The University of Akron
AKRONews
Fall 2010 Issue
Editors: Baffour K. Takyi
Cynthia Steinel
Department of Sociology
Akron, OH 44325-1905
A MESSAGE FROM THE INTERIM CHAIR
DR. MATT LEE
Welcome to the Fall 2010 edition of AKRONews, the
annual newsletter of
the Department of
Sociology at the
University of Akron.
I am pleased to serve
the Department as
Interim Chair, now
that Dr. John Zipp has
been appointed as
Interim Associate
Dean in the Buchtel
College of Arts and
Sciences. I am assisted by Dr. Kathy Feltey, who is
serving as Associate Chair, and our Graduate Director, Dr.
Becky Erickson. I thank Dr. Zipp for his 12 years of service
to the department. These three wonderful people have
been very generous with their time and they have really
helped me make this transition as smooth as
possible. Needless to say, I have a new appreciation for
Department Chairs and all of the behind-the-scenes work
that they do, but more importantly I have a deeper
knowledge about how much they rely on the support of
others to get through the day!
I also have a better understanding of all of the hard work
put in by our office staff in order to keep the Department
functioning. We are fortunate that Christi Terry joined us
in February to help Tammy Dixon out in the
afternoons. And we are looking forward to the return of
Cindy Steinel, who has been on maternity leave this
semester taking care of her son Zack.
As you can see from reading the rest of this newsletter,
members of our Department continue to be quite
productive. From Dr. Erickson’s new NSF grant (see page
3), to Dr. Baffour Takyi’s appointment as a founding
member of the new NIH Grant Review College (page 3),
to Dr. Zipp’s ASA teaching award (page 2), our faculty
continue to make important contributions to research
and teaching. Our graduate students are also quite active
(see page 7 for some examples) and you will not want to
miss the discussion on pages 7 and 8 of how our faculty
and alumni have had an impact beyond the U.S. From
understanding medical issues in Nepal, to participating in
anti-corruption efforts in Ghana, it is clear that the
practice of sociology can make a difference in the world!
Enjoy reading the rest of the newsletter and please stay
in touch with us. We love hearing from you. Thanks
again to Dr. Takyi and Cindy Steinel for putting this
together.
preliminary data that will lead to the resubmission of a
larger $300,000 grant proposal to the National Institute
of Justice.
FACULTY AWARDS AND
RECOGNITION, 2010
Dr. Margaret Poloma
Margaret Poloma was a featured guest on a podcast
hosted by Professor Anthony Gill of the University of
Washington and a non-resident scholar at Baylor
University's Institute for Studies of Religion. She talked
about her new book The Assemblies of God: Godly Love
and the Revitalization of American Pentecostalism (coauthored with John Green). This book update her
critically-acclaimed 1989 work The Assemblies of God at
the Crossroads. Poloma notes
that although Pentecostalism is
commonly referred to as a
denomination, it maintains a
rather loose “umbrella” structure
that contains a number of
different theological and stylistic
identities. On what she calls
“routinization of charism,”
Margaret provides a number of
examples of how the spiritually-energized “immigrant
churches” within the AoG such as Pastor Bismark Osei
Akomeah’s Jesus Power Assembly of God (founded
in Ohio by Ghanaian immigrants and now with several
locations throughout the US) is helping to change the
church.
Dr. John Zipp
Dr. John Zipp, professor
of sociology and interim
associate dean in the
Buchtel College of Arts
and Sciences, was the
recipient of the Hans O.
Mauksch Award for
Distinguished
Contributions to
Undergraduate Sociology
given by the American
Sociological Association’s
Section on Teaching and
Learning in Sociology. The award was presented at the
American Sociological Association’s annual meeting in
Atlanta.
Dr. Zipp has joined the Dean’s Office as Acting Associate
Dean.
Dr. Mark Tausig
Dr. Tausig was appointed Associate Editor for the
journal: Society and Mental Health. He will serve till
2011.
Other appointments include the following:
Committee on Sections, American Sociological
Association, 2010-2012.
Chair, Committee on Sections, American
Sociological Association, 2011-2012
The December 2010 issue of the Journal for the
Scientific Study of Religion--a top journal in the field of
religion--has an article that examines Margaret and
Brian Pendleton's measures of prayer types. The fact
that that other scholars are still using their measure
which was originally published 20 years ago make their
work quite impressive. The article is titled "A
Psychometric Evaluation of oloma and Pendleton's
(1991) and Ladd and Spilka's (2002, 2006) Measures of
Prayer."
