SOCUP -So(ciety)/Cu(lture)/P(olitics)-

What Can SOCUP Do For You

We have started SOCUP workshops at the Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota in 2003 with the hope that we create a warm space for graduate students to discuss their research issues and challenges, learn and help each others' research, and create academic & friendly networks.

SOCUP workshops can help graduate students, who study cultural and political issues, develop research at any level, such as

1) brainstorming your research topics and questions,
2) writing your research proposals,
3) planning your data analyses and research methods,
4) practicing your conference presentations, or
5) revising your paper for journal submissions

SOCUP encourages interdisciplinary research projects and networking.

SOCUP is...

This SOCUP workshop (2003-2005) is for students interested in culture and political sociology to informally exchange your ideas of research interests, academic challenges, theoretical issues, and any other related topics. We would like to build a friendly community for exchanging information in this discipline and department and providing suggestions for your new research ideas, papers and presentations. Everyone is welcome!

Spring 2005 Meeting Days

SOCUP will meet from 12:00 to 13:00 on Mondays this semester.

915 Social Sciences Building is reserved on Feb. 21, March 7, March 21, April 4, April 18, and May 2 for SOCUP workshops.

Our meeting room can change due to departmental events, graduate student examinations, and the presenter's presentation equipment needs.

Presenting in Spring 2005

We are about to close recruiting SOCUP workshop presenters. Please let us know if you plan to present your project as soon as possible (email Chika Shinohara at shin0104@umn.edu).

Monday, Jan. 31 Presentation

Please Join Us for the First SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: "Local Society in Modern State: the Dual-Rule-Gaming
Society."
Presenter: Xinxiang Chen (Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, January 31
Place: 1114 Social Sociences Buidling (*room changed)

Xinxiang will present his ongoing research project on China and policies
today that he has further developed from the last year's SRI presenation.
Please come join us with your lunch to provide suggestions, to ask
questions for further development of the project, or to simply learn the
research topic!

Xinxiang's Presentation File

Monday, Feb. 21 Presentation

Please Join Us for the Second SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: "From Global to Local: the International Women's
Human Rights Movement and the International Women's Rights Action Watch."
Presenter: Kasia Polanska(Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, Feb. 21
Place: 915 Social Sociences Buidling

Kasia will present her work on the diffusion of international law and norms concerning women and women's human rights. It is based on a case study of a nongovernmental organization, the International Women's Rights Action Watch. She will analyze the case within the theoretical framework of neoinstitutionalism and social movements literature.

Download file

Monday, March 7 Presentation

Please Join Us for the Third SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: "A Trajectory Approach to Study on Work and Health."
Presenter: Reiping Huang (Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, March 7
Place: 1114 Social Sociences Buidling (*room changed)

Reiping will present her work on the overall trajectory of work status related to health. She analyzed data from the 1975 and 1992/1993 waves of Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. In this presentation, she focuses on the gender difference in terms of work. The links below include her presentation file and complete abstract.

Download file

]]> Whether the overall trajectory of work status is related to health is
examined, adjusting for gender, health selection, SES, job
characteristics, health behaviors, and family impacts. Analyzing data
from the 1975 and 1992/1993 waves of Wisconsin Longitudinal Study, I
identify six patterns of work trajectories----stable full-time,
full-/part-time alternating, intermittent full-time, stable part-time,
diversified part-time, and never employed. Results show that: 1)
Better paid and less demanding jobs tend to present among work
trajectories with higher proportion of full-time employment, more
labor force participation, and higher stability. 2) Trajectory groups
differ in cardiovascular problems, depression, and probability of
self-reported overall health, particularly between stable full-time
and intermittent full-time or never employed trajectories. However,
these variations diminish after health selection, health behavior,
SES, family backgrounds, and family impacts are considered. 3) Women
tend to be in better cardiovascular health, more likely to report
being in excellent overall health, more depressed, and have more
musculoskeletal problems than men. Gender variations in health may
result from that women tend to engage in work trajectories with low
stability, smaller proportion of full-time employment, and more
disruptions. 4) Significant effects are found in health selection,
frequent exercise, BMI, smoking, psychological well-being, asset,
college education, physical job characteristics, farm origin, access
to health insurance, caregiving experience, and work status of spouse,
varying by magnitude and health outcomes.

