The Ohio State University Department of Sociology
2026 Newsletter
2026 Newsletter
In this issue
Welcome from the Chair
It is hard to believe that another academic year has come and gone. 2025-2026 will be one remembered for a great deal of change. Among other things, we…
By the Numbers
Ranked #11 in the world, $50M+ in research funding, 900+ undergraduate majors — the department at a glance… #11in the World — Shanghai Global Rankings#18 Nationally — U.S. News GraduateTop…
An Introduction to this Year's Research
From stadiums to neighborhoods, from who gets ahead to who lives and who dies, our faculty study the forces shaping an uncertain world. An Introduction to this Year's Research:In a world that…
How Sports Shape Society
Two dozen articles, one landmark survey, and the data behind the country’s loudest sports arguments. Professor Chris Knoester leads the National Sports and…
Advances in Analyzing the Complexities of Community and Social Ties
Smartphones, GPS traces, stress biomarkers, and 1,405 Columbus teenagers across six waves of data – a study that is transforming how social science measures neighborhoods…
Who Gets Ahead, Who Falls Behind, and Why
Why do some people get promoted while others get pushed out? Decades of research on workplace discrimination – and a 2027 presidency that recognizes it …
Why Aren’t Americans Having the Children They Want?
The public assumes young people stopped wanting kids. The data says they didn’t — they want about as many as ever. What changed isn’t desire… The U.S.…
After Disaster, What Happens to Addiction?
When a hurricane or wildfire levels a community, overdose deaths rise – and the most socially vulnerable are hit hardest. What decades of FEMA disaster data reveal…
How Might Workplaces Shape Important Health Outcomes?
1.8 million workers, 50,000 firms, and a paradox: why do Hispanic Americans often have better health despite lower incomes? The answer may be where you stand at work …
Our Research Ecosystem: Sociology Across Campus
One of the distinctive advantages of studying sociology at Ohio State is the network of interdisciplinary research centers connected to the department.Center for Aging Families (CAF)Funded by an…
New Faces and Faculty Updates
Three new scholars – in computational sociology, health and work, and the social determinants of health – and a promotion to Full Professor for a leading scholar of genocide …
The Lighter Side: Faculty Bookshelf
Rock aliens, a 1970s minicomputer, multigenerational Ohio, and first contact across the galaxy — what our faculty are reading when they’re off the clock… A few recommended reads from sociology…
Graduate Student Spotlight: Candice Crutchfield
What does prison do to families, communities, and the ties that hold them together? A doctoral candidate on incarceration, care, and the case for abolition…
Undergraduate Student Experiences
What students say sociology gave them, opportunities for global connection, and where our graduates go to work… Undergraduate Voices “Being a student in the Department of Sociology has…
2026 Graduates and Awards
New PhDs and master’s graduates heading to universities, government, and industry – and the students, staff, and faculty the department honored this spring…Recent Graduates (Summer 2025 – Spring 2026…