In 2015, with a research portfolio focused on environmental sociology, science and technology studies, and social networks, newly minted sociology PhD Joe Astorino began working with a local nonprofit on community needs assistance. Today, he’s postdoctoral scientist at George Washington University. Learn about his journey:
When given cash with no strings attached, low- and middle-income parents increased their spending on their children, according to research led by WSU sociologist Mariana Amorim. The study, published in the journal Social Forces, also found that the additional funding had little impact on
Helping to bridge divides of understanding within communities is at the heart of four free, public presentations by Washington State University professors to be hosted online in October. Sociologist Jennifer Sherman will present “Diamonds in the Rough: The Gentrification of Rural Washington” and philosopher Michael Goldsby will present “Why Deny Science.”
Washington State University will soon be preparing graduate students to tackle a difficult, interdisciplinary problem that is more than 1,200 miles long: the Columbia River. With the support of a $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation, WSU will develop a research training program focused on the relationships among rivers, watersheds, and communities. The […]
Meet the college’s newest faculty, whose scholarly expertise and interests—from transnational geographies to transgender studies, culturally relevant music to immigration law, and mind and body awareness to fluids in the Earth’s crust—enrich and expand the arts and sciences at WSU.
Sociology professor Jennifer Sherman studies rural jails in eastern Washington. Together with fellow WSU sociologists Jennifer Schwartz and Clay Mosher, she investigates why rural jail populations are on the rise despite declines in urban and suburban jails. “Our research began before the pandemic hit, so we did our best to adapt and used COVID as […]
An expert in work organizations and workplace diversity, Professor Julie Kmec will serve as chair of the Department of Sociology at Washington State University, effective August 15, 2021.
Even before COVID-19 prompted thousands of city-dwellers to seek new lifestyles in the country, sociology professor Jennifer Sherman had been researching and writing about a remote place she calls “Paradise Valley,” where efforts to revitalize the local economy with an influx of restaurants, cafes, hotels, and souvenir shops dramatically changed the community. Her new book, […]
Early efforts in cannabis research at WSU have now grown into a full, multi-disciplinary research center with nearly 100 scientists working on a diverse range of cannabis-related projects. More than a dozen CAS faculty across chemistry, sociology, psychology, criminal justice, and political science are affiliated with the newly christened Center for Cannabis Policy, Research and […]
In the United States, the subculture of precariat van-dwellers and car-based nomads remains largely under the radar. “It sounds like the Dust Bowl all over again,” says Jennifer Sherman, WSU associate professor of sociology. “People are escaping places they can’t afford only to be exploited by some new sector in a new place and then, […]