SOCIOLOGY - When Burks arrived at the UO in 1992, he had no idea what to study, but an introductory sociology class grabbed his attention. “It appealed to my curiosity about what makes people tick,” he says. Burks would go on to have a career filled with danger and intrigue as a special agent for the US government, protecting international dignitaries and overseeing security at embassies around the world.

GLOBAL STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY - Japan's energy shift after the Fukushima disaster saw a surge in fossil fuel use. How does this impact their long-term sustainability goals? Recent research by Yvonne Braun of global studies and Michael Dreiling of sociology is featured.

SOCIOLOGY - Department of Sociology Professor Claire Herbert and Sociology graduate employee Amanda Ricketts’ collaboration was accepted at Social Problems peer-reviewed journal. This research was funded by a Marquina Award from the Department of Sociology and a research grant from the Center for the Study of Women in Society.

SOCIOLOGY - Jamie Yang (Wenyi), a sociology PhD student, has been recommended for the CSWS Jane Grant Award for "A Queer Quantitative Inquiry: Sexual Injustices and Social Contexts." The prestigious Jane Grant Dissertation Fellowship, honoring Jane Grant—early feminist and wife of CSWS’s benefactor William Harris—is given annually to an outstanding scholar writing a dissertation on women and gender.

ENGLISH, NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY, SPANISH, THEATRE ARTS - The Distinguished Teaching Awards recognize exceptional teaching that is inclusive, engaged and research-informed. This year’s winners are Jocelyn Hollander, Faith Barter, Alex Zunterstein, Kirby Brown, Robin Hopkins, Tannaz Farsi, Patricia Rodley and Michael Moffitt.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, SOCIOLOGY - Physicist Richard Taylor and environmental sociologist Richard York of the University of Oregon examine the beauty and benefits of fractal patterns in the natural world—and the need to protect that world from an ever-growing built environment.