Community and Urban Sociology

Contents includes:

1. Call for Applications for Editor(s) of City & Community
2. New Book Announcement
3. Job Announcements
4. Summer Opportunity 
5. Call for Papers
6. Notices from ASA

1. Call for Applications, Editor(s) of City & Community

Individual and team applications are invited for the position of editor of City & Community, the journal of the American Sociological Association’s Community and Urban Sociology Section (CUSS). The official term for the new editor (or co-editors) will begin in January 2021. The editorial transition will begin in late 2020 with the first issue of the new editorial team being the March 2021 issue. The editor’s term is for a minimum of three years, until December 2023, with a possible reappointment of up to an additional two years.

City & Community brings together major work and research in urban and community sociology. It is published four times per year.

Editor’s Role: City & Community receives approximately 200 submissions per year. The current journal impact factor is 1.055. The editor is expected to secure timely and appropriate reviews and make the final decision on manuscripts, informing both the author(s) and reviewers of the final disposition. The editor is also responsible for maintaining the high standards of ASA journals, ensuring that issues are filled within the approved annual page allocation, and preventing a long backlog of articles for either review or publication. The editor must show openness to communicating with scholars about diverse ideas and eagerness to continue building the journal’s reputation.

Candidates must be members of both the ASA and the Community and Urban Sociology Section, and hold a tenured position or equivalent in an academic or a non-academic setting. Applications from members of underrepresented groups are encouraged.

In accordance with ASA’s mission to publish high quality scholarship, the following criteria are considered in selecting editors:

• established record of scholarship,
• evidence of understanding the mission of the journal and its operation, indicated by experience with the journal across any of a wide variety of activities (submission, reviewing, editorial board experience),
• assessment of the present state of the journal, its strengths and challenges, and a vision for the journal’s future,
• openness to different methods, theories, and approaches to sociology,
• record of responsible service to scholarly publishing, and
• evidence of organizational skill and intellectual leadership.

The time demands associated with these responsibilities vary, but in general, require one full day per week. The actual costs associated with editing the journal are covered by the publisher, a dedicated portion of section dues, and the editor’s university. Applicants will provide a letter from the administration of their institution assuring a suitable level of financial and in-kind support for the editor, a managing editor (usually a graduate student), and the editorial office.

Selection Process: To facilitate a fair and inclusive process, the CUSS Publications Committee will consider applications in two phases. We first seek succinct Letters of Interest from all candidates, addressing the items below. We will then invite finalists to discuss with the CUSS Publications Committee the trajectory of the journal as well as candidates’ vision and editorial approach. Finalists will then be asked to submit a full application that will be the basis for the decision by CUSS Council and ASA Publications Committee. 

Letters of Interest should address the following in up to 2 pages: 

• Vision Statement: Set forth your goals and plans for the content of the journal. This may include an assessment of the current strengths, weaknesses, or gaps that you plan to address and how you will carry out your plan.
• Editor/Co-Editor or Deputy Editor(s) Background Information: The name, affiliation, and other important information about the potential editor and, if applicable, co-editors and/or deputy editor(s) is required. Describe the qualifications and experience of each person that supports their inclusion. Please do not include names of individuals that you would like/plan to include on the larger editorial board. Contacting potential editorial board members can be a time-consuming task that should be done only after an editor is selected.
• Institutional Support: It is important for candidates to examine the feasibility of serving as editor in light of the resources provided by the publisher, the section, and the home university.
• CVs for Editors/Co-Editors should accompany the Letter of Interest. 

Letters of Interest are due April 15, 2020. CUSS Publications Committee will interview editorial candidates April 27-30, 2020. 

Full Applications, due May 30, will address the above in greater detail, speak to the criteria provided by ASA (also above), and, regarding institutional support, will also include a preliminary letter of support from a dean or other appropriate institutional official. (Specific negotiations will of course take place after a new editor is selected. This letter must be included for the application to be considered.)

CUSS Publications Committee will submit a ranked list of candidates to the CUSS Council by June 15, 2020.  The CUSS Council will vote and submit their editor selection back to the CUSS Publications Committee. The recommendation is then forwarded to ASA’s Publications Committee by July 15, 2020. ASA’s Publications Committee will review the selection and forward the recommendation to ASA Council.

