Update: Here is the Meeting Schedule!!

Applying Sociology to New Tasks

    Can sociology survive another century in the customary teaching and research career patterns most professional sociologists follow today? Can sociology become a widely applied science in the high tech, global age ahead? It is unlikely that any of us will be around to see in year 2100, or Y2.1K as they may say then, but we can plan ahead. The 20th century offered us many hard lessons on social change-world and regional wars; technological changes in transportation, communications, medicine, and food production; social, economic, and political globalization; and the promise of still another technological boom plus further globalization in the next decade or so.

    All of this means still more social change for societies, regions, communities, households, and individuals. There will be a demand for applied sociology that we can only begin to imagine and try to fill. Yes, applied sociology may help the discipline of sociology to survive and prosper another century, but that's secondary.

    Sociology must have greater value than to itself alone. Many of us hope and believe that the new century's global society itself-North Carolina included-can be better off if sociology applies itself. State and other sociological associations can help prepare us to meaningfully apply sociology in the places where we live.

    This is what our next NCSA meeting is to help us begin to do. In a recent issue of The American Sociologist (Winter 1998)-an issue that the NCSA developed through the leadership of 1995 NCSA President Cathy Harris of Wake Forest University-North Carolina sociologists and others examined some of the ways that applied sociology can developed.

    These include

• volunteering,
• consulting,
• increasing the visibility of sociology, and
• getting sociology graduates into applied jobs.

    Our February meeting program contains sessions on these topics. We teach. We do research. But we can also apply sociology to meet the needs of society at all levels, and we can make meaningful careers in applied sociology for ourselves and for our students.

    Plan to participate in the NCSA's meeting. It offers perspectives on applied sociology that may change your future as a sociologist. Mark the dates of Thursday and Friday, February 17-18.

    Again, the reception is Thursday Evening the 17th, 7-10 PM at the Ramada Inn. And the Ramada Inn is offering special rates for those staying overnight.

    Meeting sessions are Friday the 18th, beginning 9 AM, at McKimmon Center on the southwest edge of the NCSU campus.

    It is a most appropriate place to have a state sociology meeting on applied sociology because the McKimmon Conference Center is named for Jane S. McKimmon, a sociologist who spent her career doing applied sociology in North Carolina. Further details on the meeting, registration, room reservations, directions, and the schedule are found in this issue of Sociation.

    Also, check the NCSA web site.  Tentative Schedule of Sessions Our first meeting of the next thousand years looks ahead a bit. We shall look at how sociology can move to a new level.  Sociology is known for its teaching and research. But applied sociology by whatever name-some say engaged sociology and others talk of sociological practice-is the third level of sociology and still needs a lot of development.
 

•     Our meeting begins with our annual get-together reception at the Ramada Inn where we can actually practice some of that social interaction we teach and study.  We'll have hors d'oeuvres, punch, and a cash bar. We'll have some of North Carolina's own musical talent to perform for us as well.

•     Registration and the annual meeting sessions begin Friday morning, February 18 at NC State University's McKimmon Conference Center. Come early enough to register and have coffee, 8:15 to 9:00 AM.

•     At 9 AM, we shall have a campus welcome and then the Presidential Address, The Sociologist in the Community: Returning to Our Roots by NCSA President George Conklin of NC Central University. George has had plenty of grassroots experience in the Durham community as well as in the larger Research Triangle community where he served on the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority. He will relate several of these applied experiences along with several sociological principles. Becky Heron, Durham county commissioner and former chair of the board, has agreed to introduce Conklin.

•     General Sessions.  While some types of applied sociology involve volunteering in our communities, applied sociology can be used to make money at things other than our teaching or research day jobs. Mike Thomas in Raleigh does consulting, career planning workshops, and other applied sociology feats full-time. See more about this at  http://www.consoc.com ,  and come to meet and hear him tell how sociologists can do more consulting for profit.

