"Court Rules for Public Schools and Educators, Rejects Trump-Vance Administration’s Unprecedented Assault on Public Education" Democracy Forward Foundation (Aug 14)

"Baltimore. A U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has made a sweeping ruling in favor of a coalition of nationwide associations of educators and a public school district, declaring that the Trump-Vance administration’s attempt to require school districts throughout the nation to censor lessons, abandon student support programs, and certify their compliance with the administration’s unlawful interpretation of civil rights is unconstitutional."

Update from Democracy Forward [Apr 24]: "Harmful Attacks on Educational Programs Paused by Court in Case Brought By Educators" (Press Release April 24, 2025)

"Federal Court Issues Nationwide Order Pausing Unprecedented Assault on Public Schools, Teachers and Students. Court Blocks 'Dear Colleague Letter' Purporting to Prosecute or Cut Funding Based on Teaching History, Sociology, Or Other Lessons That Reference Race or Racism."

Original item 2/26/25 "ASA Joins Lawsuit against the Department of Education"
From Democracy Forward:

"The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFT-MD, and the American Sociological Association have filed a lawsuit challenging the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague Letter,” which is a new policy that threatens to withhold federal funding for any education institutions that do not comply by February 28 with its unprecedented weaponization and undermining of civil rights laws. In addition to withholding funds, the letter also threatens educators and schools with potential investigations and prosecutions.

"The suit, filed in federal court in Maryland, is brought by the AFT, AFT-MD, and the American Sociological Association. The complaint challenges a “Dear Colleague Letter” published by the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights on February 14, 2025, which threatened that federal funding would be withheld from education institutions that teach accurate history and lessons about slavery, diversity and inclusion, among other efforts. The complaint argues that the “Dear Colleague Letter” will do a disservice to students and ultimately the nation by weakening schools as portals to opportunity and incubators for creative, innovative, and critical thinking."

See the press release and full complaint on the Democracy Forward website.

See additional context on the "Dear Colleague" letter on our "Resources for Tracking Trump Administration Actions" page

"Since 1984, the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has provided technical assistance to more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries, advancing global understanding of health and population trends in developing countries. The DHS Program has earned a worldwide reputation for collecting and disseminating accurate, nationally representative data on fertility, family planning, maternal and child health, gender, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and nutrition. The project is implemented by ICF International, Inc..

"With the ending of USAID support in February 2025, ICF has secured interim funding for continuing selected, but not all, DHS Program services. Several donors and host countries are funding the completion of selected surveys. ICF also received a 3-year grant for Emergency Support to Stabilize the DHS Program from the Gates Foundation in July 2025, with a focus on supporting the maintenance of the dhsprogram.com website; ensuring continued free access to tools and data, including uploading of and access to new datasets; and supporting the completion of some surveys and the implementation of new surveys in selected countries."

"The DHS Program, which manages registration and access for IPUMS DHS, is again reviewing new user applications and requests for expanded access from currently approved users."

The Joint Program in Survey Methodology offers a variety of short courses. Short Courses are open to the public and admission through the University of Maryland admission office is not required.

Introduction to Machine Learning and Big Data for Survey Researchers and Social Scientist, By: Trent D. Buskirk. Monday, Dec 01, 2025 - Tuesday, Dec 12, 2025. Online

Introduction to Survey Sampling, By: Colm O’Muircheartaigh and James M. Lepkowski. Tuesday, Dec 09, 2025 - Thursday, Dec 11, 2025. Online

Synthetic Data: Balancing Confidentiality and Quality in Public Use Files, By: Joerg Drechsler and Jerome P. Reiter. Monday, Feb 02, 2026 – Friday, Feb 13, 2026. Online

Introduction to Survey Estimation, By: David Morganstein and Sunghee Lee. 
Monday, April 06, 2026 - Friday, April 17, 2026. Online

Small Area Estimation, By: Santanu Pramanik. Monday, May 11, 2026 – Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Online

See the complete schedule with prices and register on the JPSM website.

[Update, Aug 1] "Despite federal investigations, GMU president will remain in role, receive pay boost" Virginia Mercury

[Update, Jul 30] "DOJ to review staff texts, emails after faculty praise of GMU president" The Washington Post (Jul 29) "...the Justice Department sent a letter to George Mason University saying it planned to review a Faculty Senate resolution that praised the school’s president. ... On Tuesday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and committee member Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) sent a letter to Washington saying they were requesting five years of records and staff communications related to GMU’s DEI policies."

"Alumni, students, faculty, business leaders, and community members who care deeply about Mason" have created a website, "I Stand With Mason," that includes a form to sign a resolution in support of GMU and its president.