Dr. Brian Pendleton
Dr. Pendleton received a $21,795 grant fom the Ohio
Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services1.
The Prime Award is provided through a federal SAPT
Block grant from SAMHSA and will be used for his
project titled “The University of Akron Alcohol Abuse
Reduction Initiative.”
On 6th December 2010, Professor Poloma was
interviewed on her new book and recent research on
Godly Love by Professor Anthony Gill of the University
of Washington. Not only that, she used the opportunity
to share her extensive research on Pentecostalism in
America also with her audience. To listen to the
podcast, go to: http://www.researchonreligion.org/
Dr. Valarie Callanan
Congratulations to Dr. Callanan, the recipient of the
2009-2010 Faculty Mentoring Award presented by the
local chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta, the International
Sociology Honorary Society.
Dr. Callanan also received a Faculty Research Grant this
past year for $10,000. The grant will be used to collect
2
Dr. Baffour K. Takyi
Dr. Robert L. Peralta
Professor Takyi was appointed as a
founding member of the new
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Grant Review “College.” Members
of the College review application
grants by leading researchers from
around the world. He will serve for
two years and will review a
maximum of 12 grant applications
per year in his field. Members of
the College are also eligible for
continuous submission of their own
applications for one year.
Dr. Peralta, and Associate Professor in the department
was the keynote presenter at
The Ohio Board of Regents 2010
Summit on Ohio Campus Safety
& Security at Columbus, OH. The
title of his presentation was as
follows: “Toward Social Justice
and Human Rights: Notes on
Sociological Contributions to
Interpersonal Violence
Research.”
On a high note, Dr. Peralta was also awarded promotion
and tenure to Associate Professor status during the
academic year.
Dr. Rebecca J. Erickson
Professor Erickson and Dr. James M. Diefendorf of the
Psychology department have been awarded a two-year,
$189,620 grant from the National Science Foundation.
The funding will be used for their project titled "Identity
and Emotional Management Control in Health Care
Settings." In this project, Drs Erickson and Diefendorff
use a mixed methods design with a sample of full-time
registered nurses working in seven acute care hospitals
in the Midwest. Data will be
collected through written
questionnaires,
organizational records,
audio recordings and faceto-face interviews. By crossvalidating the findings from
both quantitative and
qualitative methods, the
researchers will be able to
specify how social contexts,
interactional events and the emotions that emerge
from them are experienced and managed in ways that
impact key dimensions of individual health and the unitbased effectiveness of nursing care provided within
hospital settings
FACULTY RESEARCH
VALERIE CALLANAN
Callanan, Valerie and Rosenberger, Jared S. 2010.
“Media and Public Perceptions of the Police: Examining
the Impact of Race and Personal Experience.”
Forthcoming: Policing and Society.
Presentations
Callanan, Valerie J., Jodi A. Ross, Jared S. Rosenberger
and Loni K. Yatsko. 2010. “Law and Order: Race and
Gender Depictions over 20 Years.” North Central
Sociological Association.
Peralta, Robert L., Valerie J. Callanan, Jennifer L. Steele
and Lia Chervenak. 2010. “The Effects of Gender Identity
and Heavy Episodic Drinking on Alcohol-Related
Violence.” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
Callanan, Valerie J. 2010. “Teaching Corrections: A
Discussion of Opportunities, Strategies and Issues.”
Invited discussant with Timothy Fielder and George
Kain. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.
This research will contribute to policy initiatives
surrounding evidence-based practice and the nursingrelated goals issued by the Institute of Medicine, with
the results translated into organizational policies and
practices that promote the well-being of both patients
and the nurses who care for them. This study builds on
Erickson’s previous $494,176 grant from the Bureau of
Health Professions, Health Resources and Services
Administration
CHERYL ELMAN
Cheryl Elman and Andrew London. “Racial Differences
in U.S. Family Structure: Multigenerational Living
Arrangements.” Social Science History (forthcoming).
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Center for Global Nonviolence and the Spark Matsunaga
Institute for Peace, University of Hawaii.
CHERYL ELMAN
Cheryl Elman and Andrew
London. “Racial Differences in
U.S. Family Structure:
Multigenerational Living
Arrangements.” Social Science
History (forthcoming).