•     Much social interaction involves conflicts and disputes, and sociologists may apply their trade to resolving such matters. Si Garber, an NCSU sociologist, has had many experiences doing just that. He will relate how sociologists might get involved in helping resolve controversies between competing interests in our communities and state.

•     The final session of the morning takes still another direction. We're all familiar with Floyd, the flood, and the mud in the eastern part of our state. Billy Ray Hall, the governor's coordinator for the hurricane disaster response, will be on hand to lay out the status of the situation.

•     The Awards Luncheon  Ken Land of Duke University, chair of the NCSA awards committee, will moderate our annual awards luncheon at the McKimmon Center where we shall honor some of our members for their contributions to North Carolina sociology. We'll also present the annual Himes Award that recognizes students for their accomplishments.


Maxine Atkinson of NCSU, Southern Sociological Society President, will bring greetings and an        invitation as will Ken Land who is SSS President-Elect.
 

• Afternoon Sessions.  The afternoon features a couple of sessions that run simultaneously. One will be a demonstration on conflict resolution by Si Garber as a follow-up to his morning presentation. The other session will feature several presentations on curricula for applied sociology, state government jobs for undergraduate majors, and how our campus media folks can help us get out the news about good things sociology does. Among these speakers is Michelle Cotton of the NCSA Applied Careers Task Force; she does applied sociology as a legislative liaison to the state legislature.

• Business Meeting The meeting ends with our annual business session.    NSCA initiatives are to be reviewed, election results reported, and the gavel passed.

    Throughout the day, we shall have the opportunity to visit several exhibits by textbook publishers and financial service companies. They are kindly helping to cover part of the costs for our breaks and meeting rooms.

    All in all, this promises to be an eventful day. We hope it helps us set a better perspective on how we may apply sociology, North Carolina style, where we live in the days of our new era.

    We won't have an official airline with special rates for our meeting, but we do have an official hotel for those who come to stay overnight on the evening of February 17.

    It's the Ramada Inn, 1520 Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh, where our Thursday evening reception will be held. Reservations. Our NCSA conference rates, single or double, are $69 plus taxes. Breakfast is included. For reservations, call (800) 441-4709 or (919) 832-4100. Be sure to say that this is for the North Carolina Sociological Association meeting.

    Directions to Ramada Inn/Blue Ridge. The Ramada Inn on Blue Ridge Road is next to the NCSU School of Veterinary Medicine and near the State Fairgrounds. Just outside the beltline in West Raleigh, the Ramada Inn at 1520 Blue Ridge Road is located between Wade Avenue and Hillsboro St. It is also located a short drive from McKimmon Center. From Wade Avenue, just follow the signs to the fairgrounds and they will take you close. See the map in this issue for more specific directions.

    Awards Luncheon  We hope everyone will register for the Awards Luncheon to be held at McKimmon Center where we are meeting Friday, February 18. Some special folks in North Carolina sociology will be honored. It is important to preregister for the luncheon in order for us to know how many to expect. Please send your luncheon reservation to NCSA Secretary-Treasurer Pat Wyatt by Monday, Feb. 14, 2000. The lunch will be buffet style, and the cost is $12 per person. Use the registration form in this issue.

    Directions to McKimmon Center NCSU's McKimmon Center is located in Raleigh at the corner of Western Blvd. and Gorman St. The entrance to the parking area is from Gorman St. Check for directions on the enclosed map.

• From I-40 traveling East from airport. There are two options. Take Gorman St. Exit #295. Turn left onto Gorman St. Go approximately 1 mile. McKimmon Center is on the right, past Avent Ferry Rd., before Western Blvd. Or, from I-40 traveling East from the airport, take the Wade Ave. exit into West Raleigh. At the third traffic light, turn right onto Faircloth. Continue on Faircloth which becomes Gorman St. The entrance to McKimmon Center is on Gorman St., just past Western Blvd.

• From I-40 traveling West. Take Gorman St. Exit #295. Turn right onto Gorman St. McKimmon Center is no the right past Avent Ferry Rd., before Western Blvd.