"Fairfax court says some Youngkin appointees can’t serve on university boards — for now" WAMU (Jul 29)

[Update, Jul 17] "George Mason Is the Latest University Under Fire From Trump. Its President Fears an 'Orchestrated' Campaign." ProPublica (Jul 10) "When university president Gregory Washington received notice that the Trump administration had opened an investigation into complaints of antisemitism, he was 'perplexed.' But there are signs it may be part of a coordinated campaign to oust him." [Announcement from US Dept. of Education is here.]
"George Mason professors say governing board failed to defend president, university" Virginia Mercury (Jul 23) GMU Board of Visitors meeting notice, August 1.

[Update, Apr. 11] A group of faculty members at universities on the March 10 list have issued a call to action, "We Must Leverage the Strength of Our Institutions and Stand Together." (New URL) It states in part, "These measures are not principally about protecting students and combating discrimination; they are about political control. ... the federal government is using the language of civil rights enforcement as a cover for authoritarian overreach and encroachment, dictating what can be said, studied, and debated in our institutions. These measures represent a direct assault on the mission of the university as a space for independent thought, free speech, and democratic engagement. ... We ask all sixty institutions under government threat to unite in a coordinated, proactive defense." More than 4,500 faculty members at these 60 institutions and others have signed the call to action, which remains open for signature as of this date.

[Original, Mar. 15] The US Department of Education announced March 10 that it "sent letters to 60 institutions of higher education warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfill their obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students on campus...." (See also the report from Inside Higher Ed on March 11.)

The list includes American University, George Mason University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Virginia.

At the same time, the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University released an action-resource guide: Student Speech, Education Policy, and College Campuses Today. (PDF) "This guide provides an accessible introduction to historical and ongoing policy debates on students’ freedom of expression around Palestine, Gaza, Israel, and anti-Zionism. It is intended to inform and empower students, faculty, administrators, and free speech advocates working in this area."

Johns Hopkins University also "is planning for staff layoffs after the Trump administration canceled $800 million in U.S. Agency for International Development grants...."

See additional news and resources related to the actions of the Trump Administration on our "Resources" page.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:
16th ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STIGMA

Conference Theme: “Beyond the Labels - Living and Thriving”

A Hybrid Conference Hosted by Howard University Tuesday, November 18, 2025 –Thursday, November 20, 2025

Deadline for Submission: Monday, September 1, 2025 by 5:00pm (EDT)

"This hybrid conference aims to increase awareness of the stigma of HIV and other health conditions and to explore interventions to eradicate this stigma. This conference also serves to educate healthcare providers and the general public about stigma as both a major barrier to prevention and treatment of illnesses and a human rights violation."

Read the complete call (PDF) or (online)

From the Consortium of Social Science Associations series, "Why Social Science?"

Because Reimagining Science Requires Behavioral and Social Scientists at the Table, Too

July 31, 2025

by Sam Goldstein, Science for Good

"Nearly 40% of deaths in the United States are preventable through changes in behavior. Modifiable risk factors like smoking, poor diet, inactivity, or alcohol use are contributors to many cancers. For children and teens ages 1 to 17, the leading cause of death is not disease…it’s gun violence. These are not problems with strictly biomedical solutions. They are deeply embedded in how people live, what they believe, and the environments they navigate every day. This is where behavioral and social science research (BSSR) provides answers. BSSR can examine individual characteristics and the broader contexts that shape health, or our “social determinants of health,” which either promote good health or exacerbate health disparities. Despite its enormous potential to improve lives, BSSR receives only a fraction of the funding and recognition given to biomedical research. In some cases, the use of terminology or phrases related to research on health disparities in a grant proposal have resulted in unfair termination of funding. If we want to understand not only today’s most pressing public health crises, but also the political moment science now finds itself in, we need scientists who ask the why’s and the how’s."

Read the complete post online.

"We’re Leaving the Porch Light On For You!" (July 14, 2025)

"As editors of the ADVANCE Journal, we have been stunned and deeply saddened by the onslaught of attacks directed at higher education, science, and women of all races, cultures, and sexual orientations. But, make no mistake. We remain committed to ensuring that the research findings, project outcomes, artistic expressions, lived experiences, and voices of women in the academic STEM disciplines are well-documented in the peer-reviewed literature. Therefore, we’ve made the decision to continue production of the Journal indefinitely."

Original [5/14/25] "Call for Personal Essay/Impact Statement for NSF Grants and their Terminations" [See one example essay published June 12 here]

"On Friday, May 2nd, The ADVANCE Journal: Individual and Institutional Transformation for Social Justice received its termination notice from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the NSF grant supporting the journal. While we are saddened, we are not broken. In fact, we see this moment as an opportunity to continue our work for gender and intersectional equity freed from the constraints of institutional dictates in the current political situation. We are defiant.

"We are only one of hundreds of NSF grants focused on broadening participation of women, BIPOC, and 2SLGBTQIA+ in STEM higher education that have been abruptly terminated. As other such projects are receiving their notices and the destruction of the ADVANCE program at NSF continues, the ADVANCE Journal invites submission of personal or collective essays and impact statements about positive experiences of these NSF grant programs and the negative impacts of their cancellations. This is for scholars working on issues of gender, race, inclusion, equity, and justice through ADVANCE and other NSF grants, such as LSAMP. We are interested in highlighting how these cancellations impact PIs, co-PIs, postdoctoral and international scholars and other participants, institutions, and science itself.

