As we begin the Fall semester I want to welcome you all back to Ann Arbor and to the Department.  I hope everyone had a restorative summer.

I had both a restful and productive summer.  I owe many thanks to Professor Al Young, not only for his years of stewardship of the department, but for his help in transitioning me to my new role as Chair early in the summer!  In this new role, I look forward to working with and learning from all of you throughout the year.

I am especially thrilled that this semester we are welcoming a host of new colleagues to the Sociology Department: Associate Professor Sanyu Mojola; Assistant Professor Andrei Boutyline; LSA Collegiate Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Margo Mahan; Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Dr. Sarah Zelner; and Lecturer Dr. Rebecca Christensen who will be running Project Community.  Please introduce yourselves to them and welcome them to our department.

I am also very happy to welcome two new staff members who arrived this summer.  Jessica Parks-Piatt has stepped into the role of Graduate Program Coordinator, and Jeannie Worrall has come back to the Sociology Department as Executive Assistant to the Chair.  We also welcome 11 new graduate students and a host of undergraduates into our major and two minors, Law, Justice, and Social Change, and Sociology of Health and Medicine.  We will also be welcoming our second cohort of students into the Sociology Opportunities for Undergraduate Leaders (SOUL) program.

Throughout the year you will hear about presentations, talks, and events as part of our hiring and graduate workshops.  I also want to highlight a couple of new events here.  Everyone and their families are invited to the Sociology Community BBQ on 9/25 at 2pm in Olson Park.  (Please RSVP to donajean@umich.edu).  The Department faculty, staff, and graduate students will together view CRLT Player’s CUTS: Responding to Student Climate Concerns on November 1 at 12:00 in 340 West Hall.  Watch this space for more information to come.

I hope everyone’s semester gets off to a smooth start, and I look forward to a fantastic year.

 

Karin A. Martin
Department Chair & Professor
Department of Sociology