Dear SSS community:
I am super excited for our upcoming meeting in New Orleans! There will be so many great sessions and activities. For today, I want to focus on the amazing presidential plenary sessions.
On Thursday, we will have S.L. Crawley present a plenary on “Resisting Sociology’s Binaries — and Why It Matters.” Dr. Crawley is a Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of South Florida. They are the incoming President of Sociologists for Women in Society (SWS), the former chair of the ASA Section on Sex and Gender, and an incoming Editor of Sociological Theory. Dr. Crawley has published widely on gender and embodiment and queer theory and methods and has a TEDx Talk called We Are All Trans.
On Friday, we will have Tressie McMillan Cottom present a plenary on “Troubling the Public During Troubled Times: A Sociological Challenge.” Dr. McMillan Cottom is a Professor in the UNC School of Information and Library Science and Senior Faculty Researcher at the Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life. She is a columnist for the New York Times and has won several prestigious awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the ASA Public Understanding of Sociology Award, and the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Award for Thick: And Other Essays, which was also a finalist for the National Book Award.
On Saturday, we will have a panel on “The Utility of Categorizing Genders.” This panel will be moderated by Kristen Schilt with panelists D’Lane Compton, Michelle Johns, and Danya Lagos. Dr. Schilt is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Chicago. She is the author of the book Just One of the Guys? as well as the highly cited article “Doing Gender, Doing Heteronormativity” and recently co-directed the film Framing Agnes, which focuses on the history of transgender research in sociology. Dr. Compton is a Professor of Sociology at the University of New Orleans. They are the author of several books, including Legalizing LGBT Families and Other, Please Specify. Dr. Johns is a Senior Research Scientist at NORC. She has published extensively on LGBTQ+ identities and health issues. Dr. Lagos is a Professor of Sociology at Berkeley. They have recently published in AJS, ASR, and Demography about gender identity measures.
Knowing this, I’m guessing you are ready to renew your membership, register for the conference, and book your hotel room. Festival Season will be in high gear when we meet in New Orleans so start your planning now!
Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!
Gayle Kaufman
SSS President