Community and Urban Sociology

Dear CUSSniks,

To the extent that you have bandwidth to focus on CUSS matters (and with all that is happening in our country and world, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t), I wanted to report on a few happening in the section, express some gratitude, and share with you some thoughts about how we collectively can strengthen the section over the coming months.

The happenings and the gratitude

We are in the process of selecting the seventh (and eighth) editors of City & Community. According to ASA, we should be able to report something after ASA Council meets in March. Thanks very much to Bill Holt, Jerry Krase, and the CUSS Publications Committee (Nikki Jones, Maggie Kusenbach, Nicole Trujillo-Pagan, and Ana Villarreal) for their work on this. And, special thanks to Richard Ocejo for moving the journal forward from the already strong base set by his predecessors. 

I am in the initial stages of running back what I thought was a very successful innovation of our past Chair, Elena Vesselinov, a virtual CUSS mini-conference for graduate students and faculty (or other professional) mentors. There is, not surprisingly, a difference of opinion on the best time for this, but I’m shooting for late May, before everyone takes a well-deserved vacation. Please be on the lookout for announcements about this. Also be on the lookout for additional webinars sponsored by the staff at City & Community. I will publicize these in my (roughly) biweekly Chair’s Announcements.

There are four exceptional CUSS-sponsored paper sessions during the ASA Conference in Chicago. These include: (1) Urban Sociology and the Legacy of Chicago, (2) Mechanisms of Segregation, (3) Third Places: Beyond the Home and the Workplace, and (4) The Structures and Institutions That Shape Place-Making. Thanks to Mahesh Somashekhar and Zawadi Rucks-Ahidiana for their work on this, as well as the chairs and presiders of these sessions. In addition, as we do every year, we will also host a large Refereed Roundtables session, followed by the section’s Business Meeting. I hope that all members present at the conference will be able to attend these events. 

Please be sure to nominate someone (including yourselves) for one of several CUSS awards (all deadlines March 15, 2025). See here or here for more information. My deepest thanks to Krista Paulsen and Robin Bartram for their work on this, as well as the numerous awards committee chairs and members, too numerous to name here. 

Things we can do to strengthen the section

1. Renew your membership to CUSS if it has lapsed;
2. Consider sponsoring a graduate student member. Graduate students are literally the future of our section.
3. Take part in the mentoring program at ASA in Chicago, in which we will pair groups of CUSS members from different ranks and backgrounds to engage in conversation and network building. 
4. Attend the ASA CUSS reception if you will be in Chicago. I always have a blast at this event, and it works best when everyone is there to eat, drink, celebrate our award winners, and collectively effervesce. 
5. Email me (jeffrey.timberlake@uc.edu) with publications, jobs, or events to publicize, plus any assorted thoughts, suggestions, or complaints.

All my best for a healthy and productive 2025.

Jeff

Jeffrey M. Timberlake

Chair, CUSS

University of Cincinnati

Department of Sociology