     This year the Nominating Committee has found three candidates for the NCSA Executive Council and one candidate willing to stand for office as president-elect. Those on the committee continue to remark on the difficulties of recruiting candidates. NCSA members are invited to write in candidates for these offices should they desire.

    Robert A. Wortham is the candidate for president-elect.

    The nominees for the three openings on the NCSA Executive Council are Rebecca Bach, Michelle Cotton, and Teresa Rust Smith.

    "We appreciate the willingness of these candidates to volunteer their time and talents to support the NCSA," said Suzanne Trask on behalf of the Nominating Committee. "If others would be willing to serve, now or in the future, we encourage them to make themselves known."

Candidates for Executive Council.  The membership will elect three of the following candidates to serve three-year terms on the NCSA Executive Council. Please use the enclosed ballot. You may write in candidates if you wish.
 

• Rebecca Bach is Visiting Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Internship Program in the Department of Sociology at Duke University. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Purdue University. In addition to developing and teaching the department's internship seminar, she regularly teaches gender and sexuality courses. Her interest and experience in service learning and the partnership between academic sociology and the community fostered a desire to serve on the NCSA Executive Council to promote the discipline of sociology in the state of North Carolina. In addition, she is committed to NCSA's goal of developing a community of teachers, researchers, and applied sociologists from all areas of North Carolina. Michelle

• Michelle Cotton has demonstrated through her professional and educational career a strong interest in social issues which led her after a two and one-half year period living in D.C. to return to her native home state of North Carolina to pursue her Masters degree in Sociology, with a focus on social factors contributing to juvenile delinquency and the ecology of urban communities. She has an extensive work history in juvenile delinquency prevention and social research. Her professional track record includes work as the National Urban Field Coordinator for a juvenile delinquency and victimization prevention program sponsored by the National Crime Prevention Council; and a social researcher on staff to the Governor's Commission on Juvenile Crime and Justice and the Governor's Office of Substance Abuse Policy. She is currently working as the legislative liaison for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services. Her current position allows her the opportunity to apply her teachings in sociology in helping to create and advocate Health and Human Services policy issues related to mental health (child and adult), substance abuse and developmental disabilities.

• Teresa Rust Smith received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 1997. Her specializations are sociology of the family, medical sociology, and women's studies. A particular interest is women's reproductive health. Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor at Salem College. She lives in Winston-Salem, NC with her husband, Mark Smith, Ph.D., who is the Public Health Epidemiologist for neighboring Guilford County and their three sons. She also has three grown children. She enjoys contra dancing and raising exotic finches.

• Robert A. Wortham is associate professor of sociology at North Carolina Central University. He came to NCCU in 1988. His areas of teaching and research interest include demography, sociology of religion, environmental sociology and cultural studies. He has authored two books and several articles in these areas and has directed several graduate thesis projects on the sociology of North Carolina. He served as a member of the NCSA executive council for the 1996-1999 term and is committed to continuing the NCSA's efforts to build links among North Carolina sociologists working in applied, teaching and research settings. He is presently working with the NCSA task force investigating the reclassification and opening of state-level social science jobs to include sociology majors.

    The North Carolina Sociological Association now has a permanent home on the Internet, <http://www.ncsociology.org/>. Previously we were using private accounts.

    Unlike most other professional societies, our WWW pages contain sociological information, not just professional news. In particular, we are developing a series called The Sociology of North Carolina at  http://www.ncsociology.org/south.htm. 

    Analysis of our hits shows that in just two months we have been visited by almost 300 different users from 20 nations, including Latvia, Japan, and Finland. The paper edition of Sociation circulates only to paid members. Our WWW pages are used by anyone who seeks information about sociology and by people who otherwise would never see our information.

    Being sponsored by a society means that students and others using our site have assurance that information is professional. Unfortunately so many WWW pages are put up by special-interest groups which only want to sell one viewpoint for political reasons. Clearly already there is interest in what we have to offer.

    NCSA is also listed in The Sociology Ring. This link to other WWW pages is found at the bottom of our index page .  It gives our domain visibility to other sociologists. We are also listed in Yahoo with other professional sociological societies.

