UGA Sociology

08/25/2026

Join UGA Sociology on Friday 8/28 at 3PM in Baldwin Hall Room 480 as we welcome Dr. Josh Seim from Boston College for his talk titled:

The Welfare Assembly Line: Public Servants in the Suffering City

Abstract: Despite claims that we live in a “post-welfare society,” welfare offices remain vital not only for those who depend on them for benefits but also those who depend on them for a paycheck. This theory-driven case study of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services examines how welfare work has transformed to allow a department of just 14,000 to serve over a third of the county. Drawing on ethnographic observations, archival research, in-depth interviews, and a range of supplemental materials, Dr. Seim argues that frontline workers at this agency, who are mostly Black and Brown women, have become increasingly proletarianized. Their work is defined less by their discretion and more by a lack of control over the productive process. This is enabled by a “welfare assembly line,” where high divisions of labor and heavy uses of machinery resemble production regimes in factories and fast-food restaurants. Beyond welfare offices, this study contributes to larger conversations about work, social policy, and poverty governance.

08/24/2026

We are excited to announce that Dr. Derick Baum has joined our faculty this year!

As a quantitative sociologist, he seeks to advance statistical and computational methods to address pressing questions in the social sciences. He holds a B.A. in Sociology and Mathematics (double major) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an A.M. and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Harvard University. He arrives to Athens after recently completing work as a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Sociology at Brown University.

Welcome to UGA Derick!

08/21/2026

This Week at WGS - August 17, 2026 - https://mailchi.mp/uga.edu/this-week-at-wgs-april-27-12869876

08/21/2026

Congratulations to Dr. William Pridemore and his co-authors Kimmie Hawkins (UGA Graduate Student) and Dr. Meg Rogers (Iowa) on their new publication in the most recent issue of Sociology Compass.

The growing literature on the structural and cultural covariates of homicide rates contain few studies of the role of citizens' prevailing sentiments. Yet population sentiments and perceptions of dai...

08/13/2026

Support UGA Psychology's own Dr. Malissa Clark as she competes for a chance to speak at SXSW!

Her proposed talk, "Why Your Hobby Is Your Secret Superpower," explores how hobbies can boost personal growth, work motivation, performance, and long-term success. Public voting is an important part of the selection process, so if you're able, please take a few minutes to register and cast your vote. Every vote helps!
Best of luck, Dr. Clark!
https://id.sxsw.com/sign_in

08/13/2026

Scan the QR code to find UGA Sociology on LinkedIn!

08/12/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Sarah Shannon, graduate student co-authors Natalia Pires de Vasconcelos and Olivia Francis, and UGA alumna co-author Dr. Lacey B. Moore on their new publication in Criminal Justice Review discussing monetary sanctions, transparency, legal financial obligations:

Transparency about how revenues from monetary sanctions are collected and spent is crucial for public confidence, given their increased role in funding the crim...

08/12/2026

We are excited to announce our new leadership team of Dr. Sarah Shannon (Department Head), Dr. Diana Graizbord (Director of Graduate Studies) and Dr. Bobby Jo Otto (Undergraduate Coordinator).

Dr. Shannon’s research focuses on systems of criminal punishment and their effects on social life, including monetary sanctions, collateral consequences of felony convictions, and incarceration. She is also an award-winning teacher, achieving the highest levels of recognition for excellence in instruction at the university and state levels. She previously served as the Director of the UGA Criminal Justice Studies Program.

Dr. Graizbord’s research and teaching interests include Theory, Political Sociology, Sociology of Knowledge, Science and Technology Studies, and Globalization and Development. She has been a Visiting Fellow at the Kellogg Institute for International Studies at the University of Notre Dame, a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and an NSF-IGERT Fellow in Development and Inequality in the Global South.

Dr. Otto is an award-winning Senior Lecturer, teaching courses such as Introduction to Sociology, Criminology, Juvenile Delinquency, and Sociology of Alcohol and Drug Use. She also supervises Criminal Justice Studies majors during their capstone internships and teaches a Transfer Launch Seminar called “Why Did They Do It?” focused on criminological explanations of serial killing.

A sincere thank you to Dr. Bill Pridemore, Dr. Leslie Gordon Simons, and Dr. Anna Rogers for their dedicated leadership in these positions over the past several years! The new leadership team looks forward to collaborating with faculty, students, and alumni to continue the department's growth and success.

UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences

08/06/2026

We are pleased to share that 2 of our PhD alumni - Malissa Alinor and Tim Gill - have been selected to the 2026-2027 cohort for ASA's Policy Outreach Program (POP) Fellowship. Like proud parents, it is always exciting to see the professional growth of our students!

The American Sociological Association (ASA) is pleased to announce the 2026–2027 cohort of its Policy Outreach Program (POP) Fellowship, which aims to strengthen connections between sociological research and the policymakers, legislative offices, think tanks, and other policy leaders who shape public policy and public discourse. Read about the fellows here: https://bit.ly/4fCa0N5

07/23/2026

In two new studies, Sociology faculty and Marienthal Professor Dr. William Pridemore and collaborators led by Guillermo Escaño of Villanova University found that governments' typical responses to violence (sending more police, deploying the military, increasing arrests, and imposing harsher penalties) often led to more violence, instead of less.

The first study, published in “The British Journal of Criminology,” found that El Salvador's "iron fist" anti-gang policies were associated with substantially higher homicide rates than periods when the government pursued negotiated truces. The second study, published in “Journal of Quantitative Criminology,” found that military anti-cartel operations in Mexico led to an increase in homicide rates.

You can read more about these studies and their methodologies in an article by Joy Pope:

When violence surges, governments often reach for the same playbook: send more police, deploy the military, increase arrests, and impose harsher penalties. But new research from the University of Georgia’s Franklin College of Arts and Sciences suggests those strategies may sometimes result in more...