THUMBPRINT NEWSLETTER OF THE GRADUATE ACADEMIC UNIT IN SOCIOLOGY (DEPARTMENTS OF SOCIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK FREDERICTON AND SAINT JOHN (NEW BRUNSWICK)) ISSUE 4 (JANUARY 2004) EDITORIAL The news in this issue of Thumbprint is not a happy one. We report on the death of two of our colleagues, Jim Richardson and Chad Bowman. The full scope of any life cannot be contained in the few lines an Editor manages to pull together, but each have contributed to the Department in each of their own unique way. In the meanwhile, life continues and, no doubt, the memories of these two sociologists become regenerated as we attempt to put our thumbprint on Canadian sociology. The range of research issues cover alternative medical therapies, abuse, digital inequalities, research ethics, bioeconomics, and serial killers. All activities in this issue took place between July 1 st and December 31st 2003. Our mailing address: Thumbprint Editor, Department of Sociology, U.N.B., POB 4400, Fredericton, NB., Canada E3B 5A3. Visit our websites: http://www.unbf.ca/arts/soci/faculty.htm http://www.unbsj.ca/arts/sociology/soci-fac. html TABLE OF CONTENTS FLAGS HALF-MAST FOR C. JAMES RICHARDSON 2 CHAD BOWMAN DIES 2 A WORD FROM OUR DEAN 3 FACULTY PUBLICATIONS 3 NEWS FROM A COLLEAGUE 4 WORLDCAT NOT-SO-TRIVIA 4 APPOINTMENTS 4 AT CONFERENCES 4 IN THE MEDIA S EYE 5 RESEARCH TRAVEL 5 NEW GRADUATE STUDENTS 6 SUCCESS AMONG OUR GRADUATES 6 WEDDING 7 POST-MODERNISM IN FIELD RESEARCH 7 PLENARY ADDRESSES AND WORKSHOPS 7 NELS ANDERSON RESEARCH FUND 7 WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR GRADUATE PROGRAM? 8 OPENING-LINE QUIZ 8
2 FLAGS HALF-MAST FOR C. JAMES RICHARDSON President of the Atlantic Association of Sociologists and Anthropologists and the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association. In recognition of his career, the CSAA awarded Jim its Outstanding Contribution Award in 2000. He is survived by his spouse, Dr. Jennie Hornosty and four children, Michael and Rebecca Richardson; Jason and Justin Hornosty. (This obituary is a composite of information provided by UNB and by Gail Pool of the Anthropology Department at UNB). CHAD BOWMAN, RETIRED COLLEAGUE, DIES Professor C. James (Jim) Richardson passed away on October 12, 2003 in hospital in Halifax. He was born in Calgary and received degrees from the universities of Alberta, Toronto and London. He was a member of the Department of Sociology since 1975, serving as Chair from 1996 to 2002. His research involved class structures and the criminal justice system. His publications include several books and monographs, including the widely adopted textbook, Sociology for Canadians. It was among the first to be published in Canada by a Canadian sociologist and it had gone into three editions. Much less known is the work that Jim had done on social change, social mobility and the sociology of the family, including family violence and divorce mediation. In the latter area he was very active and so the results were somewhat hidden and outside mainstream sociology. A recent book, Family Life: Patterns and Perspectives, illustrates some of the work that he had done on the sociology of the family Jim was an active academic serving the discipline regionally as well as nationally, as Professor Charles ( Chad ) Bowman, who retired from our Department in 2000, died peacefully at home after a two-month battle with cancer on December 7, 2003. He was bom in Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 15, 1943, the only child of noted author and professor H.A. Bowman and social activist Edna (Kalt) Bowman. Chad attended Oberlin College of Ohio for a year He left his studies to travel the world with his parents as they helped a variety of universities set up sociology programs in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin graduating Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, the top undergraduate University of Texas student of 1966. He went directly into an
