Spring 2003 Newsletter

In This Issue

(click below)
Eastern Soc. Meetings
Prof. Goertzel Honored
Fall Preregistration 
Masterton Award
Intercultural Award
CCAS 3rd B’Day
Spotlight on Alumni
South Africa Tour 
Faculty Research
Poster Session 
Web-Enhanced 
Curriculum

Rutgers-Camden Sends Largest Student Contingent at Eastern Sociological Society Meetings in Philadelphia

Sponsored by the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, eighteen students attended sessions at the Eastern Sociological Society annual meeting in Philadelphia in early March. Six students attended the opening session celebrating thirty years of the General Social Survey and heard the Rutgers-Camden department singled out by session organizer Joanne Miller for its exemplary use of the GSS in undergraduate education. Over the next three days, eighteen Rutgers-Camden students sat in on a wide array of sessions. The Camden contingent was the largest student one at the ESS. Also at the meetings, Professor Wood gave a presentation, aimed particularly at non-tenured faculty, entitled Technology Payoffs for Teaching and Research.

Fall 2003 Preregistration News and Advice
Read this before you register!

Preregistration for the Fall Semester runs April 7th-25th. All students are strongly encouraged to see a departmental advisor in planning their spring schedule.Here are a few Fall 2003 preregistration tips (click here for the combined departmental fall schedule):
 All Sociology and CJ majors should take Methods and Techniques of Social Research (920:301) in the Fall semester if they have not already taken it. This course is a prerequisite for a number of upper-level courses, and knowledge of MicroCase and the basics of data analysis are increasingly expected in all upper-level courses. The methods course also fulfills the second math requirement in the CCAS curriculum.
 It is generally a good idea to focus on required courses first, leaving electives until later. Sociology majors should take Introduction to Cultural Anthropology as early along as possible.
 We are trying to make some of our large classes smaller by offering multiple sections one semester a year. Two sections of both Criminal Justice in America and Methods and Techniques are being offered in the fall, with limits on class size.
 Social Stratification is offered only in the spring semester each year. Sociological Theory is offered only in the fall. Students planning to graduate in May 2004 must take Sociological Theory in the fall semester.
 The tentative Summer Schedule for courses in Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice is available online for Anthropology, for Criminal Justice, and for Sociology.
 Co-sponsored with the Psychology Department, Sociology’s Service Learningcourse on “Bridging the Digital Divide in Camden” will continue to combine a Wednesday late afternoon seminar with 5-6 hours of fieldwork at community centers and schools. 
 The Online Syllabi webpage at the departmental website contains links to more than forty course websites in the department, and offers a great way to explore course offerings for the Spring Semester.

Cristin Steffani

Jamie O’Brien

New Faculty Member Wins Intercultural Award

Assistant Professor Cati Coe has been selected to receive one of three Bildner Diversity Awards at the Camden Campus, which provide support for faculty members to develop or revise courses that address issues of intercultural interaction. As a campus “Intercultural Fellow,” she will pursue her project, entitled “Representing Culture in Classrooms,” which aims to give students a more sophisticated understanding of cultural practices, particularly in showing how culture is created, represented, and transformed as people seek to maintain or resist relations of power. To do so, she plans to incorporate her research on the government’s promotion of cultural heritage in Ghana into three courses (Cultural Anthropology, Peoples and Cultures of Africa, and Sociology of Education); the research focuses on performances and school cultural competitions which can be visually presented and interpreted.

Spotlight on Alumni: Matthew Goodman (Sociology, ’95) on the Appalachian Trail

It’s hard to imagine a more unusual alumni story than Matt Goodman’s. Graduating with a sociology degree in 1995, Matt started out as a personal trainer at a local gym and contemplated a book on the sociology of exercise and health. In November 1997, however, suffering from an array of severe symptoms, Matt was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Through a strict regimen of self-discipline, diet, and exercise, Matt has made a remarkable recovery both physically and spiritually, and has written a book on his technique and philosophy. In early April he began hiking from the southern terminus of the famous Appalachian Trail and expects to reach the northern terminus at Mt. Katahdin in Maine (2168 miles away) in early fall. His publicized walk, designed to give hope to others suffering from so-called “incurable” diseases, is being sponsored by the Multiple Sclerosis Association and a variety of other organizations and individuals. Updates on his progress will be posted at his website, Raw Power.