For questions and further information about the application process, please contact:  Krista Paulsen, Boise State University, kristapaulsen@boisestate.edu or Japonica Brown-Saracino, Boston University, japonica@bu.edu. 

Letters of Interest may be emailed as PDFs to Krista Paulsen, Chair CUSS Publications Committee, kristapaulsen@boisestate.edu.

2. New Book Announcement

Us versus Them: Race, Crime, and Gentrification in Chicago Neighborhoods

Jan Doering

Oxford University Press 2020 (Paperback and Cloth)

REVIEWS

“Building on both new and enduring questions about place and culture, Us versus Them explores how neighborhood context shapes residents’ approaches to racialized policing and community safety initiatives. Relying on detailed ethnographic evidence and engaging with timely questions related to gentrification, concentrated poverty, and micro-segregation, the author provides a vivid portrait of residents’ racialized boundary-making projects in two Chicago neighborhoods. Doering’s detailed attention to the work of small groups in neighborhood safety initiatives provides a rich account that generates an important set of questions for students and scholars of policing, neighborhood effects, and diversity and integration to pursue.” — Japonica Brown-Saracino, Boston University

“In Us versus Them, Jan Doering takes the reader inside street-level contestation over race, crime, and gentrification in Chicago neighborhoods. Built on rich ethnographic and interview data, the end result is a deeply researched book that provides theoretical and empirical insight into how local politics shape the way residents talk about and understand neighborhood crime. Doering convincingly shows that the racial meanings attached to crime are partly a function of the political environment in which that meaning-making occurs. This engrossing read makes an original contribution to scholarship on race and politics and should be read by anyone interested in the politics of gentrification.” — Corey D. Fields, Georgetown University

“This important book puts some of the most divisive issues of our day – crime, gentrification, political polarization, and racial identity – under the microscope. It unpacks divisions within already racially integrated Chicago neighborhoods over strategies to address significant crime problems. Ensuing chapters document how well-meaning prevention efforts splintered communities and racial tensions spilled over into electoral politics, creating a minefield for politicians trying to build majority coalitions. Some succeeded, and the study illuminates how good leadership can lower the temperature around debates involving race and class, and find paths toward community solidarity around common problems.” — Wesley Skogan, Northwestern University

OVERVIEW

Crime and gentrification are hot button issues that easily polarize racially diverse neighborhoods. How do residents, activists, and politicians navigate the thorny politics of race as they fight crime or resist gentrification? And do conflicts over competing visions of neighborhood change necessarily divide activists into racially homogeneous camps, or can they produce more complex alliances and divisions? In Us versus Them, Jan Doering answers these questions through an in-depth study of two Chicago neighborhoods. Drawing on three and a half years of ethnographic fieldwork, Doering examines how activists and community leaders clashed and collaborated as they launched new initiatives, built coalitions, appeased critics, and discredited opponents. At the heart of these political maneuvers, he uncovers a ceaseless battle over racial meanings that unfolded as residents strove to make local initiatives and urban change appear racially benign or malignant. A thoughtful and clear-eyed contribution to the field, Us versus Them reveals the deep impact that competing racial meanings have on the fabric of community and the direction of neighborhood change.

3.  Job Announcements

Rice University, Senior Spatial Research Analyst

Rice University is recruiting for a highly qualified senior spatial research analyst to fill a newly created professional position in the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.  The position will serve as the main resource for faculty and graduate students looking for assistance with how to incorporate geospatial data and advanced spatial analysis techniques into their social science research. The senior spatial research analyst will help faculty and students with this adoption at various stages of project development and support high level use of spatial data, technology, and methods in social science research.  

Candidates should visit https://jobs.rice.edu/postings/22721 for more information and to submit their application and relevant documents.

The Urban Studies Institute

Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

Georgia State University

Location: Atlanta, GA

Deadline: April 30, 2020 at 11:59 ET

The Urban Studies Institute is seeking a postdoctoral researcher for a two-year period to begin in the fall of 2020. Area of specialization is open but should align with one or more themes of the Institute’s research agenda on urban inclusive development, economic resilience and environmental sustainability. The candidate should also have the required skills and experience to teach a course in statistics and/or GIS. Willingness and ability to engage with developments and stakeholders in the Atlanta region is a plus. Postdocs at USI work collaboratively with USI faculty while also developing independent research projects based on their interests. They are expected to teach one course per year.