3 interdisciplinary socio-linguistics PhD program under the sponsorship of the prestigious Graham Fellowship. He married Mickie Courson in 1969. Dr. Bowman joined UNB Fredericton s department of sociology in 1971. He treasured his 29 years at UNB - his students, his colleagues, his friendships, his opportunity to write and conduct research. His all-consuming activity was teaching and mentoring his students. In 1993, Dr. Bowman was one of the recipients of the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education s National Sheffield Award which recognizes the work of authors judged to be most excellent in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education. He retired from UNB in 2000. As well as travel, Dr. Bowman loved poetry and music. He was an early member of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Fredericton, and, in the 1980s and 1990s, produced some of the society s most successful cabarets and main shows. He also supported, with enthusiasm, the New Brunswick High School Drama Festival and the Oromocto High School drama and music programs. He loved trains and some of his best friends were railroad workers and rail fans. Colleagues and students will not forget Chad s sense of humility... nor how he used his mailbox as a way to file his papers and keep his desk clutter-free. An ingenious and truly eccentric display of organization! A WORD FROM OUR DEAN... Many thanks for passing on a copy of Thumbprint - it does great credit to the GAU and all involved. Please pass on my congratulations. Regards, John Rowcroft, Dean of Arts, UNB. FACULTY PUBLICATIONS Jacqueline Low: Lay assessments of the efficacy of alternative/complementary therapies: A challenge to medical and expert dominance? Journal of Evidence-based Integrative Medicine. (2003) 1(1):65-76. Nancy Nason-Clark: University of Toronto Press has just published a volume, Understanding Abuse: Partnering for Change co-edited by Mary Lou Stirling, Catherine Ann Cameron, Nancy Nason-Clark, and Baukje Miedema. Several members linked to our Department have co-authored chapters in this book, including Lori Beaman, Deborah Harrison, Jennie Hornosty, Baukje Miedema, Lois Mitchell, Nancy Nason-Clark,and Linda Neilson Nancy s co-authored book, No Place for Abuse (with Catherine Kroeger) has now been translated into Arabic. Last year, it was translated into Portugese. Vanda Rideout: Digital Inequalities in Eastern Canada, Canadian Journal of Information and Library Sciences. 27 (2): 3-31. Will C. van den Hoonaard: Review of Trevor Welland and Lesley Pugsley, Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative
4 Research. in Contemporary Sociology. 2003. 32(5): 656-657. Is Anonymity an Artifact in Ethnographic Research? Journal of Academic Ethics. 1 (2): 221-223. Deborah K. van den Hoonaard, Honourary Research Associate of our Graduate Academic Unit was appointed Chair of the Gerontology Department at St. Thomas University. NEWS FROM A COLLEAGUE: ROSE VAN ES How very kind of you to include my name in the Thumbprint s mailing list! It was a delight to read about all the impressive ventures in the Sociology Department at UNB, is how Dr. Rose van Es, a former colleague (1990-1992) begins her letter. Her work takes her to Hong Kong and Vietnam, training counsellors to deal with problem gamblers. She currently heads the Iona College Gambling Institute, affiliated with the U. of Windsor. She also does online facilitating for the University of Phoenix and supervises Doctor of Ministry Candidates from a Detroit Seminary. Her address (if she is in town): 208 Sunset Ave., Windsor, ON N9B 3A7. WORLDCAT NOT-SO-TRIVIA According to WorldCat, 145 copies of the 14 books by the 6 authors in our Departments in Fredericton and Saint John are found in Canadian libraries. The equivalent last year was 116 copies, an increase of 25% this year. APPOINTMENTS Jacqueline Low was recently appointed Adjunct Professor, School of Health Services Administration, Faculty of Graduate Studies, Dalhousie University, for a five- year term. AT CONFERENCES Chris Nob Doran: "Resisting insurance technology: some lessons from mid-19th century England", at the "Vital Politics: health, medicine and bioeconomics into the twenty first century" at the London School of Economics, London, England, Sept. 5-7 2003. Jacqueline Low: Reconceptualizing the health care system: Accounting for how lay people access alternative therapies. Paper presented at the 2 nd Annual Social Sciences in Health Colloquium. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Oct. 3, 2003. She was also the chief Organizer, 2 nd Annual UNB Social Sciences in Health Colloquium. University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, Oct. 3, 2003. Nancy Nason-Clark: Woman Abuse and Faith Communities:
