Author: Brereton, Ajalon

UConn Students Selected for Millennium Fellowship Program

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Check out UConn Today’s recent article titled “UConn Students Selected for Millennium Fellowship Program” where Caitlin Dadonna ’22 (Sociology) is recognized as one of the directors for the Millennium Fellowship Program. Only 6% of universities were selected by United Nations Academic Impact and the Millennium Campus Network. Congratulations Caitlin!

***Excerpt from article***

“The Millennium Fellowship leverages the energy and creativity of young leaders around the world in hopes of advancing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals,” says UConn Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Carl Lejuez. “UConn’s 13 Millennium Fellows, who join students representing 136 campuses in 30 different countries, are working actively advance these goals, and I’m pleased to see their hard work recognized through their selection to be a part of this global network of young leaders.”

Theresa Hopkins-Staten (Class of 1981): VP for Corporate Citizenship and Equity at Eversource Energy

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Check out a recent video published on Hartford Business titled “Theresa Hopkins-Staten, VP for Corporate Citizenship and Equity at Eversource Energy” where alumna Theresa Hopkins (SOCI 1981) discusses the various activities she has done in and around Greater Hartford.

 

Phoebe Godfrey: UConn Authors Exploring Just Sustainabilities

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Check out a recent article on UConn Today, titled “UConn Authors Exploring Just Sustainabilities,” where they interview Associate Professor in Residence of Sociology, Phoebe Godfrey, about a recent book of case studies she edited called Global Im-Possibilities which explores the concept of “just sustainabilities,” including policies, practices, and challenges, faced by individuals and governments working toward a more sustainable future.

***Excerpt from article***

Just sustainabilities” is a concept originated by Julian Agyeman from Tufts University, which he defines as “the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, whilst living within the limits of supporting ecosystems.” Essentially, this framework aims to achieve environmental sustainabilities in connection with expressions of social justice, rather than focusing primarily on one or the other. The emphasis on the plurality of possibilities is key in that it allows for place-based specific solutions that emerge out of the culture and needs of a given community.

Thomas Volscho: Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting

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Congrats to Sociology alum Thomas Volscho for winning the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting for his work on the ABC Radio News podcast Truth and Lies: Jeffrey Epstein. This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate the excellence of Edward R. Murrow in the broadcasting news profession.

***Excerpt from article***

“I worked on investigating Jeffrey Epstein’s finances and how he accumulated his fortune,” Volscho explained. “We found that Epstein began accumulating his real estate, airplanes, island, and other things shortly after selling stock on behalf of his billionaire client Leslie Wexner. I also reported on Epstein’s time as a teacher at the Dalton School and how he was dismissed, contrary to what he told people.”

 

Manisha Desai: Reflections on Decolonising the Transnational Feminist Analytic

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Manisha Desai

Check out Professor of Sociology and Asian and Asian American Studies, Manisha Desai, at the upcoming event:

"Reflections on Decolonising the Transnational Feminist Analytic" on October 7th, 2021 from 12:30pm-1:45pm.

While transnational feminist movements and praxis have a centuries old history, transnational feminism as an analytic emerged in the 1990s US academy in response to its own internal debates of theorising across difference and the larger context of the global gender equality regime that had emerged over the UN Women’s Decade and the Fourth World Conference in Beijing.

If Transnational Feminist Analytic (TFA) is to remain relevant as an example of theorising across differences, it needs to be in conversation with other imaginings across difference. In particular, Manisha Desai will highlight the need to attend to three such endeavors: decolonial feminisms that centre the settler coloniality of the Americas; Bahujan and Dalit feminisms that challenge the Brahmanic supremacy of unmarked Indian feminism; and decolonial, postsocialist feminisms that challenge the already recognized erasure of the erstwhile Second World from the transnational feminist analytic.

Register Here

Phoebe Godfrey: Sustainability, Community, and Food–Theory Meets Action for UConn Undergrads

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Check out a recent article on UConn Today, titled “Sustainability, Community, and Food–Theory Meets Action for UConn Undergrads,” where they recognize Associate Professor in Residence of Sociology, Phoebe Godfrey, as a faculty member dedicated to teaching classes for the Sustainable Community Food Systems Minor.

***Excerpt from article***

“Sustainable Community Food Systems provides motivated undergraduates with hands-on experiences in the community around issues of food, sustainability, and social justice,” says program co-founder and advisor Andrew Jolly-Ballantine, an associate professor-in-residence with UConn’s Department of Geography. “We designed the SCFS minor with the intent of providing UConn students with the kind of deep learning experience that is usually seen in small, liberal arts co-op or thesis programs.”

Now in its fourth year, the minor includes a core set of classes as well as a capstone thesis required of all participants, and the heart of SCFS is its dedicated team of faculty and mentors, including Phoebe Godfrey in Sociology; Kristina Wagstrom in Chemical Engineering; Jennifer Crushman in UConn Extension; and, until recently, Julia Cartibiano, former manager of Spring Valley Student Farm.