The University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll (@umasspoll.bsky.social) combines cutting-edge online polling with academic and professional expertise in the science of politics. Their latest results are out now! 🗳️

UMass Poll@umasspoll.bsky.social · 4d ago

New UMass Poll/@WCVB results: In a word or two, what do you think is the most important issue facing Massachusetts? (N=800) The top five words listed are: Housing (166), cost (140), living (77), affordability (71), and economy (66). www.umass.edu/poll/about/r...

Today's partial solar eclipse has us remembering the total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024! We were just outside of the path of totality, but it was exciting enough for thousands to gather around the UMass Amherst Campus Center to view the cosmic event (with our special eclipse lenses, of course) 😎

Congratulations to Cedric de Leon, professor of sociology & labor studies at UMass Amherst, on receiving the 2026 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for "Freedom Train: Black Politics and the Story of Interracial Labor Solidarity" 🎉

Analyzing more than six decades of Supreme Court decisions, Donald Snyder, a doctoral candidate in political science, and Caitlyn Pierce, a recent doctoral graduate in political science, examined strategies used by justices when writing dissenting or concurring opinions.

As Supreme Court Decisions Grow Sharper, Study Examines Justices’ Calculated Concessions | UMass Amherst

By analyzing decades of opinions from 1946-2011, UMass Amherst political scientists have uncovered a measurable pattern of strategic ‘appeasement’ from the court.

umass.edu

A new UMass Amherst project is connecting researchers, students and community organizations in Puerto Rico and Western Massachusetts through shared conversation about energy resilience, climate justice and community leadership: www.umass.edu/news/article...

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Project Connects Puerto Rico and Holyoke to Strengthen Energy Resilience | UMass Amherst

Puerto Rican Power: Networking Across the Diaspora to Design Energy Resilience brings together researchers, students and community organizations so that communities across the diaspora can strengthen ...

umass.edu

"Dr. Misra’s scholarship provides the foundational empirical evidence that has irrevocably shaped comparative policy analysis on a global scale." Congrats to Joya Misra (sociology and public policy), recipient of the ASA's 2026 Jessie Bernard Award! www.asanet.org/about/awards...

UMass researchers have identified "the Maya effect" In scientific collaboration and the assigning of credit, which "theorizes not just the authorship end point, but also how inequalities arise in crediting output": scholarworks.umass.edu/entities/pub...

THE MAYA EFFECT AND WHO GETS CREDIT IN SCIENCE

NEW BLOG | THE MAYA EFFECT AND WHO GETS CREDIT IN SCIENCE Ethel Mickey, Joya Misra, Laurel Smith-Doerr and Ember Skye Kane-Lee introduce the “Maya effect” to describe how gendered and r…

gendersociety.wordpress.com

Laura Haynes, anthropology PhD student at @umassamherst.bsky.social, received a Fulbright Open Study/Research Award! Her research examines how beneficial microbes are transmitted among Rwenzori colobus monkeys, a species with social traits parallel to those of humans: www.umass.edu/news/article...

SBS faculty are collaborators on two winning projects, "Power, Heat, and Health: Rethinking Community Safety During Outages" and "With Colleges at a Crossroads, What Do Americans Want from Higher Education?"

Institute of Diversity Sciences Awards Four 2026 Seed Grants | UMass Amherst

The Institute of Diversity Sciences recently awarded four $15,000 grants to interdisciplinary teams of faculty and student researchers through its annual seed grant competition, with the goal of suppo...

umass.edu

UMass Amherst Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science Jamie Rowen has been paying "close attention to how the Watson v. RNC case could impact active-duty military and veterans, given the latter’s higher rates of disability and rurality":

The Conversation U.S.@us.theconversation.com · 2mo ago

Veterans vote at higher rates than the general population, yet historically faced voting restrictions. A new Supreme Court ruling on mail-in ballots will allow their ballots to be counted, even if the mail is slow. theconversation.com/military-vot...

