attended and well received,after which there was a receptionfor informal appreciation. Merli,not incidentally, served as AssociateChair this past year, suggesting thatshe is a talented administrator aswell as scholar. She received a PhDin Demography from the Universityof Pennsylvania and, in addition tobeing a member of our faculty, isan affiliate with both the Centerfor Demography and Ecology andthe Center for East Asian Studies.Merli’s interests have centered on thedemography of China and SoutheastAsia, fertility and population policiesin Asia, and the global impact ofHIV/AIDS. Throughout her career,supported by major grants, Merli hasbeen involved in original quantitativeand qualitative data collectionefforts in international settings. Herearlier efforts yielded a series ofprominent articles published in majordemography and China studiesjournals, and her current effortsinvolving recent and forthcomingtrips to China are likely to leadto even more important researchcontributions along the lines that thetitle of her Sewell lecture highlights.Mentioning these award winners,our book publishing record, and ourcelebrations (including the Sewelllecture) should not detract from thewidespread achievements among ourmany faculty members at every level(assistant, associate, full professor)in research, teaching and service. Infact, one reason this department hashad its successes over the years isits strong orientation to the qualityand importance of the departmentas a whole. Dating famously fromthe early-Sewell era, and upheld bymany key figures subsequently, wehave developed a unique and strongculture that accords deep respect toour collectivity and the “commons” itsustains and by which it is sustained.As mentioned earlier, crucial partsof our collectivity include membersof the technical and administrativestaff, who form the indispensablesubstrate in particular ways for allthat we do. As you read furtherin this Update about new faces,accomplishments and transitions,we hope you keep the good of thecollectivity in mind, just as we do.— Doug MaynardConway-Bascom Professor and ChairWe are very happy to report that two new facultymembers will join our department in fall 2008.Marcia Carlson comes as an associate professorand Chaeyoon Lim joins the ranks of ouroutstanding assistant professors.Marcia Carlson received her PhDin sociology and demography fromthe University of Michigan in 1999,completed a postdoctoral fellowshipat Princeton University (Center forResearch on Child Well-being) from1999 to 2001 and, before comingto Wisconsin, was an AssociateProfessor of Social Work and Sociologyat Columbia University. Carlson’sprimary research interests center onthe links between family contextsand the well-being of children andparents. Her most recent work isfocused on fathers, the determinantsand consequences of father-childrelationships and the union contextsin which they develop, and on coparenting,union formation and couplerelationship quality among unmarriedparents. Her research agenda holdsgreat social significance. Her interestsin social policy issues predate hergraduate school research, with threePhDs and Placement 2007–2008years of work in Washington, D.C.,where she held congressional andagency staff positions. Her numerouspublished articles, book chapters andpolicy reports feature a consistentattention to policy issues and an abilityto communicate her work effectivelyto policy as well as scholarly audiences.Carlson’s research provides furtherstrength to scholarship on familydemography, especially family structureand processes in industrializedsocieties (a historical area of strengthin our department and one of theresearch trademarks of the Center forDemography and Ecology, which she isalso joining).Chaeyoon Lim received a PhD insociology from Harvard in 2007,followed by a postdoctoral fellowshipat the Saguaro Seminar at the KennedySchool of Government, HarvardUniversity. His research concerningShelley J. Boulianne — “Connecting, Informing, and MobilizingYouth and the Advantaged: The Role of the Internet inPolitical Engagement.” Pamela Oliver, Major Professor. On theJob Market.Gilbert Brenes — “The Effect of Early Life Events on the Burdenof Diabetes Mellitus among Costa Rican Elderly: Estimatesand Projections.” Alberto Palloni, Major Professor. AssistantProfessor, Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose.Paul E. Lachelier — “Democracy, Individualism, and theCivil-Civic Citizen: Young Americans Talk about Community,Politics, and Citizenship.” Nina Eliasoph, Major Professor.Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology & Anthropology,Stetson University, Deland, Florida.interpersonal influence on politicalbehavior combines interests inpolitical sociology, social networks,social and organizational foundationsof democratic citizenship, andquantitative methods. Lim’s dissertationis a remarkable combination of clearlyelaborated theoretical questions andinnovative statistical analyses. Heexamines how people’s decisions toparticipate in political activities areinfluenced by their social contacts.Through the application of newor newly reappraised statisticalestimators, he artfully seeks to gaugethe causal effect of social networksand to shed light on its underlyingmechanisms. Lim’s current workfocuses on the effects of religioussocial networks on various civic andpolitical outcomes. He recently beganwork on a new project comparingthe relationship between formaleducation and democratic citizenshipin various countries, wherein he tries tounderstand whether formal educationmakes people better citizens. He willfind himself at home at Wisconsin,among its inspiring crowd of politicalsociologists, social movements andsocial networks scholars.Carolina Milesi Carmona — “Different Paths, DifferentDestinations: A Life Course Perspective on Educational Transitions.”Adam Gamoran, Major Professor. Postdoctoral Fellow,The Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy, Universityof Chicago.Jesse J. Norris — “Searching for Synergy: Governance,Welfare, and Law in Two EU Member States.” Jonathan Zeitlin,Major Professor. Jesse is pursuing a law degree atUW-Madison.2 Fall 2008 | www.ssc.wisc.edu/soc 3