"These essays will not be peer-reviewed but will be reviewed by the journal’s editorial team. They will be published on the ADVANCE Journal site as a blog series that bears testimony to the fallout of this administration’s targeting of women, BIPOC, people with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ people within the academy."

Essays should be no more than 2,000 words and should be submitted by Monday, May 26, 2025. "We also welcome submissions of poetry, photographs, and hyperlinks to projects and publications that convey the significance of your project and the impact of the grant termination."

See the complete call and link for submission online.

From the Minnesota Population Center:

"IPUMS MLP: Revolutionizing Linked Data" (Jul 17, 2025)

The latest iteration of the IPUMS Multigenerational Longitudinal Panel (MLP) project ... links together records from the full count US census data.... Full count census data offer unprecedented opportunities for social scientific research. Once harmonized, these data enable precise measurement of key demographic, economic, and social patterns across time and space. Researchers can observe entire populations over long periods and produce estimates virtually free of sampling error. Estimates can also be produced down to the smallest geographical units, allowing researchers to define and observe communities with an outstanding level of detail.

Perhaps even more powerfully, full count data have opened the possibility of automated record linkages across census years to construct millions of individual life histories and trace millions of families over multiple generations. These linked data speak compellingly to core research questions in the social sciences, including intergenerational mobility and the intergenerational transmission of socioeconomic characteristics; exhaustive descriptions of individual and family trajectories; internal migration patterns within small geographic units; long-term outcomes of early-life conditions; and many more.

Read the complete blog post online.

DCSS welcomes Dr. Carolette Norwood of Howard University as the new president of DCSS as of July 1, 2025. She extends the following welcome to all DCSS members and supporters:

I am delighted to step into the role of President of the DC Sociological Society (DCSS)! It is a profound honor to serve in this capacity. The last Sociologist from Howard University to hold this position was the esteemed E. Franklin Frazier, making this moment especially meaningful and humbling.

I want to express my deep appreciation for my predecessor, Dr. Gay Young, whose outstanding leadership has set a high standard and left big shoes to fill. I look forward to building on her legacy while bringing my own vision to the role.

Throughout this academic year, I’m excited to host a variety of events and opportunities to connect with colleagues, students, and friends of Sociology across the DC area. I hope to foster community, critical dialogue, and celebration of the rich sociological traditions rooted in our region.

Let’s make it a vibrant and engaging year for sociology in the DC area!

Carolette Norwood is Professor and former Chair of Sociology and Criminology at Howard University. A Black feminist sociologist, Dr. Norwood’s research examines violence at the intersections of race, gender, class, sexuality, and space, with a particular focus on reproductive and sexual health injustices impacting Black women. Her forthcoming book, Jim Crow Geographies (under contract with Columbia University Press), draws on her research on Black women’s economic mobility and reproductive justice in Cincinnati. Dr. Norwood’s scholarship has appeared in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships, Journal of Black Psychology, The American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Women, Politics & Policy, and other leading outlets. Her work has been widely recognized and supported by major funders, including the NIH, Mellon Foundation, and Ford Foundation.

Gay Young moves into the role of Editor of the DCSS publication, The Sociologist: Analysis From & About The DMV. For the fall 2025 issue, we anticipate a timely feature by a DC faculty member on their research; an interview with a DC academic leader; an international graduate student review of an ASA-awarded book; an undergraduate student reflection on advocacy in the realm of CRSV; and a photo essay on art, tech and social inequality. Jill Brantley, who served as Editor from 2022-2025 and is also a past President of DCSS, and Alexandra Rodriguez, DCSS Secretary 2022-2025, will join the editorial board for The Sociologist. 

John W. Curtis will continue as DCSS Treasurer.

The DCSS Executive Committee welcomes volunteers or nominations of DCSS members interested in joining the Executive Committee and serving as Secretary. Please communicate your interest or nomination to dcsociologicalsociety@gmail.com.

The Center for Latin American and Latino Studies and Immigration Lab at American University have launched a podcast, "Immigration Realities." 

"In its debut season, Immigration Realities features timely, in-depth conversations that illuminate recent policy developments, underreported stories, and cutting-edge research on immigration."

Episode 1: Unpacking Trump's First Month
Episode 2: Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Migrant "Crisis" and The Current Response
Episode 3: The First 100 Days Immigration Policy
Episode 4: Asylum Seekers and New Arrivals in DC and NYC
Episode 5: The Effects of the Latest Immigration Policies - Immigration Realities Podcast
Episode 6: Criminalized by Design: How U.S. Immigration Policy Hurts Families, Not Crime Rates