Monday, March 21 Presentation

Please Join Us for the Fourth SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: "Health and Inequality: The Impact of Roads, Tracks and Footpaths on Accessibility to Health Care Facilities in Uganda."
Presenter: Susan Mlangwa (Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, March 21
Place: 915 Social Sociences Buidling

Susan will present a study, which shows access in form of roads, footpaths and intermediate transport do not make people more mobile, but simply fail to connect them with the services they use. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to health care access the study attempts to throw light on why national transport development has minimal impact on poverty alleviation in rural settings.

Download file

]]> Abstract
The aim of this paper is to present a suggestion that transport and road system is an important health determinant operating at the societal level with significant impact on the socioeconomic position of individuals within the society as regard to their differential accessibility means to health care facilitates. Using the integrated rural accessibility methodological framework and socioeconomic position as a fundamental cause of health theoretical framework, I contribute to the discussion on the role of socioeconomic conditions of societies in shaping individual socioeconomic positions that more directly affect health. There is a great deal of literature on the income, education and diet aspects of inequalities in health. However, the impact of mobility and proximity to health care facilities access has not been explored in this context. Moreover, the body of work, which does explore these elements in relation to health, does not address how they might impact on health inequalities. Drawing on empirical work, I discuss ways in which poverty prioritized transport and road system feed into the dynamic between people's access-related needs and optimum usage of health care facilities in a way which can produce, positive health outcomes. I further argue that the analysis of how changes in transport and roads planning (as a health determinant) in terms of level and distribution could work through into positive changes in health and health inequalities

Monday, April 4 Presentation

Please Join Us for the Fifth SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: "The Structural Sources of Associational Life: A Cross National Analysis."
Presenter: Wesley Longhofer (Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, April 4
Place: 915 Social Sociences Buidling

Wes will present his co-authored paper with Evan Schofer analyzing expanded associational life cross-nationally. They attempt to explain voluntary associations in the world with a neo-institutional perspective. Their paper abstract is linked below.

]]> We analyze cross-national data on civil associations in the contemporary period to identify the factors associated with expanded associational life. It is well known that the strength of civil society varies dramatically across societies. The few studies that seek to make sense of this fundamental variation are either limited to small samples or hampered by crude measures. We draw on a new source to compile a systematic cross-national dataset on voluntary associations for a large sample of nations. The literature emphasizes the role of individual-level characteristics such as education and trust as sources of civil society. In contrast, we draw upon recent work by Skocpol and others, as well as arguments from neo-institutional theory to advance a series of more structural arguments about national polity characteristics that are conducive to expanded associational life. Arguments are tested using regression analysis in the contemporary period. Results support a variety of arguments, particularly state-centric and structural claims regarding the sources of associational life. Finally, we show that the distinctive national configurations of civil society observed around the world can be explained by national variation on just a few structural factors.

Forum Infor: "Resetting The Clockwork"

Research and Policy Forum

Resetting the Clockwork: Possibilities for
Healthy Employees, Retirees, Families, Businesses and Communities

Friday, April 22, 2005
8:00 am � 5:00 pm
Cowles Auditorium, Humphrey Center
301-19th Avenue South

For registration and program, visit www.soc.umn.edu/clockwork
Space is limited!

Invited Speakers
Thomas Kochan, MIT Sloan School of Management
Marc Freedman, Founder and President of Civic Ventures
Chai Feldblum, Georgetown University Law Center
Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Boston College

Selected Topics
The need to rethink the time and timing of work and retirement
Can Minnesota lead in innovations in the ways we think about, talk about,
and arrange paid work, unpaid civic engagement, and retirement?
What are new ways to enlarge workplace flexibilities and options available
to Minnesota's working families, its changing work force and growing
"retired" force?
How can the state take advantage of older workers and retirees interested
In starting "second acts?"
Can Minnesota lead in moving from clockwork to effective work? In
designing new models of work, retirement, and civic engagement?

Panelists
Tom Gillaspy, Minnesota State Demographer
Steve Hunter, Minnesota AFL-CIO
Michelle Hynes, Experience Corp
Sally Kenney, Humphrey Inst Public Affairs
Dan Mikel, Retirees Council, Minnesota AFL-CIO
Jim Painter, ECM Publishers
Cali Ressler, Best Buy
Art Rolnick, Federal Reserve Bank
Louise Root-Robbins, Wisconsin Initiative
Jodi Sandfort, McKnight Foundation
Jim Scheibel, Ramsey Action Programs, Inc

Sponsors
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Carlson School of Management,
Center for Urban and Regional Affairs, College of Liberal Arts,
Department of Sociology, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs,
Life Course Center, McKnight Foundation, and
President�s Initiative on Children, Youth and Families

http://www.soc.umn.edu/clockwork/index.htm

Monday, April 18 Presentation

Monday, April 18 Presentation
Please Join Us for the Sixth SOCUP Brown Bag Lunch Meeting of the Semester!

