The Metropolitan Policy Center at American University is co-sponsoring a book event Wednesday, September 6th at 3pm in the School of International Service (SIS) Building, Room 300.

This event will feature author Katie J. Wells presenting key findings from her  new book, Disrupting D.C.: The Rise of Uber and the Fall of the City (Princeton University Press.

This position is located in the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) as a supervisory statistician for the Justice Statistics Unit. You will have responsibilities for maintaining, enhancing, and expanding major statistical series and programs to ensure that the knowledge created has utility to stakeholders and that BJS's data collection activities are implemented in ways that maintain the trust and confidence of its data providers. (https://www.usajobs.gov/job/741933400)

Note: This vacancy announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies, as was also noted in the Twitter announcement from BJS on 8/21.

 The Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division at the Census Bureau is hiring for a number of positions. The division compiles and analyzes data on the socioeconomic characteristics of households, families and individuals including rates of home ownership and statistics on income, poverty and health insurance, family and fertility statistics, labor force participation, social program participation and measures of community resilience.

They are especially interested in candidates with strong social science skills in survey methodology and using large demographic surveys for research.

• GS 7/9 - ideal for those with a bachelor's or master's in sociology, demography, economics, public policy and other social science disciplines.

• GS 11/12 - ideal for those with a master's and some work experience, ABD, and PhDs

The current vacancy announcement at USAJOBS closes August 31. The next vacancy posting will not be until around October 2023. Several other areas at the Census may also use the same vacancy announcement for hiring.

If you or anyone you know are attending the American Sociological Association meeting in Philadelphia from Aug. 17-21, Census staff will be there and can share more information about their work in the main exhibit hall.

Interested candidates are also welcome to reach out to Lynda Laughlin, PhD, Chief, Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch (and former DCSS President) for more information (lynda.l.laughlin@census.gov)

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations:

Congressional appropriators are currently considering fiscal year (FY) 2024 appropriations bills that would decimate funding for federal science and statistical agencies. It is critical that we raise our voices in support of robust investment in social and behavioral science research.

For our members in Maryland and Virginia in particular, now is the time to write to your members of Congress to urge their support for social science research funding in FY 2024.

Take action via COSSA: https://cossa.org/action-center/take-action/#/

The Public Sociology Association (PSA) at George Mason University is hosting the 8th annual PSA Conference September 14-15, 2023. This conference will take place remotely with potential opportunities for in-person networking within the DC area. 

This year's topic is "Institutional Change in the Face of COVID-19." We are open to submissions from undergraduate and graduate students, as well as professors and other professionals interested in the topic. The submission deadline is July 31. Participants need no more than an abstract to submit. Please click here for more details or to access the submission link.  

The PSA is a student-led organization committed to building community among and advancing the scholarship of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as scholars and practitioners engaged in public sociology. The PSA will host traditional paper presentations, poster presentations, organized panels, and workshops at this year’s conference.

The University of California Washington Program (UCDC) is seeking qualified candidates for its adjunct instructor pool. UCDC is an academic program of the U. of California that provides courses and internship opportunities for junior and senior undergraduates. Students take at least one class and intern in organizations and institutions that include the federal government, advocacy groups, international organizations, media, science agencies, museums and the arts, and more.

UCDC requires that all instructors be able to teach basic social science, history, or policy research skills and include in their syllabi expository writing assignments. They offer 10-week quarter and 14-week semester courses. Appointments are usually for a single quarter or semester term.

For more information, contact Dr. Jennifer Diascro, Associate Director Academics, at jennifer.diascro@ucdc.edu.

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) with a deadline of July 13, 2023.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking public input into the development of a roadmap for the newly created Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP). The roadmap will guide the TIP Directorate’s activities and directions for the next three years, and COSSA needs your input to help ensure that insights from social and behavioral science research are included—if not prioritized—in efforts to shape the future of U.S. technology development and deployment.

COSSA will be submitting comments to NSF on behalf of the research community before the deadline. We want to hear from you. Comments and ideas for the roadmap should be sent to COSSA by July 13 in order to be considered as part of our submission. We welcome any and all contributions that you think help tell the story of why social and behavioral science must be part of TIP activities. Read on to find out the questions posed by NSF and how you can contribute.

https://cossa.org/2023/06/22/request-for-input-shaping-nsfs-tip-directorate/

Following yesterday's SCOTUS decision on affirmative action, the ASA released this statement.

We are currently accepting nominations for our four DCSS awards. The nomination deadline is April 3, 2023 for all awards. We expect to present all awards in-person at the Annual Awards Dinner in May (date TBA soon). 

The Stuart A. Rice Merit Award for Career Achievements is presented to a distinguished senior member of the Society who has made a significant contribution to the discipline. 

Irene B. Taeuber Graduate Student Paper Award. Graduate students are invited to submit papers for consideration for this award, open to all graduate students enrolled in Virginia, Maryland, and District of Columbia area colleges and universities. The winning authors each receive a $200 cash award and will be recognized at the May awards banquet.

The Morris Rosenberg Award is presented for outstanding sociological achievement during the past three years by any member of DCSS.

The Anna Julia Cooper Award for Public Sociology by a Community Organization is given to a community group using the methods and insights of sociology in its work to improve life in the DCSS service area. 

For more details including nomination procedures and past award winners, see the Awards page.

You may notice that the DCSS website has a totally new look. More than just a change of colors and layout, the new website is part of an integrated association management software platform that will enable us to do a much better job of communicating with member and non-member sociologists in the DMV. The new website combines membership processing, events, and communication in a single platform. Look for more information on these new functions coming soon!