    We have discovered that much of our information can be found in the Netscape search engine. Other recommended links are found at  http://www.ncsociology.org/links.htm..  For example, students can find the City-County Data Book on line through this page. Part of having a virtual domain is that we also have access to virtual email. This means that any member of the society can be listed with an email address <@ncsociology.org>. This file will forward mail to your other email accounts. For example, Lee Dodson can be reached simply as lee@ncsociology.org.  Mail will then be sent on to his home site, which is harder to remember.

    If you want to be listed, please contact  george@ncsociology.org

    Our virtual domain is hosted by pagesz.net, the same host as before, but we are properly registered and no one else can assume our domain.

    As more and more information is made available on the Web, having our own domain will enable us to make our society's presence felt not only North Carolina, but to students and faculty in any nation interested in sociology. Please be certain to inform your students of our WWW pages and let them use our links to find other reliable sources of sociological information.

We continue our series on the Sociology of North Carolina with this book review of a mountain woman's personal history of growing up largely outside the monetary economy. She discusses many social customs which are associated with mountain culture.

    Please make any suggestions for future reviews to  George Conklin .

    Book review of Dobie 'n' Me in Hoot Owl Holler by Doris Smith Bliss. Kearney, NE: Morris Publishing, 1998. A copy may be ordered by calling 828-898-9800.

    Had this book been published by an academic, no doubt it might have been entitled, An Exegetical and Critical Analysis of Poverty, Strong Families and Strong Women in a Rural Appalachian Community: A Post-Feminist Examination and Reinterpretation. 

    Instead it was written by a lifelong resident of the area near Boone known as Matney. Her goal is to describe the way which she grew up in a mountain family which grew their own food, buried their own dead, and existed largely outside the cash economy.

    Medical care in the mountains was primitive. Doris Smith was the seventh of eight children. Her brother, Dobie, was born last. Following his birth Doris' mother came down with childbirth fever and was not expected to live, the same fate of her father's first wife.

    Mountain culture helped out, and each child was cared for by another family for over a month of hospitalization. Her father tried to get welfare, but returned home only with two pieces of cloth. Eventually the cloth was sewn into clothes, but the mother was so weak the children had to peddle the sewing machine.

    Today in sociology we are so used to hearing about the Culture of Poverty  we have practically forgotten that it was the strong cultures of farming communities and mountain folk which guaranteed survival. In story after story, author Bliss shows how customs aided survival. Fortitude, good humor, faith and cooperation enabled people to survive while living in an economy based on hunting, gathering, farming and small jobs for cash.

    Doris' father obtained his small farm in Matney, not far from the well-known Mast General Store, by working on logging Grandfather Mountain, now itself another tourist attraction. Wood was loaded onto the Tweetsie Railroad, which was then a working railroad serving Boone.

    Tourists will recognize all three names quickly since they now exist not to support the farming folks of the area, but as destination sites for bored time-share condominium tenants. The natural beauty of the area is a magnet for worldwide tourism.

    Unlike today, the Mast General Store used to trade goods for eggs, possum skins and farming produce. Bliss writes, "Sometimes we'd hit it lucky and catch several possums in one night. The hides or fur brought a pretty good price. We usually sold ours to Mast Store. The hides had to be stretched on a board and dried. A good possum hide would bring from ten to twenty-five cents. Possum huntin' provided a mountain family with many variations, food for some, fur for money, but mostly the fun of bein' out in the hills with a bunch of younuns explorin' the woods and telln' tall tales." (p. 100).

    The stories provide more than raw information; they are also entertaining. Good humor helped make the necessity of hunting seem like fun for all. In her essays, Bliss covers many social customs, including birth and bathing rituals, religious practices and the functionality of social customs in dealing with hardship, including issues of modesty when everyone lived in close quarters. Extended nursing of children was also practiced by at least a few mothers in the area.

