Departmental News
Melissa Bonstead-Bruns is the new chair of the sociology department. When asked how she felt about being chosen for this prestigious position she exclaimed: "Why me!?" Actually, she is looking forward to providing new leadership for us and getting to interact with her colleagues more often.
Jianjun Ji was recently promoted to Associate Professor. At the request of Hunan Normal University in China, Ji is teaching two courses over the summer. One is on statistical data analysis, the other is on American sociology.
Jeremy Hein's book, Ethnic Origins: The Adaptation of Cambodian and Hmong Refugees in Four American Cities was recently published by the Russell Sage Foundation. When asked what it was like to study two little known ethnic groups in four cities using four different methodologies he replied: "Climbing Mount Everest without a map or an oxygen supply. I'll never try that again!"
Pam Forman continues to operate her innovative after school program "Adventure Girls." With the assistance of several UW-EC students, Pam is helping girls in primary and now middle school deal with tough growing up issues.
Jeff Erger is presenting a paper at the Midwest Sociological Society's annual meetings in April of 2007. The paper, "Social Structural Effects on Evaluation of the Ethics of Medical Decisions" is coauthored witbh Stacy Bonneville (who received a UWEC Student/Faculty Summer Grant to do the study) and Melissa Bonstead-Bruns. He has also been appointed as the Coordinator of the new Sociological Research Lab. The Lab is now playing a role in four different Student/Faculty collaborative research projects.
Alumni News
Christine Smith (Class of 2002) just returned from a Peace Corps posting teaching English in the Ukraine. She has been admitted to the Graduate program at the University of Massachusetts--Amherst for the Fall of 2007.
