Interactions - fall 2020

Department of Sociology and Criminology

Interactions

Greetings! I am pleased and honored to introduce myself as chair following Dr. DeFina’s eight years of dedicated service. I previously served as chair from 2001-2012 and look forward to leading the department during this challenging and unusual time. My colleagues and I are hopeful that our students are adjusting to a new environment, both socially and academically. This can be a stressful time and I encourage students to communicate regularly with their professors.

I am also delighted to announce that Dr. Welch is now program director of the criminology program. She is a strong supporter of service learning courses and has taken several student teams to participate in intercollegiate criminal justice debates. I am confident she will serve students well.

We hope that you enjoy this edition of the newsletter. Structured inequality and institutionalized discrimination are central themes in Sociology and Criminology. Much of the content in this newsletter reflects these themes and the work that our faculty, students, and alumni have done in these areas.

Best,

Thomas Arvanites, PhD

Associate Professor and Chairperson

Department of Sociology and Criminology

Student Spotlights

Meagan Murray ’20 CLAS, who graduated with a major in Sociology, is actively involved in advocating for the commutation of Sylvia Boykin. She began working with Sylvia’s case while taking Jill McCorkel’s, PhD, Sociology of Law (SOC 3300) course in the fall of 2019. She discusses some of the issues surrounding the case and where you can go to support Sylvia’s fight for justice. Read more.

Mathematics major Alex Gustafson ’21 CLAS, recently co-published an article with Lance Hannon, PhD, titled “Out-of-Place and In-Place Policing: An Examination of Traffic Stops in Racially Segregated Philadelphia” in Crime & Delinquency. Alex discusses how he became involved in the research and provides a brief overview. Read more.

2020 Student Award Winners

Isabella Carrano '20 CLAS

Lailany Viera '20 CLAS

Meagan Murray '20 CLAS

Congratulations to our student award winners! The medallion of excellence award winners are Meagan Murray (sociology) and Lailany Viera (criminology). The McGarry award winners are Meagan Murray (sociology) and Isabella Carrano (sociology).

View previous award winners on our Awards page.

Faculty Highlights

Faculty Awards and Promotions

Kelly Welch, PhD, was promoted to full professor.

Melissa Hodges, PhD, was granted tenure. Dr. Hodges has also been appointed the Programming Director for Gender and Women's Studies.

Faculty in the Media

Brianna Remster, PhD, was interviewed by Undark, a nonprofit, editorially independent digital magazine exploring the intersection of science and society. She discussed how quantitative research can show inequalities in criminal justice experiences. The interview appeared on their website on June 19th. Read more.

Kelly Welch, PhD, was featured on a BBC World News Radio episode of Newsday on June 8, 2020. Dr. Welch discusses the idea of defunding the police in the context of racial justice and the need for structural changes in policing at all levels. Tune into the interview with Dr. Welch at marker 27:06 of the episode. Read more.

Jill McCorkel, PhD, published an article titled “Police Officers Accused of Brutal Violence often have a History of Complaints by Citizens” in The Conversation on May 31st. The article ran in over 600 news outlets including Business Insider and Market Watch. Read more.

Alumni Resources

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