Recent News
Early in the pandemic, the lives of students and teachers alike were altered in previously unimaginable ways. We went into ‘lockdown,’ courses became remote, and we had to rely on Zoom to meet and hold classes. Rather than just recycling pre-pandemic material in a new format, several Sociology department instructors went beyond switching to online teaching: they transformed their courses so... Read more
Patricia Louie joined us this summer as a new Assistant Professor of Sociology. Pat received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Toronto, where she specialized in the study of health disparities. Just before she arrived in Seattle, Pat was quoted in The Washington Post... Read more
Professor Steve Pfaff published an op-ed in The Washington Post on September 11 that details the results of his recent audit study about religious discrimination in US public schools.
Pfaff's research was designed to measure whether... Read more
Graduate student Ian Kennedy has published a paper in Social Forces that takes a closer look at how rental ads may contribute to continuing Seattle's long history of residential segregation. The study was co-authored by alum Chris Hess (PhD 2019), Amandalynne Paullada and Sarah Chasins.... Read more
John Leverso’s path to a PhD in Sociology is not a typical one: a young man who grew up in Chicago, he was incarcerated from 2001 - 2012. While serving his sentence John earned his GED, and then began taking classes through a local community college with the long-term goal of earning a bachelor’s degree. John wrote his application to the University of Illinois at Chicago on a prison typewriter.... Read more
Dr. Elizabeth Litzler was recently awarded the WEPAN (Women in Engineering ProActive Network) Founders Award. The ward, named for the three founders of WEPAN, Inc., recognizes her extraordinary long-term service to the organization while in her role as Affiliate Assistant Professor in Sociology and Director of the UW Center... Read more
Professor Sarah Quinn's book, American Bonds How Credit Markets Shaped a Nation, has been recognized with the Viviana Zelizer Award for Best Book in Economic Sociology and the Alice Amsden Best Book Award from the Society of Socio-Economics. American Bonds also received... Read more
Michele Cadigan, a PhD candidate of Sociology, has received a Horowitz Foundation Grant for her dissertation, Cannabis-Infused Dreams: A Market at the Crossroads between Criminal and Conventional, which draws on worker surveys, ethnographic field work, administrative data, and interviews to understand how racial... Read more
Daniel Karell has left his post as Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University Abu Dhabi to join Yale University as an Assistant Professor of Sociology. Previously, he was a Fung Global Fellow at Princeton University’s Institute for International and Regional Studies and a postdoctoral research associate at New York University Abu Dhabi. He received his PhD in... Read more
Companies, organizations and institutions are issuing public statements as anti-racism protests and calls for criminal justice reform continue across the nation. The CEOs, presidents and commissioners of clothing brands, grocery store chains, universities, sports teams and more know they can't stay silent while millions of Americans march against systemic racism, police brutality and a white... Read more