This will be my second, and probably final, message as interim department chair. I want to thank the alums who have contacted us with life updates and how sociology and criminology were more than just a bunch of courses they took in college. We will be highlighting your compelling stories in future newsletters as models for current students. Keep sending in your stories!

Those current students, by the way, continue to impress us with their curiosity, resilience and relentless commitment to making the best of our (almost) post-pandemic world. This coming August and November, respectively, the American Sociological Association and American Society of Criminology will be holding their annual conferences in Philadelphia. Students, please let your professors know if you would like to attend the meetings and get a taste of cutting-edge research. Our treat. There might even be opportunities for you to present your own research along with undergraduates from other schools. Alumni, don’t forget to reconnect with our faculty who will have a presence at both conferences.

Best,

Professor and Interim Chair

Rory Kramer, PhD, Brianna Remster, PhD, and research associate Denise Wilson created 32 counterfactual adjusted datasets that show what the population could have looked like if a state had abolished prison gerrymandering. Using data on sentencing county and the demographics of incarcerated individuals, they were able to estimate the impact of prison gerrymandering in those states that did not abolish it in the 2021 redistricting cycle. More information on prison gerrymandering and the data are available at Redistricting Data Hub.

Rory Kramer, PhD, along with coauthors Camille Z. Charles, PhD, Douglas S. Massey, PhD, and Kimberly C. Torres, PhD, published a book titled Young, Gifted and Diverse: Origins of the New Black Elite.

Jill McCorkel, PhD, was recently named co-chair of the 2023 American Society of Criminology Annual Meetings to be held November 15th – 18th in Philadelphia.

Allison Payne, PhD, and Kelly Welch, PhD, published a chapter titled “Transforming school climate and student discipline: The restorative justice promise for peace” in Restorative Justice: Promoting Peace and Wellbeing edited by Theo Gavrielides and Gabriel Velez.