Austin van LoonStanford University A striking pattern that we see in Americans’ response to the coronavirus pandemic is the variation in response predictable by political party identification. Specifically, American Republicans are much less likely than American Democrats to engage in and endorse health behaviors that are at the time of writing recommended by the World Health Organization (Kushner Gadarian et al 2020). From the perspective … Continue reading Health Behavior Disparities Along Party Lines and Associative Diffusion

Simone Rambotti Loyola University New Orleans In late February 2020, Italy became the European epicenter of the novel coronavirus contagion. The Dipartimento della Protezione Civile (the national body that deals with emergencies) began publicly sharing data on February 24: 221 people were confirmed as positive and 7 dead. Four days later, the CDC travel recommendation for Italy went from level 2 (Practice Enhanced Precautions) to … Continue reading Bridging Physical Distance: Solidarity Rituals During the Early Stage of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Italy

Marta SoligoUniv. of Nevada – Las Vegas When, on March 11, the Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte announced a strict stay-at-home order for the whole country, media worldwide broadcasted pictures of unusually empty Italian piazzas (squares). Those images, which soon became the symbol of COVID-19 in Italy, mirrored the shock of a society for whom urban social life is vital. For centuries, urban centers—especially piazzas—represented … Continue reading Urban Social Life on Hold: Italian Communities and COVID-19

Rebecca Jean EmighCorey O’MalleyUC, Los Angeles In the time of COVID-19, tools for remote learning, exemplified by the now-ubiquitous videoconferencing platform Zoom, have gone from convenience to necessity. As faculty rushed to move classes online, they have become suddenly aware of the drawbacks and potentials of such tools. How can they be used effectively to promote learning? The format (manuscripts, books, electronic media, etc.) of … Continue reading Face-to-Face with Zoom?: Remote Teaching During the Coronavirus

Anna DurnováInstitute for Advanced Studies, Vienna As a response to COVID-19 pandemic, governments all over the world induced several social distancing measures to flatten the curve of spreading the disease. Although these measures have differed from country to country, all included some form of ‘stay-at-home’ directives. Among others, such directives have recalled the dominant public discourse in Western societies of a home as a private … Continue reading Cultural Sociology of “Home” as a Research Program for the Post COVID-19 Sociology

I consider myself lucky to have been at the helm of the culture section this year. While devastated by the impact of COVID on our communities, and drained/exhilarated/consumed by the anti-racism protests of this spring and summer, we have also been able to take actions to address these crises, thanks to many people – section leadership such as Ruthie Braunstein and Terry McDonnell as well … Continue reading Letter From the Chair, Summer 2020