Our students and faculty collaborated on a newly published article in the Journal of Developmental and Life-Course Criminology entitled "Early Perceptions, Enduring Consequences: How School Safety Concerns Shape Criminal Trajectories Through Developmental Pathways." link.springer.com/epdf/10.1007...

Congratulations to everyone who graduated this weekend! And an extra special congratulations to Vaun Baltimore and Yuri Lim, who graduated this weekend with their master's in Sociology! 🥳🎓

The Jennings and Rebecca Jones Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning recently announced the COE Scholars Program Faculty Advisory Committee, welcoming its inaugural group of faculty members, including our very own Dr. Ugur Orak! mtsunews.com/chair-of-exc...

Anthropology senior Rose Raymer completed an internship this summer with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, where she helped analyze remains from a WWII disinterment alongside leading forensic experts who work to bring missing service members home. mtsunews.com/forensic-ant...

🌻There will be a memorial service for Dr. Ashleigh McKinzie on Wednesday, December 10 at 4 pm in the KUC Theater. This gathering is intended for those who knew her or were impacted by her work. The ceremony will be quiet and personal, focused on remembrance and support.🌻

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is saddened to confirm the passing of our colleague, Dr. Ashleigh McKinzie. We offer heartfelt sympathy to Dr. McKinzie's loved ones and those among us dealing with this news.

The Spring 2026 MT Student Sociologists officer applications are open! Applications are open to all, regardless of major or experience, and the deadline for application submissions is Monday, December 15th at 11:59 pm. Here is the link for applications: forms.gle/jQ3Ro1EdAkDS...

🏅🎊 Congratulations to the winners of our inaugural Great Sugar Showdown! We hope this becomes an annual tradition. Thank you to everyone who participated and made the event such a success! 🥧🧁🍰🍮🍪

Yesterday, four of our Sociology MA program alumni, Presley Powers, Hannah Newcomb, Kasey Bowe, and Jennifer Arzate, joined us for a panel moderated by current student Vaun Baltimore to discuss employment options outside academia!

We invite Sociology and Anthropology students, alumni, faculty, and staff to join us for our Holiday Homecoming potluck celebration on Wednesday, December 3, from 5:00 - 7:30 pm at the MTSU Foundation House! 🍗🍰🍊🥖🧈🥧🍽️🎊

Students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate in The Great Sugar Showdown baking contest on Wednesday, November 20th, in the glass room next to Todd 342! Whether you're entering a dessert or just coming to enjoy the sugar-fueled fun, we hope to see you there!

🎉 Congratulations to graduate student Vaun Baltimore for passing his thesis defense! His thesis is entitled "Algorithmic Curation and Adolescents' Media Consumption." 🎉

You are invited to join the MT Student Sociologists for a Holiday Craft Party on November 14th at 1 pm in Peck Hall 300! Take a break and learn about winter holidays around the world! We will have food, games, bracelet making, and coloring. All students are welcome!

Check out Sociology professor Dr. Rachel Davis in this month's newsletter from the Undergraduate Research Center at MTSU! You can read the rest of the newsletter here: www.canva.com/design/DAG1Z...

Did you know MTSU has an active chapter of @alphakappadelta.bsky.social, the international sociology honors society affiliated with @asanews.bsky.social? If you wish to become a member this semester, please email our chapter representative, Dr. Rachel Davis, at [email protected] by November 19!

🎉 Congratulations to graduate student Yuri Lim for passing her thesis defense! Her thesis is entitled “Political and Cultural Pride as Predictors of Attitudes Toward Immigrants in Korea.” 🎉

We love seeing our AKD members in action! 💙 Four @MTSUSociology students recently presented their research at the Mid-South Sociological Association conference with help from AKD student travel grants. Way to represent your chapter and the discipline! 👏 #AlphaKappaDelta

Please join us on Wednesday, October 29th, at 6:30 p.m in the Student Union Ballroom for the William Bass-Hugh Berryman Legends in Forensic Science Lectureship! Forensic anthropologist Dr. Eric Bartelink will discuss the recovery and identification of wildfire victims.

Our students and faculty had a great time sharing their work at the Mid-South Sociological Association last week!

Open advising for Sociology and Anthropology students is October 22 (11 am - 1 pm) and October 23 (12 pm - 2 pm) in Peck Hall 109 (the Archaeology Lab). During this time, students can stop by and meet with an advisor.

Join MTSS on Tuesday 10/21, where we will host a panel of sociology faculty to discuss various opportunities for students and learn more about the Career Development Center! 📚✍️ 🗓️ Tuesday, October 21st 🕰️ 4:30PM - 6PM 📍ACB Room 102 🥤Food and drinks provided! ✨Open to Everyone✨ See you there! 🫵

As you create your Spring 2026 course schedules, consider taking one or more of these electives in Sociology! As a bonus, all of them have zero textbook cost! 🧑‍🏫📓✏️

We're shining the spotlight on Sociology Master's student Cassie Sistoso! 🔦🔍 Fun Fact: Cassie is a musician with an EP titled COLLATERAL, released under the name cassie joy! 🎶 Cassie studies gender, sexuality, neurodiversity, and domestic violence. 🎓👩🏫

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Middle Tennessee State University invites applicants for a full-time, tenure-track faculty position (#129030) in sociology at the rank of assistant or associate professor whose research and teaching focus is health, illness, and healthcare systems.

