Colloquia

Join Dr. Barbara Combs for a discussion on how her Bodies Out of Place (BOP) Theory helps dismantle racism. Racism is complex. In some ways, it is also contradictory. There are structural and historical components of racialized oppression that remain largely unseen to the eye. This is not because they do not exist, but because the racialized social order is so inextricably woven into the fabric of society that it renders it nearly imperceptible…

Join us for a discussion of W.E.B. Du Bois' theory of double consciousness and social psychological work on identity as well as the experiences of Black STEM students.  The purpose of the study is to understand how social network factors within organizations shape how Black STEM students use identity management strategies to cope with experiences of racialization with Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs) and how these…

As a part of our annual tradition, we will view the documentary "Below Baldwin: How an Expansion Project Unearthed a University's Legacy of Slavery". Following the film, there will be a discussion with community organizer Imani Scott Blackwell led by Dr. Vanessa Gonlin. On November 17, 2015, construction on Baldwin Hall on the University of Georgia campus came to a halt when workers uncovered human remains on the site. DNA tests revealed what…

During the last weeks, Germany is discussing the first elected right-wing district administrator in Sonneberg in Thuringia. Numerous right-wing-populist and right-wing extremist parties in Europe are celebrating electoral successes. The lecture will first give an overview of current developments, election campaigns and results. Secondly, changes in the European Public sphere, above all effects of digitalization and therewith interwoven…

In this talk, Dr. Acosta explores the strategies that mixed-race (and racially minoritized) stepfamilies led by lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer parents use to make themselves intelligible as family to others. Based on interview data with parents from more than 40 families before and after the SCOTUS Obergefell ruling, Dr. Acosta highlights how these families’ strategies vary not only based on their racial composition, but also on the…

Black professionals frequently encounter competency microaggressions in the workplace, characterized by comments and behaviors that suggest low expectations of their abilities, casting doubt on their qualifications, or eliciting surprise when they demonstrate competence. While existing research has documented the prevalence of workplace racial microaggressions, coping strategies, and their effects on job satisfaction, there is a dearth of…

Join us for an Active Learning Workshop that is tailored to the Department of Sociology's specific needs. While intended for Sociology faculty and graduate students, all who teach or are planning on teaching in the future would benefit from participating. This workshop will be led by Dr. Ching-Yu Huang who, as Associate Director for Active Learning Initiatives, oversees development and implementation of active learning instructional development…

This talk will highlight and discuss the importance of intersectionality when examining racism at a HPWI (historically, predominately white institution). Black undergraduate women experience both racism and sexism simultaneously, or what Black feminists call gendered racism. HPWI’s are white-centric spaces but are also sites for patriarchy and male domination. Higher education scholars and race scholars must shift the discourse intersectionality…

In February, 2020, when COVID-19 infections had started to spread globally, the World Health Organization warned against an accompanying “massive infodemic.” In the months that followed misinformation and conspiracies regarding COVID spread like wildfire and critically impacted healthcare provision all across the world. These misinformation and conspiracies also led to widespread calls to urgently tackle the growing anti-science attitudes and,…

Young Americans expect to form egalitarian partnerships in which both partners work for pay and perform unpaid housework and childcare. Yet, working couples’ realities often deviate from this ideal, with women trading off paid work to take on unpaid family care. Will contemporary young professionals in different-gender relationships repeat this pattern, or will they follow different trajectories as they launch and build careers, maintain…