lastdazeman
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Posts posted by lastdazeman
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Wow, thank you to both of you for this help, that was a great start.
@ Coffe-ology
Thanks for the advice. I was shying away from Sports Psychology programs because they mainly seemed to be headed into a counselor direction which is not necessarily my goal. I was more interested in the academic aspects of sports. But I will take a closer look. Maybe the programs differ!?
@ lastdazeman
Thank you too! That was a whole lot of great information. I will definitely contact Doug Hartmann, Rick Eckstein, and Dana Moss. The topic from the ASA Annual Meeting also sounded very interesting. Race and Sports or Gender and Sports also sound very interesting and, in fact, were part of my understanding of a whole study that is concern with the sociology of sports. Where can I see these courses/seminars/talks? Were they lectures at the meetings or courses you found at some universities?
Thank you both again for the quick help, it was very helpful and substantive so I have a nice starting point! I'm looking forward to more suggestions as well though ;-)
Cheers,
Daniel
See if this link gets you there -
The American Sociological Association is one good place to start to look for who is doing research on various things.
Good luck!
LDM
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Hi everybody,
I am a new member and I joined this forum because I really need your help ;-). I'm currently at the beginning of the long way towards applying to grad school. I would love to enter an academic track that allows me to study sports not from a business or coaching standpoint but from an academic point of view with the goal of research and possibly teaching in mind. For example, programs in Sports Sociology or Sports Communication would be great. However, it seems quite difficult to find such a program. Even when I went through the course descriptions of the sociology departments of some well-known graduate schools, I couldn't find any sports-related courses. I was wondering if I could find help here in the forum: does anyone of you know of a program that allows for an academic/research focus on sports?
Your help will be greatly appreciated!
Daniel
I looked through the 2009 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting and found precious little on the sociology of sports. The best was 434. Regular Session Sociology of Sport headed by Doug Hartmann from the University of Minnesota. He has taught a course http://www.soc.umn.edu/~hartmann/courses/index.html
I could contact him for you or you could maybe connect with him yourself. I actually took a sociology course last fall taught by his spouse.
The other speakers at that session who might be a good resourses for you were Rick Eckstein and Dana Moss of Villanova University.
As I searched through the sessions at the ASA Annual Meeting I found that much having to do with sports was in conjunction with something else like Sports and Race, Sports and Gender, etc.
Good luck. Let me know if I can help in any way.
LDM
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Since I am on the quarter system, I still have about a month of school left. I am doing a contract on theory, and I am watching a lot of movies for my contract.
I am packing the house. At the end of June, we plan to to pack completely and store our stuff in our new town. Then we are going to head to the mountains and camp for the month of July.
In August we will move in, get the kids settled and I have orientation by mid month.
lastdazeman, if you don't mind saying, where are you going to be going?
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. Proud to join the Boilermakers.
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It's been decades since undergrad so I feel like I need to get back into the right frame of mind. I took a grad course Fall 2009 so I've got a start.
Through an online book exchange I've been trading books I've read and those that I know I will never get a chance to read for those I probably will need.
I started getting familiar with the statistics package I know I will be using and I hope to get a chance to review research methods.
I also have been spending a little time trying to improve my writing. I've been using an online writing group where we review one another's work. There is also the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
I've started reading some papers and polling my interdisciplinary network for research areas, for those hot topics that are likely to be interesting areas during the years I'm in grad school and following. I've been searching for research and if any papers have been published by sociologists in one particular area in which I am very interested.
Since was laid-off last August I have been working intermittently. I had a gig going during all of February and half way through March. I got another assignment the last week of April and that may give me 40 hours a week for another month or so. After I was accepted to grad school in early April (got off the waiting list) I began to poke into research methods, statistics, reading, honing my writing, polling my network, etc. When I visited the campus I asked most everyone how to best invest the 18 weeks between then and when I start my grad school career. Now that I'm working 40 hours per week I probably won't get much chance to do any of that stuff until the assigment ends (they run out of work for me to do).
Ya gotta love it!