This position is open to early-stage scholars in urban studies with a strong interdisciplinary orientation. Applicants must have completed their PhD in urban studies or a closely related discipline by August 1 of 2020. The applicant must show evidence of interest in interdisciplinary research; have teaching experience; have the ability to conduct independent as well as collaborative research; and should have a minimum of two refereed journal articles.

Instructions to Apply

Applicants must submit:

1) Cover letter explaining relevant prior experience and qualifications;

2) Curriculum Vitae;

3) Statement of research accomplishments and plans;

4) Name, phone numbers, addresses, and e-mail addresses of two referees.

To apply, please submit items 1–4 as a single PDF document (saved with Last Name) by email to urban@gsu.edu using Postdoctoral Research Application in the subject line of your email. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled, but those received by March 30, 2020 will be guaranteed full consideration. Multiple hires may be considered.

About the Institute

The Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University conducts top-level urban research, offers an innovative Ph.D. and masters curriculum, and engages with stakeholders in metropolitan Atlanta and other cities around the world. The Institute’s research agenda ranges from local to global, from urban theory to policy research. The Institute was founded in 2017. It is housed in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, and its research and teaching engagements reach across the university. It is presently composed of seven tenured or tenure track faculty, four postdoctoral researchers, and over 25 affiliate faculty from a range of schools and disciplines.

The Andrew Young School of Policy Studies is ranked among the top 20 Best Graduate Schools for Public Affairs in the United States by the U.S. News & World Report, and Urban Policy at GSU is ranked 8th in the country. Georgia State University is a major urban institution with more than 50,000 students. GSU is recognized as a national leader in student success and in graduating students from diverse backgrounds. In 2019, U.S. News & World Report ranked GSU as the 2nd most innovative school in the nation.

Georgia State University, a Research University of the University System of Georgia, is an AA/EEO employer and does not discriminate against applicants due to race, ethnicity, gender, veteran status, or on the basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.

4. Summer Opportunity

2020 ICPSR Summer Program Workshops and Scholarships

Registration is now open for the 2020 ICPSR Summer Program in Quantitative Methods of Social Research. Founded in 1963, the ICPSR Summer Program offers rigorous, hands-on training in statistics, quantitative and qualitative methods, and data analysis for students, faculty, and researchers of all skill levels and backgrounds. The ICPSR Summer Program is world-renowned for its premier quality of instruction, fun learning environment, and unparalleled networking opportunities. For more information, visit icpsr.umich.edu/sumprog or contact sumprog@icpsr.umich.edu or (734) 763-7400.

SHORT WORKSHOPS

For those needing to learn a specific methodological technique in just a few days, the Summer Program offers more than 45 short workshops in 8 cities. New workshops include:

Quantitative Methods to Advance Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (May 13-15, Ann Arbor)

Usage and Application of Meta-Analysis Techniques (May 13-15, Ann Arbor)

Multilevel Analysis (May 13-15, Houston)

Interactive Visualization, Dashboards, and Apps with R and Shiny (May 27-29, Ann Arbor)

Efficient Methods for Reproducible Research: A Workflow for Data Analysis (June 15-18, Amherst)

Latent Class, Latent Profile, and Latent Transition Analysis (June 24-26, Amherst)

Modern Difference in Difference Designs (July 6-10, Berkeley)

Bayesian Analysis in Stata (July 8-10, Ann Arbor)

Scale Construction and Application in Social Science Research (August 3-7, Berkeley)

Multilevel/Hierarchical Modeling Using R (August 17-21, Berkeley)

FOUR-WEEK SESSIONS

Held in Ann Arbor, the four-week sessions provide an immersive learning experience—think “summer camp for social scientists”! Participants in the First Session (June 22-July 17) and Second Session (July 20-August 14) can choose from more than 40 courses, including regression analysis, Bayesian analysis, longitudinal analysis, game theory, MLE, SEM, causal inference, machine learning, multilevel models, race/ethnicity and quantitative methods, data visualization, and more.

Scholarships are available for students in sociology, education, and public policy. Diversity scholarships are also available to graduate students from under-represented groups.