Jean-Anne Sutherland and Kathryn Feltey. 2010 (editors).
Cinematic Sociology: Social Life in Film. CA: Pine Forge
Sage/Pine Forge Press.
RUDY FENWICK
Cheryl Elman. “The Midlife
Years: Human Capital and Job
Mobility.” In Richard A.
Settersten and Jacqueline Angel (Eds.) Handbook of
Sociology of Aging. Springer (Forthcoming).
Rudy Fenwick and Mark Tausig. 2010.
“Occupational Changes in Job Stressors in the U.S.A.,
Presentations
Presentations
1972-2006.” Pp. 203-221 in Different Perspectives on
Changes at Work. Edited by Paul-Andre Lapointe, Julien
Pelletier and Francois Vaudreuil. Quebec, Canada: Laval
University Press.
Jennifer Steele, Robert Peralta and Cheryl Elman. 2010.
“Simultaneous Polydrug Use: The Relationship between
Differential Association, Perceived Risk and the Mixing of
Alcohol and Nonmedical Prescription Drugs.” Paper
presented at the American Sociological Association
Meetings, Atlanta. 2010.
Rudy Fenwick and Mark Tausig. The Changing Nature of
Work and the Changing Nature of Work Stress. 12th
International Conference on Social Stress Research.
Portsmouth, NH, November, 2010
MATTHEW T. LEE
Ramiro Martinez, Jr., Jacob I. Stowell, and Matthew T. Lee.
2010. "Immigration and Crime in an Era of Transformation:
A Longitudinal Analysis of Homicides in San Diego
Neighborhoods, 1980-2000." Criminology, 48:797-829.
Chair, Membership Committee. American Sociological
Association. Section on Aging and the Life Course.
REBECCA ERICKSON
Editorial Boards - Social Psychology Quarterly
Rebecca J. Erickson. “The Emotional Demands of
Nursing.” Pp. 155-178 in Nursing Policy Research: Turning
Evidence-based Research into Health Policy, edited by Geri
L. Dickson and Linda R. Flynn. New York: Springer.
Rebecca J. Erickson. “The Context of Care: Reconsidering
Culture, Structure, and the Performance of Emotional
Labor.” Pp. 259-286 in Social Structure and Emotion, edited
by Dawn T.
KATHRYN FELTEY
Rachel Schneider and Kathryn Feltey. 2010. “No matter
what has been done wrong can
always be redone right”:
Spirituality in the Lives of
Imprisoned Battered Women.”
Violence Against Women 15:443459.
Matthew T. Lee. 2010. "Towards a
Nonkilling Society: A Case Study of
Individual and Institutional
Changes in Social Affinity within a
Religious Context." Pp. 365-387 in
Joám Evans Pim (ed.) Nonkilling
Societies. Honolulu, Hawaii: Center
for Global Nonkilling.
Margaret M. Poloma, John C. Green, and Matthew T. Lee.
2010. "Covenants, Contracts, and Godly Love." Pp. 188-206
in M. M. Poloma and J. C. Green, The Assemblies of God:
Godly Love and the Revitalization of American
Pentecostalism. NY: New York University Press.
Matthew T. Lee, Margaret M. Poloma, and John C. Green.
2010. "The Assemblies of God: Godly Love and the
Revitalization of American Pentecostalism." Review of
Religious Research 51:334-335.
Presentations
Matthew T. Lee. 2010. Presentation at a Formal
Roundtable (Altruism and Solving Global Problems) titled
"The Possibilities and Limitations of Religious-Based
Altruism for Solving Endemic Social Problems: Findings
from a Multi-Year Research Project" at the International
Society for the Comparative Study of Civilization‟s
Kathryn M. Feltey. 2010. “Is a
Nonkilling Society Possible? A
Sociological Response.” In
Towards a Nonkilling Paradigm, edited by Joám Evans.
4
conference in Provo, Utah (June).
Brian F. Pendleton, Schrop, S.L., Ritter, C., Kinion, E.S.,
McCord, G., Cray, J.J. Costa, A. J. 2010. “Underserved
patients' choice of kiosk-based preventive health
information.” Family Medicine 42
(7):488-495.
Marci Cottingham and Matthew T. Lee.
2010. "Conversion, Calling, and Spiritual
Transformation: Varieties of Pentecostal Experience" at
the North Central Sociological Association conference in
Chicago, IL (March).