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I just want to throw it out there that Purdue University is also a very solid place to study the sociology of religion. Fenggang Yang and Dan Olson are both great scholars who have developed impressive reputations in the field. They're also fairly young (both associate professors) and are committed to working with students. Purdue is supposed to hire another soc. of religion scholar at some point over the next two years to replace Jim Davidson. If you're interested in religion, I'd look into Purdue. The website is very informative and if you have any additional questions, feel free to PM me.
Notre Dame and Duke are also great soc. of religion schools that I haven't seen mentioned. Best of luck in the applications process.
I'll be at Purdue Fall 2010. I did not forget what you said in this post several months ago. Now that I have spent some time with Dan Olson, Fenggang Yang, Jill Suitor, several other professors, and the sociology of religion graduate students who have been at Purdue for various numbers of years, it is easy for me to understand your enthusiasm for the sociology of religion at Purdue.
Thank you
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What are you hoping to do after you complete the Ph.D.? I'm guessing that you're not terribly concerned about the tenure track since it sounds like you're already financially secure. That gives you the freedom to expand the scope of your search a bit beyond the top-ranking departments and consider geography. I have found sociology to be very meritocratic relative to the other fields I'm familiar with (namely law and poli sci) - if you're able to dedicate yourself to producing and publishing quality work, I think you'll be taken seriously wherever you study. Why not start taking courses at the nearest school with social science grad courses as a non-matriculated student this fall so you can begin the process of accumulating credits and gaining the letters you'll need this application season? Most grad courses only meet 1-2 days a week, so don't be afraid to look at universities a few hours away from you. That would give you connections to faculty that might be able to consult with you on your applications, even if they're not experts on religion themselves.
There are plenty of flagship state schools doing good work that would love to have you - especially if you could forgo fellowship support in these lean times. I would also suggest you look at universities with good interdisciplinary research groups in religion (they might be formal programs or they might be informal cliques... you might have to ask around a bit to locate them. A few that I can name are Duke, U. Washington, Notre Dame, maybe Berkeley and Princeton - I'm no expert on religion, though.)
If I were you I'd suggest trying to attend the ASA meetings in San Francisco in August. Travel costs are low enough that you could still feasibly plan a trip and it would give you the chance to try to meet some of the people you might want to work with in person - this could be particularly helpful for you if you don't have good academic LOR's. Finally, when you look at programs, I wouldn't be particularly concerned with the number of courses they offer - what is more important is the number of faculty, both in their soc department and across campus, that you could see yourself working with. That said, you really only need one strong mentor (as long as he/she doesn't move or die while you're in school) to be successful in grad school.
Hope this helps!
I need to thank you again for your advice. I went to the ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. I also took a graduate level sociology course. I had to pay out of pocket a few grand but the professor wrote over a dozen letters of recommendation for me and helped me put together a good writing sample. Bottom line is that I have been accepted to one of the schools, although I was not accepted to the school where I took the course. I will be on my way to a Ph.D. starting in Fall 2010. Thank you again for the great advice.
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Purdue
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I notice many of you, like me, are interested in studying religion. I was just curious as to what type of research you have done or would like to do? I suppose this is a good starting point, and hopefully a decent distraction from the wait.
I'm looking forward to research that throws light on how well religious organizations and families meet needs documented by William Glasser.
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Sorry I wasn't more specific -- I mean UMich sociology
I applied to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. There seems to be a difficulty with one of my transcripts.
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I am interested in applying to two different departments within the same school. I have been working on two separate SOPs, and have been planning to apply to both departments for months now. Just recently (with the deadline rapidly approaching) I started to wonder if this is going to look like I don't have focus. The thing is, I do have focus. I would be extrememly happy to do either program for graduate school and for a career afterwards. But I don't know if it will look bad to have two different SOPs both saying "this is really what I want to do" when, in fact, they're two different things. One program is straight up marine biology and the other is marine policy. Does everyone else really only have one thing that they really want to do?
I also have applied to two departments in one school. The second department was recommended to me by a professor n the first department. She recognized that I was already focused on one area within the broader scope of her department. The second department specializes in that particular area. I would think marine policy is an more focused area within the broader area of marine biology in general. Similar pattern?
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I was just wondering how many of you received requests for on-campus or phone interviews? I am a history major so if you are in a related field, I would appreciate a response. I am just trying to gauge the likelihood of being asked to interview, since I never see it mentioned on many schools' websites. If possible, can you say which school and department requested the interview?