5.  Call for Papers

call for papers: ethnographies of the global south

Contexts is a quarterly magazine that makes cutting-edge social research accessible to general readers. The magazine is issuing a call for papers for its Winter 2021 issue, dedicated to “Ethnographies of the Global South.” This special issue will be guest edited by Victoria Reyes, assistant professor of sociology at the University of California-Riverside, and Marco Garrido, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Chicago. 

In recent years, there has been a blossoming of ethnographies on the Global South within sociology; this represents something new. Historically, American ethnographers within the discipline have plied their trade almost exclusively within the U.S. context. Casting our eye south has produced a vivid description of “foreign” social worlds.

These descriptions have proven to be a goldmine theoretically. They challenge and compel us to revise many of the analytical categories we largely take for granted, from race and segregation, to state and civil society. In making “foreign” contexts familiar, the new ethnographies of the Global South are expanding our sociological imagination in exciting ways.

We are looking for papers that embody a deeper engagement with Southern contexts. We are seeking robust descriptions of everyday life rooted in these contexts. The papers should demonstrate how detailed descriptions serve to extend not only just the empirical but also the conceptual boundaries of sociology.

We are asking that potential authors submit a two-page proposal by March 1, 2020. The editorial team will notify all authors of our decision by April 2, 2020. Authors whose proposals are accepted will need to return a full submission of approximately 3,000 words by June 1, 2020 for peer review. Articles that pass peer review will be further revised by the editorial team with final text due by September 1, 2020. Authors interested in submitting a piece are highly encouraged to read our submission guidelines.

6. Notices from ASA

Job Opening: Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at ASA

The American Sociological Association (ASA) invites applications for the position of Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.  This is an exciting opportunity to fundamentally influence the discipline of sociology. Join us in working toward our mission of serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a discipline and profession, and promoting the contributions and use of sociology to society. ASA’s office is in Washington, D.C.

Essential Functions:

·         Conceptualize and operationalize strategic direction for the association’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts focused on both the association and the discipline.

·         Manage the 46 year old Minority Fellowship Program.

·         Support the launch and ongoing development of “identity-based communities” centered on providing opportunities for engagement, leadership, connection, networking and professional development for sociologists within the broader ASA framework.

·         Develop and implement relevant programming for departments and for sociologists in a variety of professional contexts that integrates and complements the efforts of the Research, Professional Development and Academic Affairs Department.

·         Collaborate with organizational committees and other volunteer leadership groups in the interest of supporting relevant activities.

·         Partner with external organizations to develop and/or participate in cross-disciplinary initiatives.

·         Work with the communications department to develop and distribute relevant information through channels such as newsletters, website, and social media.

·         Manage a departmental operating budget.

·         Respond to relevant requests for assistance from members and staff.

·         Serve as a member of the staff leadership team and manage additional responsibilities as assigned by the Executive Director. 

Preferred Qualifications:  It is important to note that these qualifications are preferred.  We recognize that there are several professional profiles that could be well suited to this position.  Should your profile vary in some ways from the qualifications listed and you think you can be successful in this endeavor, please do not hesitate to apply. Additionally, this position could be filled on an ongoing employment basis or as a two-year temporary position.

·         Ph.D. in sociology or closely related discipline.

·         At least five years of relevant professional experience or equivalent.

·         Familiarity with current discussions regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education and other professional contexts relevant for sociologists.

·         Project management experience; a good ability to choose among alternatives and identify key priorities for work; ability to successfully manage multiple projects at once.

·         Strong work ethic; maturity and organizational savvy; ability to work independently and in collaboration with teams; excellent interpersonal skills; excellent communication skills.

For the full job advertisement, visit https://www.asanet.org/news-events/asa-news/asa-hiring-director-diversity-equity-and-inclusion. 

To apply: Please submit a substantive cover letter and a resume to Nancy Kidd, Executive Director, at nkidd@asanet.org. Your letter should indicate if you are applying for an ongoing position or a two-year temporary post. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until someone has been hired. 

ASA is an equal opportunity employer.

ASA Recently Released a Statement Condemning Online Harassment

Read the statement at https://www.asanet.org/news-events/asa-news/asa-statement-condemning-online-harassment.