Presentations
Do patients ask questions of their
family physician? Society for
Teachers of Family Medicine
Conference on Practice
Improvement. San Antonio (Dec.)
Margaret M. Poloma and Matthew T. Lee. 2010.
"Harvesting New Fields of Study: Lessons Learned from
Research on Godly Love" at the Society for Pentecostal
Studies conference in Minneapolis, MN (March).
STACEY NOFZIGER
Selecting literacy-appropriate patient education
materials- lesions learned from medical
students. Society for Teachers of Family Medicine
Conference on Practice Improvement. San Antonio
(Dec.)
Presentations
Nofziger, Stacey. “The relative stability of the impact of
self-control on deviance across adolescence and young
adulthood.” Poster Presentation at annual meetings of
the American Society of
Criminology, November 2009,
Philadelphia, PA.
Best practices for data collection and
maintenance. Ohio Association of Free Clinics.
Columbus, OH (Oct.).
Underserved patients’ preventive health state of
change: A report from NEON. Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality National PBRN Research
conference. Bethesda (June).
ROBERT PERALTA
Robert L. Peralta. 2010. “Raced
and Gendered Reactions to the
Deviance of Drinking: A
Sociological Analysis of Race and
Gender Disparities in Alcohol Use.” Contemporary Drug
Problems (forthcoming).
Patients do ask questions of their family physicians: A
report from NEON. Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality National PBRN Research Conference. Bethesda
(June).
Robert L. Peralta, Jennifer L. Steele, Stacey Nofziger,
and Michael Rickles. 2010. “The Impact of Gender on
Binge Drinking Behavior among American College
Students Attending a Midwestern University: An
Analysis of Two Gender Measures.” Feminist
Criminology (forthcoming).
Roundtable Discussion Leader Roundtable, Patient
Satisfaction: What Are You Measuring? Society for
Teachers of Family Medicine Conference on Patient
Education. San Antonio (Dec.)
RACHEL SCHNEIDER
Robert L. Peralta, Lori Tuttle and Jennifer L.
Steele. 2010. “At the Intersection of Interpersonal Vio
lence, Masculinity, and Alcohol Use: The Experiences of
Heterosexual Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner
Violence." Violence Against Women 16(4): 387-409 .
Michelle Bemiller and Rachel Zimmer Schneider. 2010.
“It’s Not Just a Joke.” Sociological Spectrum 30:459-479
Robert L. Peralta. 2010. "Hey, Don't Blame Me... Blame
the Booze." in Alex Thio, Thomas C. Calhoun, and Ad
drain Conyers (eds.), Readings in Deviant Behavior. Bos
ton: Allyn and Bacon.
Presentations
Schneider, Rachel Zimmer.
“Women in Prison: Teaching the
Links between Victimization and
Offending.” Annual Meeting of
the North Central Sociological
Association and the Midwest
Sociological Society, Chicago, IL,
April 2010
BRIAN PENDLETON
BAFFOUR TAKYI
Baffour K. Takyi, Chris-Opoku-Agyeman, and Agnes
5
Kutin-Mensah. 2010. “Religion and the Public Sphere:
Religious Involvement and Voting Patterns in Ghana’s
2004 Elections.” Africa Today 56(4): 62-86.
Hwang, Sean-Shong, Juan Xi, and Yue Cao. 2010. “The
Conditional Relationship between English Language
Proficiency and Earnings among U.S. Immigrants.” Ethnic
and Racial Studies.33:1620-1647
Gyimah, Obeng Stephen, Eric Y. Tenkorang, Baffour K.
Takyi, Jones Adjei, and Gabriel Fosu. 2010. ‘Religion, HIV/
AIDS and sexual risk-taking among men in Ghana.’ Journal
of Biosocial Science 42:531-547.
Xi, Juan and Sean-Shong Hwang.
2011. Unmet Expectations and
Symptons of Depression among the
Three Georges Project Settlers.
Socicial Science Research 40:245-256.
Kwasi Yirenkyi and Baffour K. Takyi. 2010. “Some Insights
into Atheism and Secularity in Ghana.” Zuckerman, Phil
(ed.): Atheism around the World. Westport, CT: Praeger/
Greenwood Press.
Presentations
Xi, Juan and Sean-Shong Hwang.
