This summer UM Sociology graduate students received a large number of awards from the American Sociological Association and other disciplinary organizations.

Avi Astor (2011 alum, currently postdoc at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona) received the 2011 Richard A. Peterson Prize for Best Graduate Student Paper, given by the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association for his paper “Memory, Community, and Opposition to Mosques: The Case of Badalona.” This article is forthcoming in the journal Theory and Society.

Erica Blom (joint program in Sociology & Public Policy) received the 2011 Graduate Student Paper Award, given by the Global Division of the Society for the Study of Social Problems for her paper “From the Developing World to the West: Transnational Networks and Policy Change.”

Mathieu Desan received the 2011 Albert Szymanski-T.R. Young Marxist Sociology Graduate Student Paper Award, given by the Marxist Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association for his paper “Bourdieu and Capital: A Marxian Critique.”

Russ Funk received the 2011 Best Student Paper Award, given by the Technology and Innovation Management Division of the Academy of Management for his paper “Making the Most of Where You Are: Local Environments, Intra-Organizational Networks, and Innovation in Nanotechnology.”

Besnik Pula (2011 alum, currently teaching at Binghamton University) received an honorable mention for the 2011 Theda Skocpol Dissertation Award given by the Comparative and Historical Sociology Section of the American Sociological Association for his dissertation “State, Law, and Revolution: Agrarian Power and the National State in Albania, 1850-1945” (advisor George Steinmetz)

Jessi Streib received the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Paper Award, given by the Inequality, Poverty and Mobility Section of American Sociological Association for her paper “Class Reproduction by Four Year Olds”.  This paper appeared in the July 2011 edition of Qualitative Sociology.

Congratulations Avi, Erica, Matt, Russ, Besnik, and Jessi!