5 Religion, Violence and the Provision of Social Welfare. Invited panelist, Religious Research Association, Norfolk, VA. Oct. Getting Published: Journal Editors Roundtable Discussion. Invited Panelist. Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Norfolk, VA. Oct. Festschrift in Honour of Eileen Barker. Invited panelist. Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Norfolk, VA. Oct. Women s Juggling Act: Professional Women and Stress. Workshop for Teachers, Social Workers, Psychologists and University Professors, Osijek, Croatia, November 22. Building Bridges for Action on Issues of Religion and Abuse. Presentation to Sociology, Theology, Social Work and Law Students, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, November 19. Religion and Abuse: The Challenges Facing Sacred and Secular Institutions. Public Lecture, Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, November 18. No Place for Abuse: Theology and Woman Abuse. Presentation to Feminist Theology Class, Theological College, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, September 16. No Place for Abuse: Counselling Battered Religious Women. Presentation to Health Care Professionals, Kingston Medical Clinic, Kingston, Jamaica, September 18. Vanda Rideout: "E-government in rural communities in Atlantic Canada," Panel on Citizens and Organizations, NRC-CNRC Thematic Workshop on E-Government. Fredericton, NB Oct. 21-22. http://www.eeconomy.ca/en/ Will C. van den Hoonaard Ethics in Social Science Research Involving Humans. Plenary Speaker for the Federal Department of Justice Research Week. Ottawa. 30 Oct. IN THE MEDIA S EYE The local Daily Gleaner (3 September 2003) reported on a chapter from a work by Deborah Doherty and Jennie Hornosty about what abused women face in rural areas in New Brunswick. Ethics was the topic of two media interviews for Will C. van den Hoonaard, who was asked about his views on Bill-13: Genetics and Reproduction for ATV News at Five (28 October). His work was featured in A Question of Research Ethics in University Affairs (June/July 2003). The Telegraph Journal (Saint John, NB) carried an interview with him on Tuesday, 9 Dec. (p. A10) under Winter of our Discontent: Why are NB voters turning to protest? RESEARCH TRAVEL In September 2003, Nancy Nason-Clark and a graduate student, Lanette Ruff, traveled to Jamaica to conduct research and
6 collect data on issues related to domestic violence in Jamaican Christian families. This trip was funded by the Women Empowered Committee of Harvard Theological Seminary. With funding provided by the Constant H. Jacquet Research Award of the Religious Research Association, Nancy Nason-Clark and Lanette Ruff also traveled to Croatia in November for data collection and researching issues related to abuse in Croatian Christian families. WELCOMING NEW GRADUATE STUDENTS We welcomed these new graduate students into the Department in September 2003: Jean-Louis Deveau (interdisciplinary, housed in Sociology), Ph.D. program, from McGill University; Barbara Fisher-Townsend, Ph.D. program, from McMaster University; Mary Milliken, Ph.D. program, from UNB (Fredericton campus); and Fern Paul, M.A. program, from UNB (Fredericton campus). They have already survived the first term at UNB, with flying colours. SUCCESS AMONG OUR GRADUATES Lynn Gunn, Ph.D. cand., has had a very successful autumn during which time she published four encyclopedia articles, Gender Violence, Homolka, Karla, and Paul Bernardo, Lake, Leonard, and Charles Ng, and Team Killers in Eric W. Hickey (ed.) Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 2003). She also presented Male and Female Team Serial Killing: A Right of Entitlement? at the Conference, The Challenge of Practice, the Benefits of Theory, American Society of Criminology, Denver, Colorado (November 19-22, 2003). She is currently (September 2003-April 2004) Doctoral Fellow in Criminology, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, New Brunswick Barb Fisher-Townsend attended the annual meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion held in Atlanta, GA in August. With Lanette Ruff, she copresented a paper entitled "Interfacing Faith- Based and Secular Programs: Considering American and European Strategies." In October Barb presented a paper with Nancy Nason-Clark at the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Norfolk, VA., entitled "The interface between religious faith and intervention programs for men who batter." Lannette Ruff and Nancy Nason-Clark also presented Responding to Wife Abuse in the Caribbean: Research and Resources for Shelters and Churches. Religious Research Association, Norfolk, Virginia. Oct.
