2018 CUSS Awards
Congratulations to the 2018 CUSS awards recipients. The awards will be presented at the CUSS Business Meeting on Tuesday, August 14, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Level 100, 107AB, 11:30 am-12:10 pm.
Monthly Archives: August 2018
Chair’s Message
Miriam Greenberg
UC Santa Cruz
CUSS Newsletter, Summer 2018, Vol 30, No 3
I am excited to see many of you in Philadelphia at our upcoming CUSS panels, business meeting, reception and related sessions and events. Given the fraught state of our nation, its cities and communities, I find myself thinking more and more that the work we in CUSS do —as researchers and writers, teachers and mentors, citizens of academic departments and sections, and publicly engaged scholars— has never been more vital. Core CUSS concerns intersect with and illuminate so many of the most contested issues of the day: immigration and citizenship, race and socio-spatial inequality, culture and representation, urbanization and the environment, social movements and the right to city. Through our conversations about this work at our panels, gatherings, and mentorship meetings, we elevate modes of discourse—critical inquiry, collective support, and engaging across difference—that seem increasingly anathema to those in power, here and around the world. And where better than the City of Brotherly Love to come together and have these conversations; collectively interrogate our current conjuncture, its history and possible futures; and celebrate and enliven the work and vision of our section?
Editor’s Note
William Holt
Birmingham-Southern College
CUSS Newsletter, Summer 2018, Vol 30, No 3
This year’s ASA Annual Conference will be held in Philadelphia from August 11-14. The CUSS Newsletter Summer 2018 edition features two articles on the host city. Michael Scott and David Marshall’s article examines issues around school choice and urban transit. Prentiss Dantzler , who grew up in Philadelphia, provides a personal narrative and reflection on his hometown.
This newsletter edition includes regular features including News & Notes, Announcements, New Books, and New Publications.
Also, the CUSS Publications Committee is developing new ways to get members involved in the section. One opportunity is the new assistant editor positions for the CUSS Newsletter. Please contact me if you have any questions about the application and responsibilities. Additionally, CUSS is revamping its web and social media presence. If interested in getting involved contact Albert Fu, Kutztown State, who is leading this effort.
News & Notes
CUSS Newsletter, Summer 2018, Vol 30, No 3
William Holt, Birmingham-Southern College, received the Henry C. Randall Award for his work establishing the campus chapter of Kapa Alpha Omicron environmental honor society. Also, Holt serves as the advisor to the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams. Both teams are perennially ranked in the NCAA Division Three ’s Top 20 as well as Southern Athletic Association champions.
Juan Martinez, Harold Washington College, has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the Department of Sociology at Northeastern Illinois University.
Gregory D. Squires, George Washington University, received the 2018 Contribution to the Field of Urban Affairs Award given by the Urban Affairs Association. In announcing the award the UAA observed that “The committee chose Squires based on the influence of his prodigious scholarship examining urban housing markets, and for the breadth of his engagement with the UAA and other national organizations that advance our field. Squires is a prolific scholar who has published 17 books as author or editor, along with 100 journal articles and book chapters. His work is frequently reprinted in collections, offering evidence of his influence on colleagues who assemble such collections. Well beyond scholarly circles, Squires has helped to shape public policy debates about discriminatory lending, redlining, and the near-collapse of the mortgage market in 2008. As an expert witness, a legal consultant, and a working member of commissions and councils, he has called attention to unequal and discriminatory practices and identified policies that advance social justice.”
Stacy Torres, SUNY Albany, has accepted a position as an assistant professor of sociology in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, to begin this fall.
ASA Conference Feature: Sweet Home
Prentiss A. Dantzler
Colorado College
CUSS Newsletter, Summer 2018, Vol 30, No 3
Last time ASA was held in Philadelphia was 2005, the same year I graduated high school. A staple in urban sociology, Philly has undergone many significant changes since then. Being raised in West Philly, my younger years were quite different than that of the Fresh Prince. My childhood functioned somewhat between W.E.B. DuBois’ (1899) Philadelphia Negro and William Julius Wilson’s (1987) The Truly Disadvantaged. In a state of double consciousness, I constantly wondered (at least on a surface) why my neighborhood was the way it was. Countless other works within our field have helped me make sense of different aspects of my childhood. Why was my family adamant about sending me to Catholic school (even though they were not at all Catholic)? Why did I have to take 3 forms of transportation to get to high school while my peers drove in new cars and trucks? What happen to all of the public housing that stood tall in many of the Black neighborhoods? How did I make it out and why are others still in the same place? And better yet, why does “making it out” mean living in white spaces? As a late comer to sociology, the joys and perils of understanding these dynamics within community and urban sociology have largely shaped my reflection on the city of Brotherly Love – a place I still call home.
Exploring Spatial Equity in Philadelphia through Public Transit and School Choice
Michael R. Scott
University of Texas, Austin
David T. Marshall
Auburn University
CUSS Newsletter, Summer 2018, Vol 30, No 3
As we prepare for spending a few days in Philadelphia at ASA this year, we wanted to share a bit of our research. David has lived and worked in Philadelphia for a few years, and Mike is from not far away and visits often. That said, it’s made for personally compelling research. Given that we are education researchers, our research specifically is on schools. Therefore, we hope this article gives a preview of Philadelphia through our research on the public schools and the public transportation system.
Announcements
CULTURAL PLURALISM IN CITIES OF THE GLOBAL SOUTH
European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies,
Florence, Italy
20-22 March 2019
Over the last thirty years, a notable strand of research has focused on global cities: late-modern versions of city-states that construct global profiles, often bypassing any sense of nationhood, and which are characterized by the contemporaneous presence of local/global elites and a low-paid (and often migrant) service class that is indispensable for the city to function. But major centres of socioeconomic and cultural power are clearly emerging outside the West in our current multi-polar and highly dynamic geopolitical and cultural landscape. New scholarship calls into question the “global cities” model and calls our attention to how cities in Asia and Africa are constructing their own relation to the world. This new scholarship emphasises the role of culture, religion, and knowledge circulation rather than focusing primarily on economic and financial life as did earlier approaches.
Community and Urban Sociology 