Spring 2005 Newsletter

Equal Opportunity in Camden?

In This Issue
(click below)
Pre-Registration
Film Project
Poster Session 
Masterton Awards
CJ Research Seminar
Book Event 
New Home
Website

Dr. Wood, Etienne Jackson, James Flatley

Sociology Students Present Their Research and Film at the Eastern Sociological Society Meetings in Washington DC click here for details below

Fall 2005 Preregistration News and Advice
Read this before you register!

Preregistration for the Fall 2005 Semester begins Monday, April 4th. All students are strongly encouraged to see a departmental advisor (in our new building) in planning their schedule. Here are a few Fall 2005 preregistration tips (click here for the combined departmental fall schedule):
 The Online Syllabi web page at the departmental web site contains links to more than forty course web sites in the department, and offers a great way to explore course offerings for the Spring Semester. 
 All Sociology and CJ majors should take Methods and Techniques of Social Research (920:301) in the upcoming 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. Note: the methods course also fulfills the second math requirement in the CCAS curriculum.
 Sociological Theory is offered only in the fall. Please plan accordingly. 
 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, as it is a prerequisite for other required courses.
 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 Camden community centers and schools. 
 The Summer Session 2005 schedule is available online for anthropology, criminal justice, and sociology. We are offering the largest selection of summer courses ever.
 Some of your questions about advising may be answered at our department’sAdvising FAQs web page

Sociology Student Filmmakers Present Their Work
at Eastern Sociological Society Meetings
in Washington DC

Taking up a challenge in Professor Wood’s Social Stratification course last spring, James Flatley and Etienne Jackson spent the fall and early spring semester creating a film to illustrate the journey down Germantown Avenue in Philadelphia, as described in Elijah Anderson’s widely-read ethnography, Code of the Street: Decency, Violence and the Moral Life of the Inner City. They each received a Dean’s travel award to present their work at the Eastern Sociological Society meetings in Washington DC on March 19, 2005. The well-attended session responded enthusiastically both to their film,Down Germantown Avenue: A Visual Introduction to Elijah Anderson’s Code of the Street, and to their discussion of the learning process entailed in making it. The film may be downloaded or viewed in streaming format at the film website. It will also be presented at the Undergraduate Research Poster Session on April 29th.

 

Service Learning Display

7th Annual Undergraduate Research Poster Session
Set for Friday, April 29th
Mark Your Calendar!

Mark your calendars for this year’s poster session, co-sponsored by the Departments of Psychology and Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice. All are invited, 12:15-1:30 in the Campus Center Multi-Purpose Room, and lunch is provided. All students are invited to bring poster presentations of research carried out during the current academic year. Students planning to make a poster presentation shouldregister online by April 22nd in order to be included in the printed program.

Masterton Awards To Go to Walter Kim,
Katherine Paulson, and Amy Sampson

Congratulations to Walter Kim, Katherine Paulson, and Amy Sampson who will be receiving the department’s George Masterton Award in Criminal Justice, Anthropology and Sociology respectively at the Honors Convocation on May 18th. The award is named after the first chair of the department, and is given each year to students “for academic achievement, significant contributions to the University and larger communities, and intellectual promise.” Further details about the award, along with a list of past recipients, is available at the Masterton Award web page. All three recipients plan to go on to graduate study in the fall.

Faculty Books Honored at Paul Robeson Library

Recent books by three departmental faculty–Gail Caputo, Ted Goertzel, and Jon’a Meyer–were on display at a Paul Robeson Library display and celebration in early March. To the left, Dr. Wood poses with Paul Robeson librarian Vibiana Bowman, whose edited book on The Plagiarism Plague includes an article he wrote about the ways our web-enhanced curriculum is intended to combat plagiarism by increasing both student awareness and academic skills.

Work continues at 405-7 Cooper

Department Continues to Settle In at 405-7 Cooper
Student Lounge and Computer Lab In Offing

Faculty, staff and students have all been expressing satisfaction with our new home at 405-7 Cooper Street, entered from the campus side through the porch shown in the picture on the left. While progress continues to be made, unfortunately the computer lab remains unfinished and the student lounge unfurnished. Our Open House celebration will probably have to wait until fall, but stay tuned just in case. Several classes have been meeting this semester in the basement seminar room.