{"id":2631,"date":"2023-05-03T15:09:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T19:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/?p=2631"},"modified":"2023-08-21T11:20:29","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T15:20:29","slug":"letter-from-the-chair-of-sociology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2023\/05\/03\/letter-from-the-chair-of-sociology\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from the Chair of Sociology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to this special edition of our newsletter, which covers two years of events in the Department of Sociology at Ball State. Much has transpired since summer of 2021.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_875\" style=\"width: 262px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-875\" data-attachment-id=\"875\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blogs.bsu.edu\/csh\/2020\/09\/25\/csh-investigates-the-department-of-sociology-tackles-covid-impact\/byron-ballard-computer-science-7\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/09\/24135643\/Menning_Chad_2018_February-scaled-e1683137268681.jpg?fit=300%2C357&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"300,357\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Byron Ballard - Computer Science&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1601034518&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Byron Ballard - Computer Science&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Chadwick Menning\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Dr. Chadwick Menning, Chair of the Sociology Department&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/09\/24135643\/Menning_Chad_2018_February-scaled-e1683137268681.jpg?fit=860%2C1024&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-875\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/09\/24135643\/Menning_Chad_2018_February-scaled-e1683137268681-252x300.jpg?resize=252%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Dr. Chadwick Menning\" width=\"252\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/09\/24135643\/Menning_Chad_2018_February-scaled-e1683137268681.jpg 252w, https:\/\/bsu-wpe-blogs.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2020\/09\/24135643\/Menning_Chad_2018_February-scaled-e1683137268681.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-875\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Chadwick Menning, Chair of the Sociology Department<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Our students continue to achieve remarkable success. For example, in Spring 2022, <strong>Payton Drefcinski<\/strong> and <strong>Julia Tharp<\/strong> were recognized as the department\u2019s <strong>Outstanding Seniors<\/strong>. University recognitions that year included <strong>Payton Drefcinski<\/strong>, who won the coveted <strong>Provost\u2019s Prize. Payton, <\/strong>along with<strong> Ellie Haynes <\/strong>and<strong> Julia Tharp, <\/strong>also were awarded<strong> Academic Honors in Writing<\/strong>\u2014a notoriously difficult achievement. This year, <strong>Ozzie<\/strong> <strong>Kazarian<\/strong> was awarded an <strong>Undergraduate Honors Fellowship<\/strong>; both <strong>Ozzie<\/strong> and <strong>Lauren Latham<\/strong> completed <strong>Honors Theses<\/strong>. <strong>Ozzie <\/strong>was also officially recognized as one of the <strong>Top 100 Students<\/strong> at Ball State University. <strong>Myah Boyes<\/strong> and <strong>Miriam Barrera<\/strong> were the department\u2019s <strong>Outstanding Seniors<\/strong>, and <strong>Whitney Ragon<\/strong> was a Ball State <strong>Honors in<\/strong> <strong>Writing Finalist<\/strong>. We are also pleased to announce that the inaugural recipient of the renamed <strong>Dr. Stephen D. Johnson and Dr. Joseph B. Tamney Scholarship<\/strong> is <strong>Giovanni Guia<\/strong>, and that <strong>Erick Sherman<\/strong> won this year\u2019s <strong>Dr. Whitney Gordon Scholarship<\/strong>. All of this is in addition to the multiple internships, independent studies, presentations (individual and collaborative), papers, capstone projects with community partners such as <strong>Second Harvest<\/strong> and the <strong>Hancock County Drug Court<\/strong>, master\u2019s theses, and other work that students undertake. These activities are crucial to ensure that our students become career-ready and, more broadly, to prepare them to embark upon the next steps of their lives as educated citizens, with purpose, direction, and civility in a polarized and contentious time.