UT Austin Sociology

01/20/2026

Please join us in celebrating Sociology Graduate Student Victoria Dominguez-Edington on being featured as a 2026 SXSW Mentor for startups! As a mentor for the Startup track, Victoria will meet one-on-one with entrepreneurs interested in learning more about the startup fundraising process. Check out details about Victoria's session here.

Browse events, build your schedule, and get personalized recommendations for the 2026 SXSW Conference & Festivals from March 12–18, 2026 in Austin, TX.

11/04/2025

Dr. Cavanagh and Dr. Crosnoe have published a new book, The Journey into Adulthood in Uncertain Times! They analyzed survey data from over five decades to assess whether young people today are either refusing or failing to grow up.

Concerns about the welfare of young adults have received increasing public attention. Numerous magazine and newspaper articles ask,

10/29/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Sierra-Arévalo, whose book The Danger Imperative has been named a finalist for the 2025 Hamilton Book Awards!

We’re proud to celebrate Michael Sierra-Arévalo, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Sociology, who was named a finalist for the 2025 Hamilton Book Awards for his powerful work, The Danger Imperative: Violence, Death, and the Soul of Policing.

The Hamilton Book Awards—co-sponsored by the University Co-op and UT’s Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors—honor outstanding literary and scholarly achievements across the university.

Dr. Sierra-Arévalo’s book offers a compelling look at how police officers’ daily exposure to danger and death shapes law enforcement culture, behavior, and reform efforts. His work highlights the depth of research and societal impact emerging from the College of Liberal Arts.

Congratulations to Dr. Sierra-Arévalo and all of this year’s nominees for advancing scholarship that deepens our understanding of the world. 🌟

09/29/2025

Sociology's Professor Sierra-Arévalo wrote the cover story for the October issue of Texas Monthly! The long-form article, "The Green Beret Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight," profiles Tim Kennedy, a veteran and MMA fighter turned manosphere influencer.

The popular manosphere influencer has built a career on his reputation as an MMA fighter and a Green Beret. But can we believe everything he says?

08/25/2025

Please join us in congratulating Kim Pernell on receiving SASE's 2025 Alice Amsden Book Award for Visions of Financial Order.

SASE's Alice Amsden Book Award goes to entries that represent some of the best socio-economic thinking. Visions of Financial Order was selected for this award from a pool of close to 40 entries!

Be sure to check out the committee comments on Kim's book here: https://sase.org/news/alice-amsden-book-award-2025/

Congratulations, Kim!

2025 Alice Amsden Book Award AnnouncementThe 2025 Alice Amsden Book Award Committee is delighted to announce the outcome of this year’s prize.The Committee had an exceptionally hard task in 2025, with close to 40 outstanding entries on a wide range of important topics.Among this exemplary field, t...

08/14/2025

Read the Liberal Arts Grant's Digest Q&A with Rob Crosnoe as he concludes his tenure as Senior Associate Dean of Research this August: https://rsograntsdigest.my.canva.site/

Rob served as Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies from 2019-2024 and as Senior Associate Dean of Research from 2024-25. Faculty, students and staff agree that the impact of the improvements that Rob has made for the College will continue to be felt for years to come. Sociology is excited that Rob will bring his insights and passion for research, teaching and administration to the Department full-time.

07/08/2025

Exciting news from one of our Sociology PhD alums! Check out her new book 🎓📘 Congrats on this accomplishment!

A troubling account of the unexpected impacts of treatment-based alternatives to criminal punishment. Every year, courts send hundreds of thousands of people to treatment-based programs as alternatives to traditional punishment. These alternatives—known as ‘diversion programs’—are widely cel...

07/02/2025

Doctoral student Amanda Nagle was quoted in the ProPublica article, "A 'Striking' Trend: After Texas Banned Abortion, More Women Nearly Bled to Death During Miscarriage."

Nagle, whose research focuses on blood transfusion data related to miscarriage care, shared her perspective in the article:

"'If people are seeking care at an emergency department,' Nagle said, 'there are serious health risks to delaying that care.'"

Check out the full piece here: https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-abortion-ban-miscarriage-blood-transfusions

Thank you for your hard work, Amanda!

A new ProPublica data analysis adds to the mounting evidence that abortion bans have made the common experience of first-trimester miscarriage far more dangerous.

06/30/2025

We are excited to congratulate graduate student María Ximena Dávila on receiving the American Sociological Association's Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant in support of her project, High-Risk Care: War, Toxicity, and Motherhood in Colombia.

Read more about María's project here and explore the other recipients: https://www.asanet.org/academic-professional-resources/asa-grants-and-fellowships/asa-doctoral-dissertation-research-improvement-grants-asa-ddrig/2025-asa-ddrig-recipients/

Congratulations, María, on this well-deserved recognition and support for your important work!

Audrey Augenbraum (University of California-Berkeley), Incarceration or release? Explaining shifting forms of supervision in US immigration control, 1907-1981.

06/12/2025

Please join us in congratulating Associate Professor Jordan Conwell on receiving the Early Career Award from ASA’s Sociology of Education section.

This award recognizes scholars early in their careers who have made outstanding contributions to the field of sociology of education through research, theory, or policy analysis.

Kudos, Dr. Conwell!

06/11/2025

Congratulations to CAPS Director Debra Umberson on being selected as the recipient of the Gerontological Society Association’s 2025 Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS) Section Distinguished Career Contribution to Gerontology Award!

The Distinguished Career Contribution Award is presented annually to an individual whose contributions over the course of his or her career have articulated a novel theoretical or methodological perspective or synthesis that addresses a significant problem in the literature. Dr. Umberson’s trans-disciplinary research focuses on the impact of the social environment on mental and physical health across the life course, with attention to diversity associated with gender, race, ethnicity, and sexual minority status.

06/03/2025

We’re excited to announce Dr. Becky Pettit as the new Director of Undergraduate Research for the College of Liberal Arts starting Aug. 15, 2025! She’ll lead major initiatives to expand and unify undergrad research.
Learn more: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/sociology/news/becky-pettit-named-next-director-of-undergraduate-research

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Pettit!

We are excited to announce that Becky Pettit, Barbara Pierce Bush Regents Professor in the Department of Sociology, will serve as Director of Undergraduate Research for the College of Liberal Arts, effective August 15, 2025. Dr. Pettit joined the college faculty in 2014 and in her tenure at UT has ...