Presentation Title: �Institutionalization of Software Regulation in the Academy�
Presenter: Lara Cleaveland (Sociology)
Time: 12:00-13:00, Monday, April 18
Place: 915 Social Sociences Buidling

Lara will present her research project on property rights, particularly "intellectual property rights." She argues that the relatively recent addition of computer programs to the protected subject matter of intellectual property law allows social scientists to examine the institutionalization of new legal developments. Her research abstract is linked below.

]]> Until very recently, modern sociological literature has paid very little attention to property rights, or even to broader connections between law and the economy. Sociologists who have begun to concentrate on these issues suggest that intellectual property, its legal protections, and the economic activity surrounding IP are important issues for future research. However, thus far, the literature has failed to specify what kind of research agenda might be fruitful. My prelim ties the broad literature on law, economy and organizations to a particular recent research agenda by neoinstitutional scholars focusing on regulation. I argue that the relatively recent addition of computer programs to the protected subject matter of intellectual property law allows social scientists to examine the institutionalization of new legal developments. The status of computer code (both hardware and software) as private property (through intellectual property law), is quickly becoming entrenched throughout the industrialized and developing world as an essential component of the neo-liberal free trade agenda. I argue that the normative environment among software developers and information technology professionals, especially within academic institutions, provides a viable alternative conception of software�s status as private property (one of open exchange and information sharing) and, therefore, an interesting site to examine the implementation (and negotiation?) of market protections.

Spring 2005 Presentations

Jan. 31, 2005 (1114 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Xinxiang Chen "Local Society in Modern State: the Dual-Rule-Gaming Society."

Feb. 21, 2005 (915 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Kasia Polanska "From Global to Local: the International Women's Human Rights Movement and the International Women's Rights Action Watch"

March 7, 2005 (1114 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Reiping Huang "A Trajectory Approach to Study on Work and Health"

March 21, 2005 (915 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Susan Nangwala Mlangwa "Health and Inequality: The Impact of Roads, Tracks and Footpaths on Accessibility to Health Care Facilities in Uganda"

April 4, 2005 (915 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Wesley Longhofer "The Structural Sources of Associational Life: A Cross National Analysis"

April 18, 2005 (915 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Lara Cleaveland �Institutionalization of Software Regulation in the Academy�

May 2, 2005 (915 Social Sciences, West Bank)
Erika Busse CANCELLED

Monday, May 2 Presentation

Erika Buse's presentation on Monday, May 2, 2005 is cancelled.

No SOCUP meeting on May 2. Erika's presentation is postponed to the upcoming semester.

Brooke Haugen's Undergraduate Research!

Our undergraduate student and great friend, Brooke Haugen, surveyed undergraduate students in my Introduction to Sociology course in Fall 2004. She has completed her study and presented her work wonderfully at the Sociology Research Institute that the Departmeng of Sociology, University of Minnesota held in April 2005.

Brooke's presentation slide, notes, and survey questionnair are linked below. If you are interested to learn more about her research, please contact me (shin104@umn.edu) with Brooke's consent I will be happy to provide you more information on this project.

This study investigates how people make judgements about deviant acts (physical assault, robbery, and theft) and the culpability and responsibility of offenders and victims involved. In particular, this research attempts to ascertain how the use of alcohol by the offender and/or victim influences those judgements. A random sample of 89 University of Minnesota students enrolled in Introduction to Sociology participated in a survey. The survey consisted of a collection of vignettes portraying alcohol use in the situations of the deviant acts. Each vignette manipulated intoxication of the offender and/or victim in each situation using between-subjects experimental designs. I compared the results between participants who drank more regularly with those who drank seldom, and found some significant difference in the two groups. I also analyzed whether or not intoxication of the offender and/or victim influenced these judgements, and found statistically significant differences in participants� responses in different situations. I also found significant differences when comparing the three types of crimes with each other and each dependent variable. People�s judgements on the alcohol intoxication of an offender and/or victim with certain deviant behaviors are an important social issue, because of the practical legal implications. These perceptions may be of everyday people or those of a jury. The legal system depends heavily on whether intoxication precludes criminal intentions in determining guilt and punishment (Wild et al, 1998).

Brooke�sPresentationSlide(pdf)

Brooke�sSurveyQuestionnaire(pdf)

Brooke�sPresentationNotes(pdf)

NO SOCUP FALL 2005

SOCUP will not meet this fall semester.