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Feminist classrooms employ a variety of teaching strategies that empower students and inspire equity and justice. In this paper, we argue that integrating student-made documentary filmmaking into the college classroom is a powerful and effective form of feminist teaching. Specifically, feminist pedagogy views students as knowledge creators and demands collaborative, non-hierarchical learning experiences. These outcomes suggest that documentary filmmaking is a compelling and effective way to engage students in our increasingly visual and video-based culture. Based on our experiences teaching sociology at a women's college in the U.S., we illustrate the impact that documentary filmmaking has for student learning, empowerment, and justice work. We also develop and strengthen students' technical, multi-media skills, arguing this outcome expands feminist pedagogy to meet contemporary culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 26 April 2007, US sportswriter Mike Penner told readershewas transsexual and thathewould return to the paper as Christine Daniels. Journalists immediately analysed and assessed this column. Three months later, Daniels' first byline appeared assheassumedherformer beats. Yet, after eight months in the spotlight, Daniels faded from view and, without explanation, Penner's name returned. Although the paper did not offer details on Penner's return,hisre-emergence proved newsworthy. While the byline appeared consistently, Penner rarely appeared in public. On 27 November 2009,hecommitted suicide. By interrogating the fragmented coverage of Penner/Daniels in these three periods of his/her life – transition, (re/de)transition and suicide – this paper argues that the media selectively framed Penner/Daniels's gender identity and used gender pronouns purposefully to create specific meanings. Few described Penner/Daniels in entirety; as a result, the life was flattened into a one-dimensional category of gender advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of American architecture includes many examples of activists and reformers who sought to make the profession more inclusive, just, and socially engaged. This article provides a review of the academic literature discussing the efforts of such architects in order to identify historic trends in the study of activist architects in the United States—this paper's focus. After an initial period of growth and consolidation in the profession, contemporary forms of social engagement emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. Subsequent decades have seen many of these efforts continue, or be revived, alongside increased academic interest in these same efforts. The article then reviews three areas of sociological research pertinent to the scholarship on socially engaged design. These focus on institutional change within the profession, the "logics" that guide architectural work, and the relationship between the profession and the academy. This article explores these institutional perspectives for their potential to complement frameworks for analyzing dissent in design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although religion once played a central role in sociological inquiry, today it has fallen from prominence and now occupies a marginal space in the field. Sociologists of religion suggest that this neglect can be explained by the unusual irreligiosity of academia. However, some are hopeful that changes to graduate training and other institutional interventions can overcome this propensity and encourage more sociological engagement with religion, one of the most influential forces in contemporary society. Drawing on a new dataset of 473 sociology graduate students in the top 25 departments in the United States, we assess how personal secularity and departmental support for religious inquiry predict sociological engagement with religion. Personal secularity is a strong predictor of the decision to study religion and of the overall perception of the relevance of religion in contemporary society. Coming from a department where religion is discussed and faculty pursue research on religion predicts the perception of religion's relevance for the secular majority. Our findings contribute to the understanding of sociological knowledge creation and how individual and institutional proclivities – together – shape what we deem important enough to study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociology of the South, as a substantive area research interest, emerged during the 1800s as a means to rationalize and preserve the cultural norms of slavery era whites who would soon experience seismic social shocks including the Civil War and emancipation of enslaved blacks. The person singularly cited as the architect of this area of study is Howard W. Odum. Although Odum is identified as the person most responsible for the development of this field, archival data indicate that W. E. B. Du Bois and the men and women of the Atlanta Sociological Laboratory were its first practitioners. In this paper evidence is offered to show that Du Bois's Atlanta University efforts predated Odum's North Carolina research program. Additionally, an explanation for Du Bois's marginalization in the existing sociology of the South literature is offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite both scholarly and popular claims that citizen journalism (CJ) represents a growing democratizing force in the journalistic field, recent scholarship in the area has noted the decline of the organizational population of CJ. In this paper, we investigate how individual characteristics of sites and the dynamics of larger organizational population affect a CJ site’s risk of experiencing a mortality. Drawing on the largest sample to date of US-based English-language CJ sites, this study examines the risk of site mortality through an event history framework. Findings indicate that the strongest predictor of a site’s mortality is the age of the site, consistent with organizational population theory’s ‘liability of newness.’ We also find that for-profit and community-based sites have lower rates of site mortality, indicating that adopting legitimate conventions of journalism may serve as a protective buffer to site death. The results offer mixed evidence on whether CJ has become more professionalized via attrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals are claiming greater scope for choice in their racial identities. But how they are seen and classified by others is not necessarily changing in a similar way. Racial appraisals are the way that people classify the race of others, both particular individuals and larger groups. In this paper, I make a case for the study of racial appraisals as a field of sociological inquiry. I map out the different analytical levels and methodological approaches for this field and discuss how these can be used to understand observed race, norms of racial classification, and societal norms of the racial order. I present an example of how societal norms and logics of racial classification can be analysed in real time through survey research, using 2015-16 data on 866 White Americans’ reactions to Rachel Doležal’s racial identity claims. I present an agenda for studying changes in racial boundaries and classification norms through the longitudinal tracking of racial appraisals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As well as a site of politics and public health action, the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has been a focus of media representations. This paper examines print media narratives around border control in relation to Ebola in the UK, the USA and Australia from the start of the epidemic to May 2015. It shows that Ebola became mobilised as a frame through which domestic politics could be discussed. The disease was transformed from a problem for West Africa to a problem for the West. The context of West Africa and affected populations was homogenised and hidden. The focus of reporting centred upon domestic political actions and more local sources of threat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature has applied system-focused structures to understand the success of First Nations Peoples' nutrition and exercise group programmes. Existing system-focused measures have included biomedical outcomes, access