on procrastination

I was talking with my emeritus colleague, Alan Silver, this weekend in the office, lamenting the fact that I was so behind on so many things and yet managed to nonetheless still procrastinate. He shared this Samuel Johnson essay with me, from the Rambler. I thought others might enjoy it. 

pressing asa question

Dearest Scatterbrains – I’ve been asked to help construct the ASA restaurant guide this year. I’m rather excited about the chance to write a snarky guide (“Are you sitting at the bar? No? Get up and move to the bar…”*). But in all seriousness, are there any elements you’d like to see in the dining […]

adventures in writing for a larger audience

I’ve recently started writing for places that have larger audiences. Today a piece came out in Time, which will probably be part of something more regular (one a month) that I write on class, inequality, elites, and social science research. And earlier this summer I had an op-ed in the NY Times. It’s been a […]

more on the fbi

Richard Swedberg just sent me a note about a book which explores the role of the FBI in surveilling American sociologists (chapters on DuBois, Burgess, Ogburn, Lynds, Frazier, Sorokin, Parsons(!!!), Blumer, Stouffer, Mills, and Sutherland). I have not read it. But those interested might check it out… It’s “Stalking the Sociological Imagination” by Mike Keen.

topical humor?

Sent to me by my old advisor, I got a kick out of this… Happy job market! One day while walking downtown, a well-known sociologist was hit by a bus and was tragically killed.  Her soul arrived up in heaven where she was met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter (a social construction) himself. […]

c. wright mills’ fbi file

Perhaps you need an ASA distraction? A group of French researchers asked me to get a copy of C. Wright Mills’ FBI file. I did. Why not share? Here is C. Wright Mills FBI File, for your viewing pleasure.

putting my class online

So… I’m thinking of putting my Intro class online this year. Two questions:  1.) Any resources I should look into for doing this? Things you’d recommend and/or avoid?  2.) Any words of wisdom to push me over the edge one way or the other? Is this the greatest thing I’ll ever do, or the worst? […]

ode to my father

I’m off to see my brother in London on Monday. He’s recently become a father. And it’s gotten me thinking about my own dad. He’s a pretty astonishing guy. At least to me. My dad was born in rural Pakistan. He was born in a village, Futoke, in the Punjab region of Pakistan. You won’t […]

verifying results

Lisa Wade recently made me aware that a group of psychologists have decided to try and verify the results of every article written in three journals in 2008. I think this is a great idea. And the likelihood that the results can be replicated look pretty unlikely. As the Chronicle piece I’ve linked to points […]

herb gans interview

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Herb Gans and interviewing him on a forthcoming article, as well as his career in sociology. The interview is now online, alongside his article (which is provokative, and gave me a lot to talk about). I hesitated to post this because I worried that it would seem […]

10 steps: from dissertation to book contract

Part 1 in the series. So you want to publish your dissertation as a book. Here are 10 steps to getting that done. I encourage others to add more in the comments. Step 1: Have a decent chunk of work ready to distribute In general, the book needs to be pretty much written before you can […]

book contracts, take 1

So, a few people asked me to write about getting and negotiating a book contract. I hesitate in part because others have more experience than I do in this field. But still, I think there’s a lot of what I would think of as misinformation out there about “the contract” and so I thought I […]

organizations, occupations, and work

NEW BLOG ALERT: The Organizations, Occupations, and Work section has started up its own blog. Check it out! http://oowsection.org/ I think this is a wonderful idea — an ASA section setting up a blog to discuss ideas, convey interesting research in their area, and dialogue with the public. Check them out. Welcome to the sociology […]

confronting intolerance

I fear that Robert Jeffress’ recent comments are a harbinger of things to come — the public expression of intolerance and bigotry. Now, had this happened against Jews, or gays, or Muslims, or women, or Lations, (that is, “you should vote for Perry over X person because X belongs to _______ group”) I suspect there would have […]

a hero of our time

I posted something on facebook that was rather critical of Steve Jobs. Teppo asked that I discuss it at greater length on scatterplot. So here goes. I think people are not wrong to suggest that Jobs was one of the most influential people of the last quarter century. I would call him “A Hero of […]