“Unmet Expectations
and Depression among the Three Gorges Project Reset
tlers.” Annual Meetings of the American Sociological Asso
ciation. Atlanta GA. 2010
MARK TAUSIG
Amod Pyakuryal, Mark Tausig, Sree Subedi and Janardan
Subedi. 2010 (forthcoming). “Strangers in a Familiar Land:
The Psychological Consequences of Internal Migration in a
Developing Country.” Stress and Health.
Xi, Juan and Sean-Shong Hwang. “Relocation Stress, Cop
ing, and Sense of Control among Resettlers Resulting from
China’s Three Gorges Dam Project.” Presented at the an
nual meeting of the American Sociological Association,
Atlanta GA. 2010
Mark Tausig, Janardan Subedi, Christopher Broughton,
Jelena Pokimica, Yinmei Huang and Susan L. Santangelo.
2010 “The Continued Salience of
Methodological Issues for Measuring
Psychiatric Disorders in International
Surveys.” International Journal of
Mental Health and Addiction.
JOHN ZIPP
“Sport and Sexuality: Athletic Participation by Sexual
Minority and Sexual Majority Adolescents in the U.S.” Sex
Roles 64:19-31 (2011).
Fenwick, Rudy, and Mark Tausig.
2010. “Occupational Changes in Job
Stressors in the U.S., 1972-2006.” Pp.
203-221 in Different Perspectives on Change at Work. Edited
by Paul-Andre Lapointe, Julien Pelletier and Francois
Vaudreuil. Quebec, Canada: University of Laval Press.
GRADUATE STUDENTS NEWS
AND HIGHLIGHTS
Presentations
Rudy Fenwick and Mark Tausig. The Changing Nature of
Work and the Changing Nature of Work Stress. 12th
International Conference on Social Stress Research.
Portsmouth, NH, November, 2010
FALL 2010 GRADUATE STUDENTS
Peter Barr, DeMario Brantley, Lori Hale, Joy Harvell, Kasey
Lansberry, Sara Piasecki
AKD NEWS Update
JUAN XI
AKD would like to thank everyone who attended the
banquet for making it a successful event. The 2010-2011
representatives are:
Hwang, Sean-Shong, Yue Cao, and Juan Xi. 2010. “The
Short-Term Social, Economic, and Health Impact of China’s
Three Gorges Dam Project: A Prospective Study.” Social
Indicators Research Forthcoming.
President: Lia Chervenak/Jared Rosenberger
Vice President: Mike Steiner
Secretary/Treasurer: Danielle Shaw
Service Chair: Nicole McElroy
Social Chair: Jen Steele
Xi, Juan, Sean-Shong Hwang, and Yue Cao. 2010.
“Ecological Context and Immigrants’ Earnings: English
Ability as a Mediator.” Social Science Research. 39:652-661
Hwang, Sean-Shong, Yue Cao, and Juan Xi. 2010.
“Project-induced Migration and Depression: A Panel
Analysis” Social Science and Medicine.70:1765-72.
AKD STUDENT AWARDS 2010
Outstanding Paper – Angela Adkins
Outstanding Student Service Award – Daysha Lawrence
6
Outstanding Student Award – Lia Chervenak
Outstanding Student Teaching Award – Liza Grossman
Peer Mentor Award – Daysha Lawrence
Faculty Mentor Award – Kathy Feltey
Jennifer Steele, Robert Peralta and Cheryl Elman. 2010.
“Simultaneous Polydrug Use: The Relationship between
Differential Association, Perceived Risk and the Mixing of
Alcohol and Nonmedical Prescription Drugs.” Paper
presented at the American Sociological Association
Meetings, Atlanta. 2010.
Congratulations to our recent graduates
Doctor of Philosophy Degree (PhD)
Literally On Top of the World!
Dr. Erin Pryor
Dissertation Title: “Interracial Romantic Coupling and the
Color Line: Color-Blind Ideology among Black-White
Couples .”
By Dr Mark Tausig, Professor of Sociology
Associate Dean, Graduate School
Erin started her new position as a Visiting Assistant
Professor at St. Norbert's College, Depere, Wisconsin in
Fall, 2010.
Dr. Stacye Blount
Dissertation: Negative Spillover and Mental Health: The
Moderating Effects of Sociodemographic Characteristics,
Family Characteristics, and Socioeconomic Resources”
Stacye began her new position as Assistant Professor -Fayetteville State University, North Carolina, Fall, 2010.
