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  • October 5, 2026

  • UC Irvine sociology faculty, graduate students and alumni recognized with multiple honors at American Sociological Association Annual Meeting

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UC Irvine sociologists were lauded for outstanding research, scholarship and service at this year’s American Sociological Association Annual Meeting. Held in New York City, the event marked the professional group’s 121st annual meeting, bringing together more than 5,000 researchers, educators, practitioners, decision-makers, professionals and students for 600 different sessions, panels and celebrations. The theme, “Disrupting the Status Quo: Putting Sociologists to Work for a More Equitable Society,” was particularly fitting for the award-winning work done by UCI sociologists who tackle topics from inequality, migration, education and politics to social movements, family life and global change.

“These awards speak to the breadth and depth of the work UCI sociologists are doing,” says Francesca Polletta, Chancellor’s Professor and chair of sociology at UCI. “Their research draws important lessons for social change, but ones that are grounded in firmly empirical research.”

Congratulations to all award winners, including those below honored from UCI:

Elizabeth Chiarello, Ph.D. 2011, ASA Distinguished Scholarly Book Award Honorable Mention, Policing Patients: Treatment and Surveillance on the Frontlines of Opioid Crisis.

Yeryeng Choi, Ph.D. Candidate, Student Paper Award Honorable Mention, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements, “The Moral Economy of Action: Sustaining Participation Through Emotional Debt.”

MacKenzie Christensen, Ph.D. 2025, Kristin Turney, Dean’s Professor, & Suyeon Park Jang, Ph.D. Candidate, Article Award, Section on the Family, “The Carceral Contradictions of Motherhood: How Mothers of Incarcerated Sons Parent in the Shadow of the Criminal Legal System.”

Mirian Martinez-Aranda, Assistant Professor, Article Award, Section on Latina/o Sociology, “Weaponized Waiting: How an Administrative Burden Harms Families Visiting Loved Ones in Immigration Detention.”

Francesca Polletta, Chancellor’s Professor, Debra Boka, Ph.D. Candidate, Caroline Martinez, Ph.D. 2025, & Mutsumi Ogaki, Article Award, Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements, “Social Movements in the Commercial Public Sphere: How Women’s Magazines Popularized Second-Wave Feminism” and Article Award, Section on the Sociology of Culture, “Social Movements in the Commercial Public Sphere.”

Edward Telles, Distinguished Professor, Distinguished Career Award, Section on International Migration.

Irene Vega, Associate Professor, ASA Distinguished Scholarly Book Award Honorable Mention, Bordering on Indifference: Immigration Agents Negotiating Race and Morality; Book Award, Section on Crime, Law, and Deviance, Bordering on Indifference; Book Award, Section on International Migration, Bordering on Indifference; and Book Award, Section on Latina/o Sociology, Bordering on Indifference.

 

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