Dear Class of 2021 Sociology and Management and Society majors,
Congratulations on your graduation! We cannot be happier to see each one of you achieve this major milestone – after a pandemic senior year no less! Every year, we are awed by our seniors and thrilled to celebrate your achievements with your family, friends, and loved ones. After the challenging and unprecedented year you all just went through, you are now prepared to begin a new chapter in your life with your Carolina degree in hand. Our graduates go on to apply what they learned in the Sociology and Management programs to do amazing things in their careers and lives, and we hope you will stay in touch and come back to visit!
Here is a video message from our department chair, Dr. Kenneth (Andy) Andrews.
If we were together in Pauli Murray (formerly Hamilton) Hall for the ceremony this weekend, we would close the event with a bang: by singing the alma mater, loud and proud! We regret that we cannot hold a departmental graduation ceremony in person as we have done in the past to celebrate you with everyone who supported you along the way. We hope this page can serve as a monument to celebrate your extraordinary achievement as Sociology and Management and Society major graduates this year! Here we feature your profiles and voices in a slideshow that you can use to reminisce and share with your family, friends, and loved ones (click here to view full-screen in a new tab).
Congratulations to all our 2021 graduates! (Click here for a full list.)
Best wishes to all of you,
|
Kenneth (Andy) Andrews |
Jacqueline Hagan |
Honors and Awards
At our graduation ceremony, we recognize students for their outstanding achievements during their time at UNC.
Howard W. Odum Award
The Howard W. Odum Undergraduate Sociology Award was established in 1968 in memory of Howard W. Odum, who founded the UNC Department of Sociology. The award is presented annually to the senior who is judged most outstanding by the department’s faculty based on academic performance and leadership.
Our Howard Odum award winner for 2020-2021 is Savannah Newton. She received nominations from Dr. Kathleen Fitzgerald, Alexis Dennis, and Brionca Taylor. She double majored in Sociology and Economics, and has a minor in Social and Economic Justice. A member of AKD, she completed her honors thesis with Dr. Kathleen Fitzgerald on mass incarceration in the United States, with an eye towards understanding how it has transformed over time. She is a research assistant to Dr. Alexandrea Ravenelle and has a forthcoming article in the Russell Sage Foundation journal co-authored from that research. She plans to work for a nonprofit organization and then pursue a PhD in Sociology. In her words, “My Sociology major has motivated me to be a social justice warrior to fight for equity.” Congratulations, Savannah!
Sociology Honors Thesis Students 2020-2021
The honors thesis is a year-long project under the supervision of a faculty mentor that culminates in a major independent research paper. This past academic year, eight students completed brilliant theses on topics ranging from mental health, teachers’ experience during COVID-19, the housing crisis, all the way to gender inequality and feminist movements in Asia. These theses will soon be available on the Carolina Digital Repository.
| Elena Eddington | “COVID-19, Mental Health, and their impact on the Behavioral Health of College Students” |
| Meiyi Long | “To Move or Not to Move: Trends in Rental Affordability in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2012 to 2019” |
| Robbie Luna | “The Paradox of Gender Inequality between Japan and the Philippines: Issue Framing in Post-War Women’s Movements” |
| Savannah Newton | “From Mass Incarceration to Invisible Incarceration” |
| Sophia Rekeibe | “Navegando COVID-19: Examining the Impact of COVID-19 on Rural NC ESL Teachers” |
| Della Yujin Tao | “Shaping Online Feminist Movements: How Feminist Blogs Talk about Body Image and Beauty Standards” |
| Niki Vemulapalli | “Disparities in Depressive Symptomology across Urban-Rural Areas and the Four Regions of the United States of America” |
| Anna Wainwright | “Student Perceptions of Racial Microaggressions” |
Alpha Kappa Delta (ΑΚΔ) International Honor Society of Sociology
Alpha Kappa Delta was founded in 1920 by Dr. Emory S. Bogardus, dedicated to encouraging and stimulating scholarship while promoting the scientific study and advancement of Sociology.
Juniors and Seniors majoring in Sociology who meet the GPA criteria are invited to join every spring term. This year, we have 14 new inductees:
| Marilyn Boutté | Abel A. Miranda Buzetta | Julia Valasquez Miguel |
| Kili Butler | Alexa Moghadam | Anna Wainwright |
| Mary Garrett | Brianna Reed | Rebecca Zasloff |
| Isabella Antunes Lima | Blake Swanner | Ziyi Zhou |
| Robbie Luna | Della Yujin Tao |
Congratulations again! Best of luck with your future endeavors!
Keep in touch with us through Twitter @UNCSociology!