<\/p>\n<p>It is, of course, the persistent dedication and excellence of our faculty that fosters the development of these students. In addition to continuing our tradition of offering <strong>top-tier instruction<\/strong> (and, in fact, serving as a national model for developing sociology curricula), our faculty have continued to be very <strong>active scholars<\/strong>. In fact, over the past two years, faculty have published <strong>more than two dozen articles, two books, an edited volume, and a variety of other publications<\/strong> on topics covering family, health, religion, policy, ethnicity, gender, methods, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and others. <strong>Grants<\/strong> written by <strong>Dr. Mellisa Holtzman, Dr. Melinda Messineo, Dr. Richard Petts<\/strong>, and <strong>Dr. Ellen Whitehead<\/strong> collectively brought <strong>over $900,000<\/strong> to Ball State from entities such as the <strong>National Science Foundation<\/strong> and the <strong>U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/strong>. Our faculty continue to serve on countless committees at every level, including internationally. The quality and quantity of <strong>Dr. Melinda Messineo\u2019s<\/strong> contributions to inclusive excellence at Ball State was recognized in 2021 when she received the <strong>Outstanding Diversity Advocate Award<\/strong>. Then, in 2022, she was awarded the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award at the American Sociological Association annual meeting. <strong>Dr. Mellisa Holtzman\u2019s<\/strong> level and quality of service to the North Central Sociological Association over time is such that she was awarded the <strong>Aida Tomeh Distinguished Service Award <\/strong>for 2021. We are especially pleased that <strong>Mr. Greg Fehribach<\/strong>, who was recently named <strong>Chair of the United States Access Board<\/strong> by President Biden, teaches a special topics course for us in the Sociology of Disability.<\/p>\n<p>I appreciate the time that our alumni and friends take to let us know about milestones in their lives, as well. For example, <strong>Dr. John Anderson<\/strong> took a position as <strong>Director of the Ryan Family Navigator\u2019s Program<\/strong> at Ball State (while still finding time to teach an occasional <strong>high-impact course on race and ethnicity<\/strong> for our department). <strong>Ms. Cheri Madewell<\/strong> was selected by the <strong>U.S. Department of State<\/strong> for a 1-month English Language Specialist project focusing on Pride Month Conversations with Educators in Brazil. This is one of about 240 projects that the English Language Specialist Program supports each year.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, our newsletter also sometimes bears news of loss. We were deeply saddened by the passing of <strong>Dr. David Maines<\/strong>, an alumnus and long-time friend of our department, in spring 2022. We also lost <strong>Professor Emeritus Dr. Stephen D. Johnson<\/strong> this past August. Their contributions and continued influence on our department\u2019s legacy cannot be overstated, and they will be sorely missed.<\/p>\n<p>This is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg; I am continually astounded at the excellence and productivity of our faculty, students, alumni, and friends. We may not be the largest department on campus, but we are without question one of the finest, and I am humbled by the honor of serving as its Chair. I could not ask for finer colleagues. You can expect us to continue to move knowledge forward and to share it, to innovate, and to continue to adapt in a rapidly changing landscape.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that you will enjoy reading more about these and other developments herein. As always, should you have news to share with us, please drop me an email (<a href=\"mailto:clmenning@bsu.edu\">clmenning@bsu.edu<\/a>) or call (765-285-5977). You are always welcome to stop by NQ 222 for coffee or tea. Thank you so much for your time, attention, and support.<\/p>\n<p>Best,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Chadwick L. Menning, PhD<\/p>\n<p>Professor and Chair<\/p>\n<p>Department of Sociology<\/p>\n<p>Ball State University<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome to this special edition of our newsletter, which covers two years of events in the Department of Sociology at Ball State. Much has transpired since summer of 2021. Our students continue to achieve remarkable success. For example, in Spring 2022, Payton Drefcinski and Julia Tharp were recognized as the department\u2019s Outstanding Seniors. University recognitions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1320,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[48,6,35],"tags":[137,417,78],"class_list":["post-2631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-letter-from-the-chair","category-social-sciences","category-sociology","tag-letter-from-the-chair","tag-newsletter","tag-sociology"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Letter from the Chair of Sociology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Letter 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