We're shining the spotlight on Sociology Professor Dr. Brandon Wallace! 🔦🔍 Fun Fact: Dr. Wallace was a student pastor in the Methodist Church for 4 years. ⛪ His advice to students is, "You need to be able to articulate what about your sociology degree would make you a good employee." 🗨

Please join us for the Fall 2025 Anthropologica lecture on October 9 from 1:00 - 2:25 pm in the College of Education building room 160 to hear Dr. Alisse Waterston deliver a lecture entitled "Writing to be Read: Crafting and Communicating Knowledge as if the World Depends Upon It."

We're shining the spotlight on research by Sociology Assistant Professor Dr. Rachel Davis, who is reshaping how scholars understand intimacy, social class, and digital life! 🔍 She is developing a book on hypergamy, a form of romantic partnership marked by economic inequality. 💰⚖️

We're shining the spotlight on Sociology Master's program alum Presley Powers, who graduated in 2021 and currently works as an Energy Analyst! 🔦🔍

We're shining the spotlight on Sociology Master's student Vaun Baltimore! 🔍 His thesis examines algorithmic media curation across social media platforms, with attention to how platform personalization shapes adolescent content exposure. He plans to pursue a PhD in Sociology! 🎓

Thinking about a Master’s in Sociology? Join us Tuesday, September 23 at 11 am central for our upcoming virtual information session to learn more about the MA in Sociology program at MTSU! Register today at the link below or using the QR code to reserve your spot! mtsu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

You can read more about the poster here: tennesseearchaeologycouncil.wordpress.com/2025/09/08/t... If you have a favorite memory or photograph from an experience at one of MTSU’s (or another university’s!) field schools—as a volunteer, visitor, or student—please share it below!

It's official: The 2025 Tennessee Archaeology Awareness Month Poster is hot off the presses! This year's poster celebrates public archaeology and outreach efforts in Tennessee, highlighting the role of the late Dr. Kevin Smith and the MTSU Archaeology Field School.

We're shining the spotlight on Sociology Assistant Professor Dr. Rachel Davis! 🔦🔍 Fun Fact: Dr. Davis was an Odd Future fanatic in high school! She had the honor of being kicked in the head (accidentally) by Left Brain in the mosh pit of one of their shows. 😳

Congratulations again to Dr. Ida Fadzillah Leggett for her promotion to full Professor of Anthropology! We're glad you were able to celebrate and be celebrated at the university's recent reception!

Demos' is coming to @mtsuofficial.bsky.social! And the husband-and-wife owners are both MTSU Sociology alums! Kristin highlights the impact their alma mater had on their success. "I think [Peter's] work ethic and stress management was founded in his college experience." mtsunews.com/demos-to-cam...

Congratulations to Dr. Ida Fadzillah Leggett for her promotion to full Professor of Anthropology!

Sociology professor Dr. Ugur Orak and his co-authors Ozden Ozbay and Sabuha Bindik have a new article entitled "Social class and deviance among young adults in Türkiye" published in the International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice! Read it at www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Congratulations to graduate student Yuri Lim for successfully defending her thesis proposal yesterday! Her thesis will examine national pride, social trust, and attitudes toward immigrants.

Congratulations to sociology professor Dr. Ugur Orak, who has been chosen for the 2025 - 2026 cohort of the MTSU Provost's Faculty Leadership Development Institute!

Learn about Middle Tennessee State University’s Dept of Sociology & Anthropology @mtsuofficial.bsky.social‬ & other soc depts in the 2025 ASA Guide to Graduate Departments of Sociology. Now completely online & free for ASA members. Available for a fee to nonmembers. https://bit.ly/ASAGradGuide

Sociology professor Dr. Ugur Orak and his co-author Allison Escobedo have a new article published in Criminal Justice Review exploring different dimensions of veteran employment in law enforcement and corrections. Read it for free! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Congrats to Drs. Rachel Davis and Jordan Solomon, who each received instructional support grants to develop resources using Microsoft Sway for their Engage-certified classes, which foster a culture of engaged learning by supporting students’ growth as integrative, reflective thinkers!

My article on the effects of Tumblr's sexual content ban on the digital sugar baby community is in the current issue of @femmediastudies.bsky.social! Read it for free here: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/CCZMB...

MTSU Archaeology students are getting hands-on with history through ongoing research at the site of one of Nashville’s first post-Civil War Black neighborhoods. Read this story and more at liberalarts.mtsu.edu/publications/

Check out this article from MTSU's research magazine about Sociology professor Rachel Davis's research with undergraduate student Melissa Guinn on law enforcement perceptions of sex trafficking!

Check out this Out of the Blue interview with Dr. Shannon Hodge, our department chair, about where curiosity meets career—and how MTSU grads are using their people skills to make a real-world impact in everything from nonprofits to public service.

Great write-up about Tennessee's award-winning Archaeology Awareness Month poster design! mtsunews.com/mtsu-archaeo...

Join us on June 7th!

MTSU is once again hosting its Volunteer Archaeology Days program at the Castalian Springs Mound Site! If you’d like to visit or help us excavate, the site will be open to the public on May 31 and June 7, weather permitting. Note: Site requires crossing a shallow creek. All ages are welcome!

Congrats to our faculty members Drs. Jordan Solomon and Ugur Orak, who completed the MT Engage Summer Institute yesterday! They are pictured here with Drs. Ida Fadzillah Leggett from Anthropology and Vice Provost Brian Hinote, formerly a faculty member in Sociology.