"Long before a landmark Supreme Court ruling dominates the headlines, it is shaped by a highly structured legal process, much of which takes place out of public view." - Prof. Paul M. Collins Jr., @legalstudiesumass.bsky.social and Political Science, UMass Amherst, in @us.theconversation.com:

The Conversation U.S.@us.theconversation.com · 2mo ago

Behind the headlines of landmark Supreme Court decisions is a lengthy process: ⚖️Thousands of petitions screened (around 4,000 in recent years) ⚖️Fewer than 80 cases argued ⚖️Draft opinions negotiated behind closed doors for months

"Labor economics you should know about": @arindube.bsky.social (Provost Professor of Economics, @umassamherst.bsky.social) visits @pkrugman.bsky.social's virtual studio for a conversation on The Wage Standard: paulkrugman.substack.com/p/arindrajit...

Arindrajit Dube on Wages

Labor economics you should know about

paulkrugman.substack.com

Congrats to the students and faculty in the Institute for Social Science Research's Summer Experience program! www.umass.edu/social-scien...

UMass ISSR@umassissr.bsky.social · 2mo ago

ISSR announced an opportunity to provide undergrads with hands-on experience in social science research while supporting faculty in developing grant proposals. Congratulations to Madison Van Uitert, Tanvi Soni, Ananya Ganguly, and Morgan Yap!

New paper published in Molecular Ecology on Canadian Lynx genomics and climate change, led by @tanyalama.bsky.social and @blairbentley.bsky.social @sbs-umass.bsky.social @umasscns.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/author...

“The first couple of weeks we spend in the classroom, and we do a lot of intense osteology training. We also teach them basic archaeological skills like mapping, how to set up a unit, and what types of things they would be looking for.” - Dr. Sarah Reedy, UMass Amherst Anthropology

Catie Kitrinos@catiekitrinos.bsky.social · 2mo ago

UMASS Anthro's Bioarch & Forensic Field School was a huge success! Congrats to Drs. Sarah Reedy and Ventura Perez for leading this great experience! (And nice job on camera Sarah!) @sbs-umass.bsky.social @umasspress.bsky.social @umassamherst.bsky.social www.westernmassnews.com/2026/06/11/a...

Robert Pollin, distinguished professor of economics and co-director of PERI at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, talks about the forces resisting a fossil-fuel free future and highlights the results of a major study he and his coauthors produced for advancing a green transition in Michigan.

PERI Umass Amherst@periumass.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Despite Climate Policy Setbacks, a Just Transition Is Still Within Reach truthout.org/articles/des...

We’re so excited to share that the UMass Amherst ADVANCE Faculty Peer Mentoring Award for the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences goes to Dr. Sancha Medwinter, Associate Professor of Sociology! 🎉

"Losing My Kidney and Finding My Voice: Confessions of a Living Donor," the memoir by Rachel Bennett Steury '10MS (Labor Studies), details her experiences starting a kidney chain--which saved the lives of 2 people--and how her life evolved afterward 📖 www.bennettsteury.com/memoir

bennettsteury.com - Memoir

Available by BC Books! From the beloved writer of The Real Rachel BS comes an extraordinary tale of an unconventional act of altruism. Vulnerably told, the author leads us through tender family memori...

bennettsteury.com

Rachel BS@bennettsteury.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Thank you @sbs-umass.bsky.social Amherst Alumni for the share of my memoir in Class Notes! www.umassalumni.com/s/1640/rd17/... #laborcenter #UNION #alumni #umassamherst #author #bookrecommendations

Congrats to Alasdair Roberts, professor of public policy, upon receiving the Kernaghan Award for Excellence in Research from the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration! - with @sppumass.bsky.social

Alasdair Roberts Receives Kernaghan Award for Career Achievement in Research | UMass Amherst

Roberts, professor of public policy, received the Kernaghan Award for Excellence in Research from the Canadian Association of Programs in Public Administration on May 20.

umass.edu

The people of Karagümrük in Istanbul watched Erdoğan improve their lives for a decade before noticing what was being taken from them. @ekoshy.bsky.social & I talk to Suzy Hansen who wrote about this shift and what it feels like to watch the US thru TR itallhappenedbefore.substack.com/p/episode-11...