U of MN Department of Family Social Science is scheduling a telephone interview with me.
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Hi,
I can't seem to be able to load the Wisconsin electronic application website. I've been trying since yesterday. The deadline is later today, so I'm getting a bit worried. I emailed the department asking them what's up, but am yet to hear back.
Anyone else having the same problem? The sign in page won't load for me.
Thanks
I was not able to get in by clicking on the link sent to me in an email but I was able to get in by going to their web site.
https://www.gradsch.wisc.edu/eapp/eapp.pl
Good luck.
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I only have 2 schools I can apply to, my first choice had a deadline of 1/15 and the 2nd choice has a deadline of 2/5. I was going to try to submit the first choice this week, just in case maybe I will hear something early. I wonder if there would be any value in waiting until the end of Jan in submitting app #2 - as in MAYBE I will hear early from #1? Or is that too risky just to save a little change?
I've found that at least one of my recommenders often wait until the last minute. I'm never sure whether the door would close for them to submit their letter if I submit the application first so I end up waiting until the last minute to submit my applications anyway. I'm applying to over a dozen schools so the pattern has been repeated several times already. Since I am applying to so many schools I have to worry about saving a little change.
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I wonder what my business card for the ASA annual meeting should look like since I am not yet a graduate student? I'm not a Ph.D. candidate yet; I'm going to be applying to schools for 2010. I need to network.
Should I make up something with just my name, contact information and have some heading like "Graduate School or Bust"?
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I am a 38 year old undergrad. I also have three boys who will be in elem and middle school.
My interests are sociology of religion
I am planning to apply to Princeton, Washington, Oregon, Iowa, UIC, Indiana, and Penn. I had a few CA schools on the list, but their budget issues are too scary for me.
Hi,
I'm 52. I double majored in Sociology and Anthropology back when, got a BA and went on to get a BS in Computer Science. I worked in that field most of the next 25 years. Now I am eager to get back to studying my first love. My major interest is in the Sociology of Religion, interfaith stuff, ecumenical movements, social movements, faith driven social change (Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Ghandi, Mother Theresa, etc.), community building n a diverse, pluralistic society.
I"ve got a lot of good advice here already and I've only been at it for a month.
I am hoping I can figure out how to get applied to the University of Minnesota, Stanford, Baylor, Rice, maybe Emory, and maybe Chapel Hill.
I am going to the ASA meeting in San Francisco in a couple weeks. Our youngest is 17, high school senior and wants to check out a school out there before the Annual Meeting of the American Sociologists and then she will hang out with her cousins who live north of San Francisco. Some one on this formum advised me to head out to San Francisco for the meeting and I am now committed to the adventure.
We also have an almost 21 year old with one more year of undergraduate in Economics (major) and Political Scence (minor). We have a 22 year old married daughter (psychology major and music minor) taking graduate courses in psychology. She was headed for a Music Therapy program but...
I thank you all for all the good advice I've received here and I've only been at it for a month.
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Thanks for the advice. The anthro teacher is a sociology teacher as well. I will get in touch with her
Agreed, great advice.
While we're on the subject I'd like to share my situation. I think it may be a challenging one.
I've been mostly out of school for about 25 years. I took three graduate level courses in 1995 in another field. I have a BA with a double major of Sociology and Anthropology. I have lined up one of the professors from 1995 (Human Resource Development and Adult Education graduate course towared a Masters in Education) to write a letter of recommendation. I know where to find another one of those professors from 1995 (taught Mediation and Coflict Resolution graduate course toward the M.Ed.) and the third I have not yet located (Taught Diversity in Education and Work graduate course toward the M.Ed.) I have rconnected with my Sociology Advisor from the late 1970s and I know where to find my Anthropology Advisor (retired).
After completing my BA in Sociology and Anthropology I went on to get a BS in Computer Science and worked in that industry for most of the next 25 years. The professors I had in computer science won't remember me. I only had them for one or two courses in rapid succession. The Advisors I had for Sociology and Anthropology I had for many courses and a summer of archeological field school.
I gather that I should stick with the accademics and not think about those with or for which I have worked.
