Sociology, Criminal Justice, and Women's & Gender Studies News
Faculty News | Student News | Class News
Student Honors in SCW 2008-2009
Awards
- Outstanding Criminal Justice Major: Donald E. Jones
- C. Wright Mills Award for Outstanding Sociology Major: Stacey Haney and Michelle Varner
- Lucy Stone Award for Outstanding Minor in Women’s and Gender Studies: Lindsay Harris
Alpha Kappa Delta, International Sociology Honor Society Inductees, 2009
- Kevin Boyd
- Joni Hammond
- Amanda McKinney
- Vernette Porter
- Lauren Smith
Students Graduating with Honors
- Criminal Justice : Brady Bailes, cum laude
- Sociology: Ashley Harp, cum laude
- Sociology: Melissa Revels, magna cum laude
Sociology majors Amanda Knowles and Randi Hunton, two of Dr. Brigitte Neary's (Sociology)students, presented papers at the Carolina Undergraduate Social Science Symposium at the University of South Carolina Aiken, April 23-24, 2009. Knowles’ paper was titled “Germans Guilty until Proven Innocent” and Hunton’s was “The Paradox of Contemporary Rap Music.” Hunton was awarded second place (out of 49 papers presented at the symposium). Her award came with a certificate and a $25 check. In addition to mentoring her students and supervising their research, Neary also served as chair of a paper session on “Global Issues.”
Criminal Justice Majors Receive Scholarships from ASIS
The American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) – Chapter 97 recently presented two University of South Carolina Upstate students with scholarship money from funds raised in a golf tournament. The two students, Jessica L. Shelton and Kyle L. Osinga, were selected on their GPA in the criminal justice major. They each received $500. Read more...
USC Upstate Student Selected to Present Research At Popular & American Culture Associations in the South Conference
University of South Carolina Upstate senior Stacey Haney has been invited to present her research at the annual Popular & American Culture Associations in the South conference in Louisville, Ky. on October 9 and 10, 2008.
Her paper titled “Tuning In or Tuning Out? Masculinity in Popular American Television,” explores alternative forms of masculinity as seen in several popular TV shows, including NBC’s Will & Grace, HBO’s Oz, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila on MTV, and Showtime’s The L Word, and is part of a panel discussion on gender topics.
Defined by what it is not, alternative masculinity refers to the portrayal of the masculine by anyone other than white, middle class, heterosexual males. Haney, a sociology major and women’s studies minor, says that these shows in varying ways present non-mainstream forms of masculinity through gay, minority and female characters.
Will & Grace was the first network TV series to showcase one or more homosexuals as principal characters. Oz, a show about male prisoners in a maximum-security prison, explores the variety of relationships that develop between the men. A Shot At Love, a bisexual-themed reality dating show, follows the men and women who compete for the affections of internet sensation Tila Tequila. Lesbian drama, The L Word, examines the masculine roles that the all-female cast explores.
In their conferences and journals, the Popular & American Culture Associations examine “the customs, artifacts, events, myths, language, and the like that are shared by a significant portion of a culture or sub-culture” according to the associations’ Web site www.pcasacas.org. Presenters at the upcoming conference will address a range of pop culture issues, including television, music, animation, comics, sport culture, horror, gender and politics, detective fiction, fairy tales, the Gothic, literature, Star Trek, and more.