Cedric de Leon published a new book, Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity, and was featured on a KPFA radio show on "How Black Labor Created an Interracial Movement."
Tom Juravich was quoted in the New York Times Magazine's article, "How Contracting Work Became a Race to the Bottom."
Josh Kaiser has been selected as a 2025-2026 ISSR Scholar, with a project titled, "Systemic Penal Exclusion in the United States," and was awarded the SBS Outstanding Mentor Award, highlighting his mentorship with students in connection with his Reimagining Justice Lab, awarded at the Spring 2025 Four@Four.
Jasmine Kerrissey was awarded the SBS Outstanding Research Award, recognizing her distinguished research contributions, awarded at the Spring 2025 Four@Four. Kerrissey's co-authored publication (with Nathan Meyers) and co-authored publication (with Tiamba Wilkerson and Nathan Meyers), was referenced in Nathan Meyers's article in The Conversation.
Jennifer Lundquist's co-led UMass Stand Together Faculty Working Group published an open letter advocating for a coalition for action against pressure from the federal government in higher education, receiving nearly 5,000 signatures nationwide.
Joya Misra's co-authored research was cited in a Boston Globe column on workplace inclusion and decision-making. Joya's 2024 ASA Presidential Address, "Sociological Solutions: Building Communities of Hope, Justice, and Joy" was featured in the American Sociological Review, alongside a podcast. Misra was selected as one of this year's UMass Graduate School's Distinguished Graduate Mentors, honoring mentors for their guidance in research, teaching, strong support for students' professional development, and contributions to promoting diversity and inclusion in the graduate education at UMass. Misra was also selected to be a Research Associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Aida Villanueva Montalvo's Mutual Mentoring Grant project, "Latina Professors Mutual Mentoring for Success at UMass Amherst" was selected for funding by the Office of Faculty Development, for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Mark Pachucki and Tony Paik contributed to a resolution that passed the Faculty Senate, bringing higher education institutions together against government overreach that limits academic freedom and institutional governance. This collaborative effort was also highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education's, "These Faculty Senates Are Trying to Band Together to Stand Up to Trump," the Daily Hampshire Gazette's, "UMass faculty calls on land grant universities to join in fight against Trump administration; McGovern, AG also weigh in," and the Rachel Maddow show.
Tony Paik's research was cited in The Atlantic, in an article discussing "The myth of a loneliness epidemic." Paik (with Mark Pachucki) also contributed to a resolution that passed the Faculty Senate, bringing higher education institutions together against government overreach that limits academic freedom and institutional governance. This collaborative effort was also highlighted in The Chronicle of Higher Education's, "These Faculty Senates Are Trying to Band Together to Stand Up to Trump," the Daily Hampshire Gazette's, "UMass faculty calls on land grant universities to join in fight against Trump administration; McGovern, AG also weigh in," and the Rachel Maddow show.
Brian Sargent was awarded the SBS Outstanding Teaching Award, awarded at the Spring 2025 Four@Four.
Laurel Smith-Doerr's co-authored article, "Toward a Sociology of Artificial Intelligence: A Call for Research on Inequalities and Structural Change," is Socius' most downloaded article of 2024.
Don Tomaskovic-Devey co-authored an article in The Conversation, "We analyzed racial justice statements from the 500 largest US companies and found that DEI officials really did have an influence."