Midwest Sociological Society
2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
This year, UND Sociology was very active at the Midwest Sociological Society’s annual meeting! Several faculty members presented their research, teaching techniques, facilitated panel discussions, teaching and learning workshops, and served as committee members and leaders at the conference. Here are some highlights from the conference.
On the first day of MSS, Teaching Assistant Professors Allyssa Baumbach and Gabe Kilzer joined Dr. Derek Wilson from Midland University to facilitate a teaching and learning workshop. Dr. Jeff Chin from Le Moyne College spoke about the scholarship of teaching and learning, and UND’s Dr. Daphne Pedersen presided over this session focused on learning sociology through role playing games, engaging online students, and assessment strategies.
Allyssa also presented a technique that emphasizes the combination of the social environment, the social positions people are born into, as well as individual effort affect how people experience and interpret the world.
Drs. Daphne Pederson and Krista Lynn Minnotte closed the conference week for us by serving on a panel targeted toward leaders of small departments and combined programs. It was exciting to come together with Sociologists across the region!
Teaching Assistant Professor Dr. Joe Jochman presented a co-authored project with Dr. Daphne Pedersen, the current Associate Dean in the College of Arts and previous Sociology Department Chair. Their research focused on student well-being in higher education, specifically the high stress experienced by STEM students.
Also, Dr. Jochman presented a separate project about religious bullying, and Dr. Pedersen co-facilitated a panel discussion that provided strategies for finding and utilizing open access materials or other available resources to develop courses that are more financially accessible to students.
Drs. Liz Legerski and Krista Lynn Minnotte presented their work on sexual harassment among servers.
Dr. Legerski, who is Chair of the MSS Membership Committee, a member of the Executive and Nominations and Elections Committees, also served on a panel focused on dual-credit courses.
A particularly exciting event was the award ceremony where our own Dr. Daniel Bartholomay was recognized for his co-authored paper titled “Doing Sexuality: How Married Bisexual, Queer, and Pansexual People Navigate Passing and Erasure” was published in the summer of 2023 and received The Sociological Quarterly Award. Join us in congratulating Dr. Bartholomay on this achievement!
Dr. Bartholomay also co-facilitated sessions focused on creating safe spaces, how to engage in difficult conversations, establishing work-life balance for early career faculty, strategies for academic success for queer and underrepresented scholars, and introduced the presidential address.
