Sociology News 2013-2014

The Department of Sociology is delighted to announce this year's undergraduate prize winners: Siobhan Mc Dermott is winner of the John Jackson Memorial Prize, Aisling Colclough won the Sociology Trinity Alumni Prize and Emma Chubb is winner of the Sociology Dissertation Prize. The awards are supported by the Trinity Alumni Appeal.

One of Ireland's top officials in the European Union, David O'Sullivan, has been appointed as the EU's new ambassador to Washington. David, an Economics and Sociology graduate, was formerly chief operating officer for the EU's foreign service arm, the External Action Service.

Congratulations to Dr Daniel Faas, Head of Department of Sociology, who was conferred with the degree of Master in Arts (jury officii) in a ceremony at Trinity College Dublin on 16 April 2014. The degree of Master in Arts (jo) is awarded to eligible academic staff after three years service to the College, with holders of this degree eligible for membership of the University Senate.

A symposium involving Professor Gurminder Bhambhra of Warwick University, Dr. Sanjay Sharma of Brunel University, and Dr Gavan Titley of NUI Maynooth was held on 26 March to discuss race critical public scholarship in Ireland. The event, which was held in memory of Professor Stuart Hall, was moderated by Dr. Ronit Lentin with introductory remarks from Dr. Andrew Finlay.

Professor Paul Scheffer of Tilburg University gave a keynote in the TCD-UCD Sociology Public Lecture Series, on 19th March 2014. The title of his talk was ‘The Open Society and its Immigrants: A Story of Avoidance, Conflict and Accommodation’. The event, the seventh in this flagship lecture series, was moderated by Dr Daniel Faas, Head of the Department of Sociology.

The Department of Sociology is delighted to extend its congratulations to Brigid Eileen Francis-Deviney (PPES), Neil Murphy (PPES), Alexandra Bridgit Trant (PPES), and Ronan Terence O’Connor (TSM) who were announced as new Scholars of the College. They were among the 99 Scholars announced by the Provost on Trinity Monday, 7 April.

Professor Steven Lukes of New York University delivered a public lecture on ‘Power and Morality’, co-organised jointly by the Departments of Sociology and Political Science and the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies. The event was moderated by Dr. Clemens Ruthner with introductory remarks from the Faculty Dean, Professor James Wickham.

The Department of Sociology organized a half-day workshop introducing the Eurostat website and database. The event which took place on 20th March 2014 was attended by 30 postgraduates and staff from Sociology and the School of Social Work and Social Policy. The training was delivered by Tereza Wennerholm-Caslavska and Fernando Morente from Eurostat in Luxembourg.

Professor Sami Zubaida of Birbeck College University of London gave a keynote in the TCD-UCD Sociology Public Lecture Series, on 5th March 2014. The title of his talk was ‘Imagining National Cuisines’. The event was hosted jointly with UCD with introductory remarks from Dr. Daniel Faas, Head of Sociology at TCD and Dr. Andreas Hess, School of Sociology at UCD.

This project, which is funded by the Irish Research Council, will describe and analyse the diverse profile of 'new Irish families', with particular focus on the Irish-born children of non-Irish or mixed parents. It seeks to explore the challenges faced by these families, and contribute to more effective policy making for an emerging and growing second generation in Ireland, focusing on social integration, childcare arrangements and return to work, as well as poverty and social welfare usage.

Professor Valerie Amiraux of Montreal University, gave a public lecture on 'Muslims in Europe: Veils in Public Spaces and the Current Political Crisis' in the TCD-UCD Sociology Lecture Series. The talk, chaired by the Head of Sociology, Dr. Daniel Faas, focused on the 'public texture' of the discussions surrounding the recent ban on the wearing of the full veil in public spaces.

The 'Assessing and Enhancing Integration in Workplaces' project (WORK-INT) aims to analyse the workplace integration of non-European citizens in a selection of European cities. The TCD team will be led by Dr. Camilla Devitt. The coordinator is FIERI, Turin and other partners are COMPAS Oxford University, Universitat Complutense de Madrid, and the HWWI, Hamburg.

Professor John Holmwood of the University of Nottingham gave a keynote in the TCD-UCD Sociology Public Lecture Series, on 14th November 2013. The title of his talk was 'Universities in Crisis: Markets vs Publics?' The event was hosted by UCD with introductory remarks from Dr. Andreas Hess, School of Sociology at UCD and Dr. Daniel Faas, Head of Sociology at TCD.

The Department congratulates Jack Hogan (TSM Sociology and Geography) for receiving the Bram Stoker Gold Medal at the prestigious Undergraduate Awards, the only pan-discipline international academic awards programme connecting the world's top students. Jack is winner of the Social Sciences category for his essay on 'Gap year saviours: an analysis of the role of race in development advertising'.

The Department warmly congratulates its three awardees for their outstanding achievement in Sociology: Nathan McGibney (John Jackson Memorial Prize), Atalanta Copeman-Papas (Sociology Dissertation Prize) and Gabija Purlyte (Sociology Trinity Alumni Prize). The awards, presented by Dr. Daniel Faas, were established thanks to the generosity of graduates.

An Post issued four stamps featuring four migrants working in Ireland to recognise the changing face of Irish society. The stamps series was proposed by Dr Ronit Lentin, Principal Investigator of the Migrant Networks Project. The project had previously collaborated with An Post in the Migrant Leaders exhibition, launched by the TCD Provost and seen by over 2 million people throughout Dublin.

A group of 14 social scientists, coordinated by Dr. Daniel Faas, joined religious leaders, politicians, artists and youth from around the world in a symposium on migration (culture, education, religion, gender and cities) in Dublin Castle from 20-22 September 2013. The event was opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Oisin Quinn, TCD Provost Dr. Patrick Prendergast and Minister of State/Education Ciaran Cannon.

The Department of Sociology congratulates Vasiliki Theofilopoulou for winning a prestigious Ussher Fellowship to work on her dissertation 'The Role of Education in Sculpting the "Exceptional" Greek'. Vasiliki was the only awardee in the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy. The Fellowships aim to support and develop gifted research students and are awarded competitively on academic merit.

The Employment Research Centre (ERC) in association with the Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) hosted a one day symposium on New European mobilities: education, migration and employment on Monday 16 September. The Ambassador of the Republic of Poland, H.E. Mr Marcin Nawrot, launched a new book: 'New Mobilities in Europe: Polish Migration to Ireland post 2004'.