Matt Von Vogt – Sociology

Congratulations to our Sociology Harward Center Award Winners!

Matt Von Vogt — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 17:41:12 +0000

Our Sociology courses value the opportunity to collaborate with our Harward Center for Community Partnerships, a terrific resource for developing Community Engaged Learning initiatives.

This year, the following Sociology students and faculty earned recognition for their engagements with the Harward Center and the Lewiston-Auburn community (names in bold):

Natalie Gersen ’28
Recipient of the Campus Compact Newman Civic Fellowship

Sivani Arvapalli ’26, Quinn Hughes ’26, Kate Rentzepis ’26, and Aleisha Martinez Sandoval ’26,
Recipients of the 2026 Award for Outstanding Community Volunteerism and Student Leadership

Molly Allison ’26, Paige Bilich ’26, Catalina Passino ’26, and Nathaniel Zuckerberg ’26
Recipients of the 2026 Award for Outstanding Academic Community Engagement

Hannah Stein ’29 and Elianna Umana Kimura ’29
Recipients of the 2026 Award for Outstanding Community Engagement by a First-Year Student (“Rookie of the Year” Award) (both students from a community-engaged sociology FYS)

Emily Kane, Professor of Sociology
Recipient of the 2026 Faculty Award for Outstanding Community-Engaged Work

Congratulations to everyone on their impressive efforts and contributions! For more information, see this blog post from the Harward Center.

Faculty Arrivals and Updates

Matt Von Vogt — Wed, 25 Jun 2025 18:10:14 +0000

�ֲ��ý Sociology is very pleased to let you all know about some upcoming changes in our Department!

Michael Rocque is moving to the Dean of Faculty’s office where he will become Associate Dean of Faculty starting in July of 2025 for a 3 year term. We have hired a Visiting Associate Professor, Kelsey Kramer, PhD, as his replacement. Dr. Kramer comes to us from Penn State University where she has been an adjunct professor. She received her PhD from Sam Houston State University. Her research examines the courts and sentencing systems and she is the creator of fat criminology, a look at how body size influences criminal justice outcomes. Dr. Kramer will be teaching a variety of criminological and sociological courses at �ֲ��ý. Welcome, Dr. Kramer!

In addition, Professor Marcelle Medford is taking a 1 year leave for an enhanced sabbatical. Her replacement for the year is Dr. Kayla Thomas. Dr. Thomas comes to us from Yale University where she studied under renowned sociologist Elijah Anderson. Dr. Thomas studies neighborhood dynamics in marginalized areas. Her dissertation examined the way community members handled transformations over time in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Dr. Thomas will be teaching a variety of courses in Africana and Sociology at �ֲ��ý. Welcome Dr. Thomas!

New Publication from Professor Duina

Matt Von Vogt — Tue, 24 Jun 2025 13:18:59 +0000

Congratulations to Professor Duina, whose co-edited volume, The Social Acceptance of Inequality
On the Logics of a More Unequal World, has been published by Oxford University Press. See to learn more about the book!

Professor Michael Rocque publishes an Op-Ed on CNN On Migrants and Crime

Matt Von Vogt — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:59:39 +0000

In an , Prof. Rocque detailed five reasons why immigrants are not bringing higher crime to the United States, despite the common view that migrants and crime are often linked.

Professor Michael Rocque on TV Speaking about Mass Shootings

Matt Von Vogt — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 18:11:03 +0000

Prof. Rocque offered his insights on what mass shootings entail and how they may be prevented during an extended interview on NBC’ KHQ TV in Spokane, WA (June 22, 2023). You can watch the interview .

Lecture with Elijah Anderson: “Being Black in White Space”

Matt Von Vogt — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 12:25:26 +0000

Join us November 10 at 4:15 for “Being Black in White Space,” an online lecture with Professor Elijah Anderson.

Register at

Professor Anderson is Sterling Professor of Sociology and of African American Studies at Yale University. His most recent publication is Black in White Space: The Enduring Impact of Color in Everyday Life (2022). His other publications include Code of the Street: Decency, Violence, and the Moral Life of the Inner City (1999), winner of the Komarovsky Award from the Eastern Sociological Society; Streetwise: Race, Class, and Change in an Urban Community (1990), winner of the American Sociological Association’s Robert E. Park Award for the best published book in the area of Urban Sociology; and the classic sociological work, A Place on the Corner (1978; 2nd ed., 2003). Anderson’s most recent ethnographic work, The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life, was published by WW Norton in 2011.

Thank you to all of the programs and departments sponsoring this event.