Recent Faculty Presentations and Publications

Dr. Coe presented a paper, “Nationalizing and Localizing Drum Language: Schools, Youth, and Performance in Ghana,” at African Studies Association meetings in Washington DC in December. Her article, “Educating an African Leadership: Achimota and the Teaching of African Culture in the Gold Coast,” is being published this month in Africa Today. Dr. Caputo’s paper, “A Survey of Community Service Sentencing in Texas,” was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology in the fall in Chicago, and “Community Service in Texas,” at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences meetings in Boston. Her book, What’s in the Bag? A Shoplifting Treatment and Education Program, will be published by the American Correctional Association in May. Dr. Cosminsky, with Dr. Diane Markowitz, was both an organizer and presenter at workshop, Obesity Begins Early: the Hispanic Migrant Child, at the 34th Migrant and Seasonal Head Start National Conference, in Washington D.C. in early February. Their coauthored paper, “Stunting and obesity in the land of plenty: Children of migrant laborers in New Jersey,” is being presented in April at the American Association of Physical Anthropology, in Tempe, Arizona. In March, Dr. Goertzel presented a paper on “Zero Hunger in Brazil” at the International Workshop on the Role of the State in the Struggle Against Poverty in Recife, Brazil, and another paper, “The Brazilian Transition in Comparative Perspective,” at the Latin American Studies meetings in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Hazzard-Donald is extensively featured at the beautifully-constructed Free To Dance website, on the history of African American dance and its cultural contribution, which includes a long interview with her. Dr. Meloypresented “’Offender’ Treatment Program for Women Arrested for Domestic Violence” at the American Society of Criminology meetings, and her chapter, coauthored with S. MIller, “Women on the Bench: Mavericks, Peacemakers or Something Else? Research Questions, Issues, and Suggestions” was published in It’s a Crime: Women and Justice, edited by R. Muraskin and T. Alleman. Dr. Meyer is presenting a paper, “Access, analysis and ethics: Doing research in Native American communities,” at the Western Social Science Association meetings in Las Vegas this month. She recently coauthored an article on how scientists and other experts perceive risk in theJournal of Environmental Health. Dr. Siegel presented two papers at the American Society of Criminology: “Children of Female Offenders: What Happens When Mom Goes to Prison,” and “Childhood Sexual Victimization, Running Away and Crime: Results from a Prospective Study.” The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquencyjust published her article, coauthored with L. Williams, “The Relationship Between Child Sexual Abuse and Female Delinquency and Crime: A Prospective Study.”Monika Wood’s article, “Experiential Learning for Undergraduates: A Simulation About Functional Change and Aging,” was published recently in Gerontology and Geriatrics Education. Dr. Wood’s “Caribbean of the East? Global Interconnections and the Southeast Asian Cruise Industry” was published in the fall in Asian Journal of Social Science.

Undergraduate Research Poster Session Planned for Wednesday, April 30th

Plan to present your research this year at the annual Undergraduate Research Poster Session, co-sponsored with the Psychology Department, on Wednesday, April 30th, 12:00-1:30 p.m. It looks good on your resume and it’s great fun as well. So save your work and think about how to present it visually in poster format. Last year’s Poster Session attracted over 100 presenters and guests. You need not be a presenter to attend, but if you intend to bring a poster that visually presents your research project, please sign up by filling in the Poster Session Online Form with your name and the title of your poster presentation. That way you will be listed on the printed program. The event is held in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Campus Center.

Pictures of previous sessions may be accessed from the department homepage. A useful set of Guidelines for Visual Presentations is available at Skidmore College’s Sociology Department’s website. All sociology, anthropology and criminal justice students are invited to attend, and lunch will be provided.

To keep informed of this and other events, sign up for the Departmental E-list if you haven’t already. Just go to the sign-up page and enter your name and email address.