CWS2017

Anything on this?

I've already contacted some POIs and finished good drafts of personal statements. Excited but nervous! Interests: race/ethnicity, social movements, political sociology, historical sociology Schools: Wisconsin-Madison, Cal-Berkley, Harvard, UNC Chapel Hill, Northwestern, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Minnesota, Pittsburgh, CUNY.

Thanks, all good to know. Any suggestions for sociologists who study white people and justice matters? (Who don't use the CWS normative approach)

I'm not trying to get into an argument because I'm new to the field and want to learn about best academic fits. I'm genuinely curious, but do want to push back a little bit. I understand CWS isn't something you can just lump into "race/ethnicity" and "social movement" subfield buckets. What I meant was that my interests in studying social movements (likely Black Lives Matter, but also interested in the environment justice movement [i.e. the People's Climate March] A transnational approach of looking at BLM a European city and BLM allies in a US city also interests me) and how white people conceive themselves in the justice movement (as an ally, as being woke, why they see joined it, etc.) fall into those subfields. I'm also interested in exploring the juxtaposition between "wokeness" from white progressives and trumpism/political correctness from white conseratives. I understand not every race/ethincity subfield will have professors who study/cover/are interested in this, but there are that do. Furthermore, I want to study in Sociology particularly because I want the training in qualitative methods (particularly ethnography, participant observation, data analysis), and yes some of the training in quant as well so I'm not producing just empty narratives. However, to call CWS a normative research program solely in Ethnic Studies and Communications departments, just doesn't seem accurate. I've looked into a lot Ethnic Studies/American Studies programs, and no one has programs solely dedicated to critical whiteness. Yes, there are some professors who cover this from their programs, but it's not that widespread. And, a lot of them have backgrounds in sociology. From my research, it's similar to sociology, in that, there are professors that engage in exploring whiteness and scholarly work about it, and many who don't. It's clear this isn't a hot issue, and I'm comfortable in knowing that. I've always understood CWS has a line of inquiry into whiteness and challenging it, maybe I'm just mislabeling what I want to do. Not to blow up the conversation into bigger picture things, but just because whiteness isn't always being published in sociology journals, does that mean it's not necessarily a sociological issue? Aren't there plenty of topics/research that could be published in different disciplines? Aren't some of the better research being done overlap with other disciplines? Whiteness was/is explored by plenty of sociologists like Du Bois, McIntosh, Hughley, Bonilla-Silva, Joe Feagin, George Lipsitz, etc. I want a PhD in sociology, but understand I'll need a department that has a strength in interdisciplinary research with other departments (like an Ethnic Studies, History, etc.) I'm sorry for the long-winded response. It seems you're knowledgable and experienced in the field (like others on the board), so I want to know if I'm on the right track with my thinking.

Thanks for doing this! My main concern is that I was a History major (3.86 GPA), and my writing sample is my senior thesis for History, which isn't quant heavy at all. I've done a Fulbright ETA, worked on a Presidential campaign, and an organizer for different campaigns. It's all related because I want my research to be on social movements, and, particularly, white people's roles in the justice movement. How much does my academic background hurt? Should I be looking into MA programs to better my SOC credentials? Am I competitive applicant for some top tier programs? Thanks again.

Thank you for the response and suggestions, I will definitely look at those programs. I was honestly a bit confused by the initial comment because I was looking into interdisciplinary programs, but got cold feet because of job concerns. Looking at sociology programs, I saw a lot of schools with emphasis on race/ethnicity and social movements, and the questions asked seemed to be -- at the least -- tangentially related.

Hey all, I'm undecided on applying to any Sociology PhD programs, and leaning heavily towards interdisciplinary programs. That said, I plan on doing my research primarily on whiteness in social movements in the U.S. (allyship, "woke"ness), as well as study political correctness, and white masculinity. A lot of these topics seemingly fall under Sociology, so I wanted to see if there were programs I should really look into. I will definitely apply to UC Santa Barbara and potentially UMASS Ahmerst. But am I missing on anything else? My academic profile is 3.86 undergrad GPA (History major, Philosophy minor), co-founded undergrad journal, 1 paper published, 2 conferences. Fulbright ETA, Humanity in Action fellowship, and worked on Bernie Sanders campaign as field organizer. Although not totally related, I was also a freelance journalist for NY Daily News in HS sports. Will be taking GRE in October. I expect to have strong references, and I'm a good writer, so I'm not very concerned about writing solid POS/SOP. Any advice on programs would be much appreciated! Thanks!

Hey all, I plan on applying to American Studies, and other interdisciplinary PhD programs, for fall 2017. I've done plenty of research on my own, but wanted to know if any of you had suggestions for programs that have professors who research in the critical whiteness studies realm. I plan on doing my research primarily on whiteness in social movements in the U.S. (allyship, "woke"ness), as well as study political correctness, and white masculinity. My academic profile is 3.86 undergrad GPA (History major, Philosophy minor), co-founded undergrad journal, 1 paper published, 2 conferences. Fulbright ETA, Humanity in Action fellowship, and worked on Bernie Sanders campaign as field organizer. Although not totally related, I was also a freelance journalist for NY Daily News in HS sports. Will be taking GRE in October. I expect to have strong references, and I'm a good writer, so I'm not very concerned about writing solid POS/SOP. Any advice on programs would be much appreciated! Thanks!