Tag Archives: Family Sociology

Statement from the Chair regarding Professor Regnerus

Like all faculty, Dr. Regnerus has the right to pursue his areas of research and express his point of view. However, Dr. Regnerus’ opinions are his own. They do not reflect the views of the Sociology Department of The University of Texas at Austin. Nor do they reflect the views of the American Sociological Association, which takes the position that the conclusions he draws from his study of gay parenting are fundamentally flawed on conceptual and methodological grounds and that findings from Dr. Regnerus’ work have been cited inappropriately in efforts to diminish the civil rights and legitimacy of LBGTQ partners and their families. We encourage society as a whole to evaluate his claims.

The Sociology Department at The University of Texas at Austin aspires to achieve academic excellence in research, teaching, and public service at the highest level in our discipline. We strive to do so in a context that is based on the highest ethical standards of our discipline and in a context that actively promotes and supports diversity among our faculty and student populations.

The Sociology Department resides in the College of Liberal Arts, which has issued a statement regarding Dr. Regnerus.

The Sociology Department has no affiliation with the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.

Congratulations to former longhorn Cathy Liu on her NIH Mentored Scientist Development Award

Hui Liu

One of our highly esteemed former graduate students, Hui (Cathy) Liu, (now an assistant professor at Michigan State) received an NIH K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award. This five-year project (2013-2018) entitled “How Does Marriage Get Under the Skin? An Integrative Social and Biological Approach” addresses the way various social, biological, psychological, and behavioral mechanisms work together to forge links between marriage and health. The overall goal of this research is to develop an interdisciplinary model for studying the interactions between biological and social processes through which marital relationships affect health over the life course. This K01 award will enable Dr. Liu to acquire formal interdisciplinary training in order to facilitate her transition to an independent biodemographic researcher. This award is also valuable in helping Dr. Liu to achieve her long-term career goals to integrate interdisciplinary perspectives in research and foster dynamic collaborations across disciplines in order to enhance knowledge of interactions of the social world and biology in producing health outcomes. Congratulations Cathy!

Sinnika Elliott’s book about parents, teens and sex reviewed in this month’s Slate Magazine

Emily Yoffe reviews Dr. Sinikka Elliott’s new book Not my Kids:What Parents believe about the Sex Lives of their Teenagers in this month’s Slate Magazine.

Dr. Elliott is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at North Carolina State University and a graduate of the UT Austin Sociology program (2008). Elliott compares the discomfort of parents in America as they broach the topic of sex with their teens to the more open approach taken in Holland, leaving the reviewer to wonder if she could imagine her daughter’s boyfriends staying in their home for weekend sleepovers. Provocative questions for both parents and their sexually curious teens.

Dr. Sinikka Elliott (PhD, 2008)

Catch Dr. Elliott at ASA presenting:
Regular Session. Food and Agriculture
Unit: Food and Agriculture
Scheduled Time: Fri, Aug 17 – 8:30am – 10:10am
Presenter on individual submission: “Bringing Sociology to the Table: A Case for a Sociological Approach to the “Obesity Epidemic”