That is Mount Everest in the background and how I got
there is a story of how the careers of sociologists can be
unpredictable. Back in 1986 I directed the dissertation of
Janardan Subedi (now Professor of Sociology at Miami
University-Ohio) on medical pluralism in Nepal. At his
invitation I visited Nepal in 1994 and we have been doing
research there ever since. At last count we have now
published 9 journal articles, 2 book chapters and given 20
papers related to the Nepal mental health system, the
mental health of Nepalis and the ethics of medical
research in developing countries. Many of these papers
have been co-authored with other UA graduate students
including, Sree Subedi, Chris Broughton, Jelena Pokimica,
Yinmei Huang and, Amod Pyakuryal. None of this was
planned- I had and still have other research interests- but
my experience illustrates the way that careers can take
unexpected turns and how intertwined the lives of
students and faculty members can become. A trek to
Mount Everest was a side benefit of all this work and, no, I
didn’t climb to the top.
Master’s Degree (MA)
Lia Chervenak
Valiant Logan
Justin Oldaker
Jared Rosenberger
Suzanne Stachel
Lori Turttle
Loni Yatsko
Kyle Zellman
PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Daniela Jauk and Kathryn Feltey. Book Review of Imagining
Transgender. An Ethnography of a
Category by David Valentine (2007)
for Sex Roles 63:445-447
Daniela was also awarded the 2010
Outstanding Student Service Award
by the department.
Callanan, Valerie and Rosenberger,
Jared S. 2010. “Media and Public
Perceptions of the Police: Examining
the Impact of Race and Personal Experience.”
Forthcoming: Policing and Society.
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ALUMNI BRIEFS
Mr. Vitus A. Azeem (MA, 1997), is the Executive Sec-
In this issue of SOCNEWS, we profile three of our alumni
and their work since leaving Akron: Dr Ansar Ahmed and
Mr. Vitus Azeem. Also featured is a book co-authored by
Michelle B. Miller who is now an assistant professor at
Kansas State University.
retary of The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII). Since leaving Akron
for his native Ghana, Vitus has
used his sociological training and
knowledge in diverse ways, including helping to develop civic
society and transparency in
Ghana. Among its various activities, GII provide some support for
the evolution of strong institutions of governance-especially those directly involved in
anti-corruption activities. It also train and advises the
populace about their civic rights and duties.
Dr. Ansar Ahmed (PhD, 1989), is the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness and Accountability at
the University of the District of Columbia in Washington, DC. Dr. Ahmed
has served in several capacities
throughout his professional career;
starting out as a professor and a researcher, and in more recent years,
working in university administration.
Another work of GII is that it lobbies for legislative reforms—especially when it comes to anti-corruption
rules, enforcement procedures and rules for free media.
Furthermore, the organization liaises with other international anti-corruption bodies around the world. Prior
to his current appointment, he worked ——. His work
has taken him all over the world—US, Europe, Asia included!!! When I contacted him about our intent to feature him in this issue of SocNews, Vitus was in Hong
Kong attending a meeting on governance.
Prior to assuming the position at UDC,
he was the Associate Dean for the School of Humanities
and Social Sciences at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Before that, he was Professor and Sociology Department Chair at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio.
As a tactical and strategic manager in university administration, Dr. Ahmed is involved in program assessment
and evaluation, monitoring academic standards, curricular
development, enrollment management and retention
efforts, and in coordinating and resolving competing
needs within the institution. In his role as Associate Provost, Dr. Ahmed is responsible for planning, managing,
overseeing, and the directing the University’s institutional
research and institutional effectiveness agenda.
You can contact Vitus at the address below:
Vitus A. Azeem
Executive Secretary
Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII)
P.M.B. CT 317,
Hse No. 21 Abelenkpe Road, Abelenkpe, Accra GHANA
Tel Nos: +233-302-782364/5;
Also +233-302-760884
Fax No: +233-(0)302-782365
Office e-mail: [email protected]
As a professor, he taught courses in research methodology, applied sociological research, social inequalities, and
global issues. His research is focused on community development issues, with a specific concentration on gender
empowerment and human development. More recently,
he has been looking at the relationships between dysfunctional factors (like corruption) and how it impacts
human development. He has also done research in the
areas of academic issues and challenges.
Dr. Michelle Bemiller (PhD, 2005)
L. Susan Williams and Michelle Bemiller. 2010. Women
at Work: Tupperware, Passion Parties, and Beyond.
