Chris Fiduccia and Alex Collins answer questions from sociologists who stopped by to view their research

Alex W. Collins and Chris Fiduccia, both seniors majoring in sociology at William Paterson, jointly won an award for the best presentation of their research at the 2009 annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society (ESS) in Baltimore in March. They placed first in a field of 40 entries in the conference’s undergraduate poster session.

Their research, “Sex Offender Registry Research: Community Place and Characteristics,” combined use of New Jersey data on registered sex offenders with on-site visits to urban and suburban locales to determine if any connection existed between the “broken-windows theory” (areas with higher vandalism and littering have more major crimes) and where these sex offenders lived. They found such a connection did exist.

Other sociology students who presented their research were Meredith J. Peters, “Quality of Police Contact: The Effects of Contact on Citizens’ Attitudes toward Police Officers,” and Tiffany C. Matos, “Minority Violence: The Caged Animal Effect.” All four students based their presentations on research they did for their Senior Seminar in Criminal Justice under Sociology professor, Sheetal Ranjan during the Fall 2008. Student participation in the ESS was funded by the MOST program.

In addition, three graduate students enrolled in the M.A. program in applied sociology participated in the meeting. Lesleigh Campanale presented her research, “White Racial Identity Formation in a Suburban New Jersey Community,” at a paper session. Michael Prohaska and William Graulich presented at a roundtable session on teaching undergraduate sociological theory courses.

Sociology faculty who presented their latest research papers were Jacob Felson, “Nature v. Nurture: How Much Do Twin Studies Tell Us?;” Gennifer Furst, “Bringing Change to Prisons;” and Keumjae Park, “The Korean Transnational Family: Global Education and the Reproduction of Class Privilege.” Sociology professors who served as presider/discussants in other sessions were Charley Flint, Kathleen Korgen, Jacob Felson, Paula Fernandez, James Mahon, and Vince Parrillo. Parrillo, as ESS vice president, also presided over two of the three plenary sessions. In addition, Emily Mahon, ESS executive officer and sociology adjunct professor, coordinated logistics for the four-day conference, which was attended by nearly 1,200 people. The Eastern Sociological Society is a nonprofit, regional, professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence in sociological scholarship and instruction. It draws members from Maine to North Carolina and publishes the highly acclaimed quarterly journal Sociological Forum.

(Left to right) Professors Keumjae Park, Vince Parrillo, and Sheetal Ranjan with students Tiffany Matos and Meredith Peters

Sociology faculty who presented their latest research papers were Jacob Felson, “Nature v. Nurture: How Much Do Twin Studies Tell Us?;” Gennifer Furst, “Bringing Change to Prisons;” and Keumjae Park, “The Korean Transnational Family: Global Education and the Reproduction of Class Privilege.” Sociology professors who served as presider/discussants in other sessions were Charley Flint, Kathleen Korgen, Jacob Felson, Paula Fernandez, James Mahon, and Vince Parrillo. Parrillo, as ESS vice president, also presided over two of the three plenary sessions. In addition, Emily Mahon, ESS executive officer and sociology adjunct professor, coordinated logistics for the four-day conference, which was attended by nearly 1,200 people.

The Eastern Sociological Society is a nonprofit, regional, professional organization dedicated to promoting excellence in sociological scholarship and instruction. It draws members from Maine to North Carolina and publishes the highly acclaimed quarterly journal Sociological Forum.