Community and Urban Sociology

William Holt
Birmingham-Southern College
CUSS Newsletter, Vol 31, No 3

This edition of the CUSS Newsletter marks the end of my almost 20 years of serving as an editor. In 2001 I responded to a call for an editor  from then-Chair Barrett Lee. He contacted me on what seemed to be a typical Tuesday morning that I was to be co-editor with  Jennifer Stoloff at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). 

      However, that Tuesday was anything but ordinary. On WCBS the announcers were complaining about how poorly the Giants played in the previous evening’s Monday Night Football Game. Then, during the weather report, the announcer mentioned that there appeared to be a small plane near the  World Trade Center. By the time I walked from my research job with the Yale Medical School to Lindsey-Chittenden Hall to teach Sociological Imagination, the introductory course, to a large lecture hall of undergraduates,  things had changed drastically. The  musicology professor who taught before my class always ran late. So, when I walked into the auditorium,  he had on the overhead with live tv coverages showing the maps of Washington, D.C. I had developed for the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) of the Monumental Core area between the White House and U.S. Capitol.  Secret Service agents ran through the building pulling then-undergraduate Barbara Bush out of L-C. Yale officials asked us to send the undergraduates back to their  residential colleges. They asked us to  volunteer to go over to Yale-New Haven Hospital, a designated center in case of a major disaster  in New York, to assist with triage for what they thought would be incoming  victims. Within hours Yale officials sent us  home since no one would be  arriving for treatments.  We had no idea how significant that day would be on so many levels.

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William Holt
Birmingham-Southern College
CUSS Newsletter, 2019 Winter, Vol 32, No 1

The CUSS Newsletter starts its 32nd year, with

Three new assistant editors: Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, assistant professor at the University of New Mexico; Kyle Galindez, a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz; and Steven Schmidt, a graduate student at the University of California, Irvine. They will be developing new features and articles for the CUSS Newsletter for the 2018-19 editions. 

Check out Kyle and Steven’s interviews with the 2018 ASA CUSS Award recipients on pages 12-17 as well as a Q & A session with Deidre Oakley, the new editor of City & Community, on page 4.

Following a suggestion by Lily Hoffman when she served as chair, the CUSS Newsletter’s first edition each year always includes a feature on the Lynd Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Please look at page 1 to read Nancy Denton’s reflection as the 2018 recipient.

Please see the 2019 CUSS Awards Call for Nominations. Contact information is on page 7 for each award which all have a common April 2, 2019 deadline.

On page 10 you will find Jerry Krase’s scenes from his team taught Graduate Visual Sociology Workshop with his visual studies students at Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

This edition includes regular sections such as   New Books, New Publications, and New Dissertations. Look in the News & Notes section for news from other CUSS Members. The Announcements include calls for two conferences as well as the 2019 CUSS ASA Pre-conference on page 22.

As always, please contact me at wholt@bsc.edu with ideas for editions.

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.