Boulder Colorado: Lynne Rienner.
Dr. Ahmed has won the Strosacker Award for Teaching
Excellence at Baldwin-Wallace College, and was recognized by Ohio Magazine with an Excellence in Education
award. He has presented his research in several international conferences, and has publications in academic journals and edited books. Dr. Ahmed has a collaborative
leadership style and believes in teamwork as a solution to
challenges.
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ALUMNI BRIEFS (continued)
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT
NEWS
Lori Andrews (BA, ‘94)
Lori is Technology Coordinator in the Career Development
Center at Minnesota State University, in Mankato
Minnesota.
2010 Rogler Scholarship Winners ($1,000 each)
Courtney Verardi
Christopher Weil
Michele Kalabon
Dr. Denise Baird (BA, ’92)
Denise is an associate professor of sociology at Franklin
College, Indiana, received the 2007 Franklin College
Faculty Distinguished Service Award. Baird holds master’s
and doctorate degrees in sociology from Purdue
University.
2010 Rogler Scholarship Winners ($500 each)
Sean Brown
Rebecca Jackson
2010 Fisher Scholarship Winner s ($500 each)
Joshua Snyder
Courtney Modie
Dr. Nicole Bouchet, (PhD ‘ 04)
Nicole is a Statistician for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA).
2010 Outstanding Undergraduate Award
Thomas Kychun
Anazette Hudson, (BA ‘10)
Anazette is teaching English in South Korea for a year
beginning in September, 2010, at a private language
school for children. While in Korea she plans to get her
certification to teach English as a Second Language (ESL)
and continue teaching.
Below: 2010 Women in Higher Education Banquet
Dr. Benjamin Lewin,
(MA ‘01)
Ben is a professor of
Comparative Sociology at the
University of Puget Sound in
Tacoma, WA. He specializes in
medical sociology. His interests
include understanding the
connections between
pharmaceutical direct-toconsumer advertising and
physician-patient interactions, and in understanding the
impact of the pharmaceutical industry on medicalization,
which is the process by which certain behaviors come to
be defined as medical issues and move under the control
of the medical institution.
Suzanne Slusser, (PhD, ‘09)
Suzanne is a full-time Instructor at Valdosta State
University, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and
Criminal Justice, Valdosta, GA.
Dana Williams, (PhD ‘09)
Dana is a tenure-track assistant professor at Valdosta
State University, Department of Sociology, Anthropology
and Criminal Justice, Valdosta, GA.
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DONATIONS
SCHOLARSHIPS CHANGE LIVES
Surrendra Adhikari
Don Andrews
Gregg Andrews
George Bachmann III
Martha Beattie
Keary Crim
William Eltrich
Maryann Kelly
Sharon Mast
Jane M. Miller
Lynne Miller
Mary Noetzel
Jean Bell Scott
Lauren Seifert
Shubhasree Subedi
Dorothy Suther
Peri-Marrie Todd
Richard Trammell
Olivia Yukie
Many students today cannot afford the cost of a college
education and rely on the availability of scholarships to
pursue their dream of achieving a college degree in their
field of interest. The University of Akron is proud of it’s
top-notch Department of Sociology, whose alumni and
friends are especially mindful of students’ needs.
A scholarship in your name can be established for as little as $10,000. For information on contributing your support or for making a donation of any denomination,
please contact:
Evelyn C. DiBello
Director of Development,
Buchtel College of Arts & Sciences
(330) 972-2575
[email protected]
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
AKRONews is a publication of the Department
of Sociology, University of Akron, Akron OH 443251905. Its purpose is to provide news concerning the
activities of the Department, including teaching, research, scholarship, and service.
Contributions and comments are welcomed.
Please direct all correspondence to:
Dr. Baffour K. Takyi [Editor]
[email protected] or 330-972-6887
We encourage you to visit our website at
www.uakron.edu/sociology
MEET OUR OFFICE STAFF
Tammy Dixon
Administrative Assistant
[email protected]
Dr. Brian Pendleton’s 60th birthday!
Pictured with Brian are Drs. Rudy Fenwick (who
celebrated his 60th earlier in the year!), Mark Tausig
and Kathy Feltey (in the Newman Library).
Cynthia Steinel
Computer Support
[email protected]
Christi Terry
Office Assistant
[email protected]
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