7 We are delighted to hear that Rahla Rahat, a MA graduate, accepted the position of Director, Women Empowerment Program at the Family Planning Association of Pakistan. The FPA is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious NGO in the country. The Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton has appointed Kim Bent asvisitor Services/Gallery Shop Coordinator. Kim graduated with an MA from our Department. The Art Gallery has significant collections, including the largest Salvador Dali painting in the world. As Kim is a hard worker, we know she won t dilly-dali around the Gallery. PLENARY ADDRESSES AND WORKSHOPS During the past term, Nancy Nason-Clark had a number of (plenary) speaking engagements at the Lutheran Health Care Conference (Niagara Falls, ON), at the FaithLink Workshop (Calgary), at the South Calgary Community Church, and at the Assemblies of God Church and the Missionary Alliance Church (both in Kingston, Jamaica). WEDDING One of our former graduate students, Dr. Jennifer Brayton, married in Sandy Cove, Digby, NS on Aug 23 rd. Jenn is Assistant Professor at Ryerson University, Toronto. POST-MODERNISM IN FIELD RESEARCH NELS ANDERSON RESEARCH FUND As the apocryphal informant is said to have told the apocryphal postmodern ethnographer, Okay, enough about you. Now let s talk about me. a joke Newton (1993) attributes to Marshall Sahlins by way of David Schneider (cited by Jonathan Spencer, in Handbook of Ethnography, 2002: 451). This fund, a very generous gift of Dr. Nels Anderson (1889-1986), provides several significant awards guided by the spirit of Anderson s own research beginning with The Hobo (1923) at the University of Chicago as the first field-research monograph of the famed Chicago School of Sociology. Dr. Anderson was a longstanding faculty member in our Department. His work stressed the gathering of original information by way of interviews and participant-observation. The Nels Anderson Research Fund offers three types of awards which make being in our Department an attractive possibility for graduate students.
8 Field-Research Grants All graduate students are entitled to receive grants of either a maximum of $2,000 (for MA students) or $ 4,000 (for PhD Students) to cover research expenses. Conference-Travel Grants These grants, valued up to $1,500 per year, are used by all of our graduate students to travel to conferences relevant to their research and to present papers. Nels Anderson Merit Award To top off University Assistantships (ranging from $9,000 to $15,000), our students are entitled to receive up to three years additional monies as the Nels Anderson Merit Award, $1,666 and $2,500 per year, for MA and PhD students, respectively. WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR GRADUATE PROGRAM? Please contact Gary L. Bowden, Director of Graduate Studies at <glb@unb.ca> OPENING-LINE QUIZ See your name in print! The first person to identify the following opening line of a sociology book will have his or her name printed in the next Thumbprint. Mostly out of laziness, I decide to start my low-wage life in the town nearest to where I actually live, Key West, Florida... Level of difficulty: 4 (with 5's being the most difficult). We re adding the date of publication this time: 2001. Send your answer to the Thumbprint Editor at <will@unb.ca> Our last opening-line quiz must have been too hard! We received no responses from our usual cognisanti. This was the opening line: Any science, at any moment of its historical significance, contains not only truth but also much that is half-truth, shamtruth, and plain error. Pitirim Sorokin wrote these lines about Sociology in his Fads and Foibles in Modern Sociology (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1965) Thumbprint: newsletter of the Graduate Academic Unit in Sociology, Departments of Sociology at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. Semiannual. Issue 1 (Sept. 2002)- ISSN 1704-5479 1. University of New Brunswick. Graduate Academic Unit in Sociology-- Periodicals. 2. Sociology--Study and teaching (Graduate)--New Brunswick-- Periodicals. I. University of New Brunswick. Dept. of Sociology II. University of New Brunswick. Graduate Academic Unit in Sociology III. University of New Brunswick at Saint John. Dept. of Sociology LE3.N32kT4 301'.071'17151 C2002-904594-0 Please contact its Editor, Will C. van den Hoonaard <will@unb.ca> if you have comments or contributions. Next deadline: 5 August 2004.