American Sociological Association

10/22/2026

Parents are investing more financially in their children’s futures than ever. ASA member Orestes P. Hastings (Colorado State University) discusses their research on how the spending gap between high- and low-income families continues to widen and how financial investments in children are becoming an increasingly important factor in perpetuating inequality.

A new study shows that inequality gap in spending on children has widened dramatically over the last few decades.

10/22/2026

Joya Misra (University of Massachusetts-Amherst) received the Jessie Bernard Award at the ASA 2026 Annual Meeting.

10/22/2026

Get more attention for your sociology professional development opportunities! If you’re a member of ASA or part of a Section or Community, the ASA Calendar is a place to highlight your upcoming events. Visit asanet.org/calendar for guidelines.

10/21/2026

Help break financial barriers and open doors! Donate to the ASA Student Travel Fund to guarantee access for emerging sociologists to professional development opportunities at the ASA 2027 Annual Meeting. Give now to make the most of your generosity: www.asanet.org/donate.

10/21/2026

Do you know a sociologist whose contributions have made a significant impact on how sociology is taught at a regional, state, national, or international level? Nominate them for the ASA Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award!

Honoring ASA members’ outstanding contributions to the teaching of undergraduate and/or graduate sociology, the ASA Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award is typically given for a series of contributions spanning years or an entire career, although it may recognize a single project of exceptional impact.

Contributions considered may include preparation of teaching- and curriculum-related materials and publications, participation in the scholarship of teaching and learning, development and communication of innovative teaching techniques, leadership in teaching-related workshops or symposia, and/or involvement in innovative program development.

Nominations are due January 1, 2026. For more details, visit: https://bit.ly/ASATeachingAward.

10/21/2026

ASA member Mary E. Pattillo (Northwestern University) comments on her work with the Northwestern Prison Education Program. The program began in 2018 in select prisons in Illinois. Northwestern staff teach topics ranging from philosophy to theatre to audio journalism to small cohorts of students culminating in the achievement of a Northwestern undergraduate degree. Included in the recently graduated cohort was the first group of incarcerated women to receive a degree from a Top 10 University. The first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, delivered the commencement address.

Garza is a member of the first cohort of women at the Northwestern Prison Education Program, also known as NPEP. She got released in June of 2021, only a

10/21/2026

One week left to enjoy accessible sociology in ASA’s Contexts Magazine for free! This issue includes the photo essays Marketing Cannabis in Thailand by Ronald Weitzer (George Washington University, retired) and Paid in Exposure at New York Fashion Week by Jillian Sunderland (University of Toronto). It features research briefs; sections on culture, policy, books, and more; and the following articles:

- "President Trump’s Masculine Memes" by Tristan Bridges (University of California-Santa Barbara) and James W. Messerschmidt (University of Maine, retired)

- "How Norms of Inheritance Reinforce Sibling Disparity" by Nazli Kibria and Catherine Rosa (Boston University)

- "Mechanizing Welfare Work" by Josh Seim (Boston College)

- "How Biology Textbooks Reflect Gender Inequality and Myth" by stef m. shuster and Shahnaz Masani (Michigan State University) and Nicole Wonderlin (University of Texas at Austin)

The entire issue is free to read until Oct. 28! http://bit.ly/ASAContexts

10/21/2026

In his new book, Unions, Race, and Popular Democracy (Cornell University Press), ASA member Kim Scipes (Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Purdue University Northwest) dives deep into the historical intricacies of labor organizing, focusing on the struggles against white supremacy and racism in the workplace, union, and respective communities in and around Chicago, including Northwest Indiana. By detailing how previous labor activists dealt with these issues, Scipes offers valuable insights for labor activism during our contemporary moment, aids efforts to reignite movement determination, works to advance the well-being of workers overall, and supports the positive social change efforts worldwide.

In Unions, Race, and Popular Democracy, Kim Scipes dives deep into the historical intricacies of labor organizing, focusing on the struggles against white supremacy and racism in the workplace, union,...

10/20/2026

Drawing on their experiences as scholars and mentees for their new book, The Heart of Mentorship: Building Empowering Relationships in the Academy (New York University Press 2026), sociologists Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo (University of Southern California), Emir Estrada (Arizona State University), Veronica Montes (Bryn Mawr College), and Fatima Suarez (University of Nevada-Las Vegas) offer a different way of thinking about the relationships between faculty members and the students they mentor. In this Forbes profile, the authors discuss a mentorship approach that recognizes students as whole people with families, responsibilities, aspirations, and knowledge that extend well beyond the university.

In The Heart of Mentorship, the authors examine how faculty mentors can empower graduate students and early-career scholars.

10/20/2026

What are the factors shaping how, when, and where we work, and what might they mean for workers, families, and communities? Join ASA Past President Adia Harvey Wingfield (Washington University in St. Louis) and fellow panelists Anna Branch (Rutgers Global Health Institute), and Juliet Shor and Wen Fan (both of Boston College) for a conversation on topics such as the rise of remote and hybrid work, the growth of the gig economy, automation and artificial intelligence in the workplace, and emerging movements such as the 4-day work week. This public webinar is open to all and will take place on Thursday, December 3, 2026. Closed captioning available. Register here: https://bit.ly/4dEyhk9.