Episode 11: A Neighborhood in the Age of Authoritarianism: A Conversation with Author Suzy Hansen

Suzy Hansen's first book, Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World, is one of the books we kept returning to in the conversations that eventually became this podcast.

itallhappenedbefore.substack.com

Congratulations to Boone Shear, Senior Lecturer of Anthropology and facilitator/coordinator of Building Solidarity Economies, for being recognized with the Distinguished Community Engagement Award for Teaching! www.umass.edu/social-scien...

“Not just a class”: Students Find Connection Through Building Solidarity Economies : College of Social & Behavioral Sciences : UMass Amherst

BSE coordinator and facilitator Boone Shear has received the 2026 University Distinguished Community Engagement Award for Teaching.

umass.edu

Congrats to @jsecon.bsky.social on the Inaugural Conference!

Journal of Stratification Economics@jsecon.bsky.social · 3mo ago

#JSE2026 @umassamherst.bsky.social @sbs-umass.bsky.social @periumass.bsky.social

Join us for the final day of #JSE2026 Gordon Conference Room or Online: umass-amherst.zoom.us/j/92832241283

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

umass-amherst.zoom.us

We are thrilled to announce the JSE Inaugural Conference! Join us on May 19th and 20th at UMass-Amherst (in Gordon Hall). Check out the attached conference schedule for session details. We hope to see you there!

Excited about our new paper led by postdoc Jacob Feder, which examines social organization variation of baboons and their relatives. www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... Jacob's website here: jacobfeder.weebly.com UMass news release here: www.umass.edu/news/article...

Baboon Societies Aren’t One-Size-Fits-All, Study Finds | UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst researchers identify three distinct social groups; findings offer fresh insight into evolutionary forces shaping social systems in primates, including humans.

umass.edu

While crossover is a well-established concept in youth media studies, its application as a pedagogical tool for the college classroom offers fresh perspectives. SBS faculty members Sadiyah Malcolm-Wallace and Bridgette Davis have turned the TV trope into a teaching innovation:

The Crossover Episode : College of Social & Behavioral Sciences : UMass Amherst

While crossover is a well-established concept in youth media studies, its application as a pedagogical tool for the college classroom offers fresh perspectives.

umass.edu

The Association for Anthropology, Gerontology, and the Life Course (AAGE) Biennial Conference 2026--AGING: The Where and When--takes place at UMass Amherst this weekend, May 8 - 10. Highlights include an opening night Keynote Address by Nadine Changfoot. All are welcome!

2026 AAGE Conference - Association for Anthropology, Gerontology, and the Life Course

Registration Open!  AAGE Biennial ConferenceMay 8 – 10, 2026Hosted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst* REGISTER HERE Final Program  Keynote Lecture on Friday, May 8 Dr. Nadine ChangfootFull Pr...

anthropologyandgerontology.com

The 2025 Annual Best Paper Award from the Review of Radical Political Economics has been awarded to a paper coauthored by Deepankar Basu, UMass Amherst Professor of Economics, and economics graduate students Cameron Hass and Thanos Moraitis!

Congratulations to Peter Dunn, landscape architecture and regional planning, and Brian Sargent, sociology and public policy, for being selected to the CTL's new cohort of Lilly Fellows for Teaching Excellence!

UMass Amherst@umassamherst.bsky.social · 4mo ago

👏 Huge congrats to the 2026-27 Lilly Fellows for Teaching Excellence! These eight participants will take part in a year-long program to develop their academic leadership skills. https://bit.ly/4tL5kJm @manningcics.bsky.social @umasshfa.bsky.social @isenbergumass.bsky.social

Join us on Tuesday at 1 pm (CST)/2 pm (EST), if you're available, to launch my book! Register at umn.zoom.us/meeting/regi... @ucpress.bsky.social @sbs-umass.bsky.social

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Smart as a City: A Book Release Day Talk by Burcu Baykurt. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

Join us for a presentation by Burcu Baykurt, assistant professor of media studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, as she discusses her book, Smart as a City: The Politics of Test-Bed Urban...

umn.zoom.us

Jeffrey Yost@justcode.bsky.social · 4mo ago

THRILLED to announce Smart as a City: A CBI Virtual Book Release Day Talk by @baykurt.bsky.social Burcu Baykurt on her tremendous book!! #mediastudies #aistudies #urbanstudies Register today at share.google/ygVx7xFGmaLR...