I'm trying to take a graduate course or two as a non-degree seeking (so far) student and get some relationships built and I am going to the ASA Annual Meeting in San Francisco to meet some folks. I might have a few months before the Dec 1 deadline to persuade someone to write a letter of recommendation for me.
Related question: Do these folks write one letter and send it to all the places I am going to apply?
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Anyone up for a grad cafe drink one evening?
Coffee during the day. Beer at night (preferably off sale - cheaper that way). (My friend wrote a song about the beverage elevator - Coffee going up - Beer coming down.)
Why only one evening?
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I have looked at Wisconsin, but several of my professors have told me that Wisconsin might not be a good fit for me because of their emphasis on quantitative methods (not that I don't want anything quantitative, I am just more interested in qualitative research). I'll check out the program at Penn. Thanks!
I just glanced at the Penn State program. It specifically mentions poverty. (R SOC 530 Demography & Sociology of Poverty in Rural America) Good luck!
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I supposed you've noticed the University of Wisconsin, Madison. And I think I saw something at the University of Pennsylvania.
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I'd rather try to find something else I love than try to make a career out of something that makes me miserable simply because I feel obligated.
I was in a small group, supposed to be meeting once a week (we rarely met that often). One of the other guys in the group had finished law school but decided not to practice law. He is now doing financial stuff (he worked for firms like Smith Barney, etc.).
I took one dip into grad school back in 1995, took three courses, and realized it wasn't the best fit for me (besides running out of money and time). It was Human Resource Development and Adult Education. I liked the courses but it seemed it would put me back in the corporate world, and I thought that I wanted to get out of the corporate world.
I've been working in the computer industry for over 25 years but I really don't enjoy the tech stuff. It's a job but I'd rather be reading, writing and researching.
Thanks for responding. It's good to have company to chat with on the journey.
LDM
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Bluecrawford,
I don't have any wisdom for you, just company.
I have an undergraduate BA double majoring in Sociology and Anthropology. I went on to get a BS in computer science and worked in that industry most of the last 25+ years. Enough of that! Now I want to go to graduate school and study Sociology.
How much more law school do you have?
LDM
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If I were you I'd suggest trying to attend the ASA meetings in San Francisco in August. Travel costs are low enough that you could still feasibly plan a trip and it would give you the chance to try to meet some of the people you might want to work with in person - this could be particularly helpful for you if you don't have good academic LOR's.
My daughter (senior in high school) wants to check out a school so we will both be going. My aunt and uncle and a cousin or two are in the neighborhood of SF and she can hang out with them while I'm at the conference.
It seems I can just show up and pay my money (hopefully I can get by with the $130).
I'm thinking about emailing folks to see if they will be there. Do you think that's a good idea?
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I will be there despite not being in the program (didn't realize the submission deadline was so early... next year). Mainly going for the networking value, although the opportunity to pick up free and cheap books, software demos, and food is a big plus. And it's an excuse to visit SF! There's a lot of cheap hotels around the conference site this year, too - it really shouldn't be too expensive...
I'm jump starting a mid life switch. It's been recommended I go to SF to network.
My daughter (senior in high school) wants to check out a school so we will both be going.
It seems I can just show up and pay my money (hopefully I can get by with the $130).
Tell me I'm crazy.
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I've emailed eight or nine professors in the last few weeks, and two have replied. One of three is from my own department. Do sociology professors lag on their email during the summer? JW.
With a name like "aginggrad" you and I might have something in common. I finished my Sociology undergrad work in 1979.
I am overly anxious and have been checking my email every hour expecting someone to respond to my requests for permission to take a course or two as a non-degree seeking student (for now).
I have talked to the Graduate Program Associated and copied him and the Director of Graduate Studies on the emails I have sent to the professors. I even blind copied the graduate student I had recruited to my cause. I haven't got any responses from anyone.
I didn't have an ulcer when I started this process...
LDM
Introductions for 2011, Sociology PhD
in Sociology Forum
Posted
Where are you working on your Master's? I'll be getting started at Purdue, also in the sociology of religion. Have you done research in the sociology of religion? How did you narrow down your interests? Are you switching schools when you move into your Ph.D or are you staying where you got your Master's?