    Families raised most of what they ate and putting food by was required. Even feed bags were recycled for use in clothing, a custom my wife's family followed. Four feed bags sewed together made a bed sheet. Feed companies, knowing farm girls wore the bags as clothing, sometimes printed fancy patterns on the sacks.

    Towards the end of Bliss' childhood (after 1940), the monetary economy began to appear in the mountain, along with different customs. One was a mown lawn. Previously farm families let household yards grow up into grass for the hay. But trying to look modern, the Bliss family decided to buy a lawn mower, but did not have the money. So the children set out to clear a field of blackberry roots which could be sold to Wilcox Drug for homeopathic medicine. They worked really hard at this. A lawn mower was purchased and their yard then became as dysfunctional as any suburban yard.

    But then more roots were dug and Doris seriously cut her hand. They let it go, but finally she had to go to the hospital. Bliss recounts her mother said, "'Doris, I think you better go to the hospital. I'll help you get cleaned up and you can wear your new dress.' Mama had made me a new dress out of a feed sack. It was a beautiful print of sweet peas and I was eager to wear it." They hitched a ride to the hospital. To engage in conversation with the nurse, Doris asked how she liked the dress. "Proudly I told her, 'Dad bought chop feed in sacks and Momma made me this dress from them sacks.' She just looked at me and I could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't from around Matney or Banner Elk or she'd a'knowed what a chop feed sack was." (p. 136).  My wife tells a similar story about not knowing that a sheet did not have four seams until after she was in college.

    Doris Bliss has provided us with a gold mine of now nearly forgotten social customs and practices. Strong women held the families together. She includes a good many terms which would be unfamiliar to those who do not reside the American south, including the word "Holler" in the title. (A holler is a hollow which is really a mountain valley). A haint is a ghost in the mountains. A boggin is translated as a toboggin, but the reader is left to guess that a toboggin in local usage means a close-fitting hat, often knitted, not a sled.

    The social customs described by Bliss are not well remembered today. Current students have no idea what life was like in Appalachia before good roads and a cash-based economy. But we are fortunate. Doris Bliss plans a follow-up volume with more information. With any luck, an academic press should then take both books and combine them into an annotated version for college-level students studying economic development and culture change.

    I would strongly recommend the current volume for inclusion in university libraries and for use in classroom discussion in colleges, universities and high schools.

Reviewed by George H. Conklin

Registration for 2000 NCSA Annual Meeting The North Carolina sociological Association is open to any person engaged in teaching or research in sociology, on in a field of applied sociology, as well as to any student whose major interest is sociology. Members receive SOCIATION, the Bulletin of the NCSA, three times per year and are invited to attend the annual meeting of the association in the spring. Dues are for one calendar year.

Please take a moment to update your information. Be sure to include you most current information.

Name:_______________________________________________________
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I prefer to have SOCIATION mailed to me _____at my office/business/school address _____at my permanent home address.
Type of membership: _____student (dues $3 per year) _____professional (dues $11 per year)

Registration for the 2000 NCSA Meeting, February 17-18, 2000, at the McKimmon Center, Raleigh, NC. _____professional members $6.75 (Late registration $10.00)
_____student members $2.00
2000 Awards Luncheon Banquet, NCSU McKimmon Center, Feb. 18, 12:30-2 PM _____
Luncheon ($12), preregistration required!

Total amount enclosed (dues plus registration and luncheon): __________

Please enclose a check for your 2000 dues in the amount indicated above. Make all checks payable to the North Carolina Sociological Association.

Mail this form and your check to: Dr. Pat Wyatt Secretary-Treasurer, NCSA Department of Sociology Catawba College Salisbury, NC 28144

Questions about membership and dues should be directed to Dr. Wyatt.

If you have any difficulties concerning the receipt of SOCIATION (incomplete address, misspelled name, new apartment number, etc.), please contact its editor, Lee Dodson, Rockingham Community College, P.O. Box 38, Wentworth, NC 27375-0038 (336-342-4261, ext. 2155.)

Our Webmaster is George Conklin.

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