Positive Sociology

It's crazy to think that we'll be in Toronto on Friday.  Our time in Philadelphia has flown by so quickly!   Just over two years ago, I can still vividly remember my first drive into Philadelphia.  That day, I flew into Baltimore, picked up my dog (who flew on Pet Airways into Baltimore), and rented a car for the 2-hour drive into Philly.  Sarah was still in LA and would visit Tokyo before moving to Philly in the late fall;  my first couple months in Philadelphia without her were rough!  I'm so happy that we're moving together this time around! Anyways, one of the things that was most challenging about my move to Philadelphia was my radical change in lifestyle.  I've basically always been a swimmer.  I started swimming when I was 6.  I started competitively swimming when I was 7.  In high school, I attended an elite prep school in Jacksonville, FL known as The Bolles School.  I competed and trained year-round at Bolles.  I th...

I once read a New Yorker article about how people have epiphanies when they are relaxed and often doing something that's not directly related to goal that they have in mind.  If I remember correctly, the article synthesized research in neuroscience about how people make "big connections" and have "ah-ha" moments when they aren't too directly focused on having a "big connection" or an "ah-ha" moment.  The author seemed to suggest that this was one of the reasons for why people often have great ideas while taking showers or when they first wake up in the morning.  I don't know the ins and outs of this research, but feel that I have experienced this throughout my academic career. For example, when I was a 4th year PhD student, I was busy trying to publish articles from my dissertation.  At that time, I was trying to publish an article about street corner rap battles outside of Project Blowed, a Hip Hop open mic workshop in South Central...

Police in northeast Philadelphia have discovered what they are calling a "House of Horrors."  Apparently, following a dispute between a tenant and landlord, police were called to a Tacony home in which they discovered 4 mentally-disabled individuals shackled in a basement dungeon.  Officers made this discovery after hearing a rumbling noise coming from the basement.  At first, police thought that the noises might be coming from a dog that was locked up inside the basement.  However, upon closer investigation, officers found a small, dark room that in one officer's words looked like a scene from Silence of the Lambs .  The individuals in captivity were malnourished, covered in bed sores, and in shackles.   Inside the House of Horrors So far, police have arrested 4 suspects believed to be behind this "House of Horrors."  Local news and detectives are speculating that the suspects may have been held hostage for the past 11 years, during which time the ...

I'm teaching two undergraduate courses in the Spring at the University of Toronto .  In addition to teaching an undergraduate qualitative methods course, I'm also teaching my favorite course: The Sociology of Crime and Deviance.  There are two reasons why I love teaching this course: 1) It's a topic that closely resonates with my fieldwork on gun violence, gangs, and drugs, and 2) If taught well, it's a topic that seems to pique the unpredictable interests/attention of 18-21 year old undergraduate students. I first taught the Sociology of Crime and Deviance while finishing my Ph.D. at UCLA.  Since this was my first real teaching experience at the university level, I spent several weeks designing my syllabus.  This involved carefully picking readings that I thought would engage students.  After a few weeks of tinkering, I finally finished my syllabus, which included readings from   Clifford Shaw's Jackroller, Laud Humphrey's Tearoom Trade , and H...

I recently became a fan of Breaking Bad .  After a few weeks of hearing rave reviews about the show from different people, I finally sucked it up and started watching it on Netflix instant. Over the course of a few weeks, I managed to watch Seasons 1-3.  For those who haven't yet seen the show, don't worry, this post won't spoil the show for you. I'm not going to summarize the story's plot.  I'm not going to give away any hidden gems that the show has to offer.  So, if you're so inclined, you can continue reading on... In a nutshell, Breaking Bad is a show about a relatively straight-laced high school Chemistry teacher who learns that he has lung cancer.  Saddled with incredibly high medical bills and worried that he may die and leave his wife and special needs son with a lifetime of debt, said teacher starts cooking meth on the side.  The story is more or less about his struggle to keep this new life and identity separate from his other life.  The...

Troy Davis was executed last night around 11pm EST.  I don't know the ins and outs of the Davis trial, but feel that there is significant doubt surrounding his guilt.  Different accounts have shown that 7 out of 9 key state witnesses have since recanted statements that were used to convict Davis.  Some accounts have said that witnesses felt coerced by police to sign bogus statements.  Others have implicated one of the other key witnesses--"Redd" Coles--as the person who actually killed off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail.    Troy Davis: Did the state have enough evidence to execute him? According to a NY Times article , Troy Davis maintained his innocence until the very end.  Moments before he was killed via lethal injection, Davis looked directly at MacPhail's family and said, " I did not personally kill your son, father, brother.  All I can ask is that you look deeper into this case so you really can finally see the truth."  Davis als...

Tupac: Revolutionary, Problem, or Neither? It's been 15 years since Tupac Shakur was killed in a drive-by shooting.  While perusing news websites, blogs, and my Facebook status feed, I began to think about a larger moral debate that often comes together around Tupac and other rappers. On one side, there are journalists and academics who are guilty of "Tupac worship."  I'm paraphrasing, but there are tons of journalistic and academic accounts that treat Tupac as if he were a "revolutionary" or "visionary" who changed the face of the music industry.  The more ambitious accounts like to argue that Tupac has forever changed the face of American culture. I'm uncomfortable with the revolutionary tag and feel that people throw around this term too casually and liberally.  I'm also ambivalent with the visionary label, particularly since I think it's hard to really assess how a single artist has impacted something as vast as the music in...