and service utilization. By broadening the focus of programme success beyond the system, we can evaluate programmes from a First Nations Peoples' lifeworld perspective. Critical hermeneutics and yarning using a lens of Habermas' Theory of Communicative Action to the literature has the potential to transform understandings of "success" in First Nations Peoples' nutrition and exercise group programmes. In this literature interpretation, we explored the critical success factors from a lifeworld perspective, giving scope to go beyond a system perspective to include a cultural, social or personal perspective. Our yarning led us to understand that there is a communicative relationship between explicit system structures and implicit lifeworld concepts that are critical success factors for First Nations nutrition and exercise group programmes. We have developed a set of reflective questions to guide others in considering a lifeworld perspective. Our findings represent a shift away from success measured by the dominant power structure to respect the lifeworld culture, knowledges and values of First Nations Peoples towards shared understanding and mutual decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study examines the multilevel relationship between functional limitations and depressive symptoms among community-dwelling US older adults, and how it is moderated by community environmental characteristics (neighborhood fear, social cohesion, structural disadvantage and residential stability). Method: Data come from two waves of National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) collected in 2005/2006 and 2010/2011, consisting of 2,261 individuals aged 57–85 (mean = 68.5; SD = 7.5) nested in 100 regional areas. Two-level hierarchical linear models are fitted to test if and to what extent limited physical capacity and neighborhood measures are interactively related to depressive symptoms. Results: Adjusting for confounders (e.g. age, gender, education, employment status, social support), we find a significant positive relationship between functional limitations and depressive symptoms. At the aggregate level, socially cohesive neighborhoods are negatively related to depression. Several cross-level interactions are also observed. First, the association between poor functional health and depression is greater in neighborhoods perceived to be less safe. It is also stronger in places with more structural disadvantages. Lastly, the physical impairment-depression link is more pronounced where there is higher residential stability, i.e., greater proportion of long-term residents. Conclusion: Our study bridges an important empirical gap in the literature. Prior studies have rarely investigated how the connection between functional limitations and depressive symptoms among older adults is conditioned by neighborhood characteristics. By using multilevel analysis of population-based longitudinal data, we show that physical space (neighborhood community) plays a critical role in understanding this important, yet understudied, relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies, describes, and analyzes the most highly cited works in the urban sociology literature to investigate empirically the subfield's intellectual foundations, its future research directions, and its relationship to the broader discipline of sociology. The findings show that these landmark publications are more likely to be authored by United States based scholars, study cities in the United States, propose new concepts, and address the topic of racial inequality. They include works of classical sociology, traditional urban sociology, and new urban sociology. This study concludes that the Chicago School's legacy continues to shape contemporary urban sociology as the specialty expands in interdisciplinary directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the relationship between identity and activism and discusses implications for social movement persistence. We explain how individuals negotiate opportunities as parents to align and extend an activist identity with a movement's collective expectations. Specifically, we focus on how participants in the U.S. white power movement use parenting as a key role to express commitment to the movement, develop correspondence among competing and potentially conflicting identities, and ultimately sustain their activism. We suggest that parenting may provide unique opportunities for activists in many movements to align personal, social, and collective movement identities and simultaneously affirm their identities as parents and persist as social movement activists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategists and military professionals have previously questioned many of the methodological (theoretical underpinnings, the principles, and rules applied by the discipline) decisions associated with American military strategy, but the direction this essay takes is above and beyond the common methodological rivalries in how we pursue strategic desired future states. To get beyond methodological disputes entirely, we must consider thinking about our thinking as an organization on American strategy. Thus, this article hovers between philosophies, organizational theory, as well as our usually unquestioned belief in something called “strategy”. Questioning things about our basic understanding of the world tends to trigger strong organizational defense mechanisms, for good reason. Critical reflection at deep levels puts our worldview, and our role within it at stake. Nonetheless, as strategic disappointment emerges over multiple complex conflict developments, even the most cherished and guarded choices on how the world ought to work are ripe for critical inquiry. This essay examines the limited single strategic paradigm of the US defense industry and how the latest American National Security Strategy and Army Future Operating Concept (Win in a Complex World through 2030) presents a flawed strategic position. This essay presents valid alternative strategies that operate within different paradigmatic constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This essay takes a step towards establishing a more informed dialogue about race/class dynamics in structuring the life chances of blacks in contemporary America by revisiting William Wilson's declining significance of race thesis, the most important sociological theory that addresses this issue. Specifically, it explicates the thesis and critiques labour market analyses that purport to examine it. Too often mis-specifications of the parameters of the thesis and the absence of seriously engaging its historical and structural-level subtleties have produced erroneous interpretations including, most conspicuously, that Wilson denies any role to prejudice/discrimination in structuring life chances of blacks. I maintain that better capturing the parameters of Wilson's argument and engaging its subtleties is critical to moving forward in establishing an informed and more consensually held understanding of race/class dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the similarities and differences of the latest American and European security strategies under President Obama in order to make inferences about the degree of compatibility of their deep-seated and shared norms, beliefs and ideas regarding the means and ends of national security, and to better understand the normative continuity/discontinuity of those norms of the Obama vs. Bush administration. Building upon constructivist work on strategic cultures, the article concentrates on a qualitative analysis of elite security discourses and disaggregates them into their normative and ideational components. By studying strategic cultures empirically and comparatively, the study fills a known void in the literature on strategic cultures. It finds that American and European norms, beliefs and ideas about the means and ends of national security policy are compatible with regards to challenges and threats as well as preferred modes of international cooperation; they are incompatible with regards to commonly held beliefs about the international system and how to address threats, which is worry some politically. Moreover, the article finds that there is a continuity in the US security strategies from President Bush to Obama. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]