The Challenges and Joys of Publicly Engaged Sociology

In this essay, I lay out my motivations for doing publicly engaged sociology, emphasizing both the joys and the challenges of this work, and some of the key lessons that I have learned. I explore my attempts to impact policy at the federal level and the local level of my university, as well as efforts to shape changes across academia during the COVID-19 crisis. I have found it meaningful to be working toward all of these changes. Moreover, making sense of the spaces that I inhabit, collecting data, exploring patterns, and connecting it to social theory, has deepened my thinking as a sociologist, and bettered my research more broadly. © 2023 Eastern Sociological Society.

Digital spaces of engagement: Perspectives on using zoom and virtual spaces in online classrooms

Understanding how to engage learners in a digital space is a growing issue facing many online instructors. Our interest in digital spaces as sites of engagement results from a pedagogical concern with how Zoom, a commonly used videoconferencing software program, fosters learners' engagement with their new digital tool, with the subject matter of the course, and with their instructor and peers. We assert that Zoom is not just a tool or place of learning but a social space regulating users' interaction that is imbued with their previous experiences, perceptions, and expectations. We examine how online engagement is co-constructed in university classrooms using Lefebvre's (The production of space. Blackwell, 1991) triad of "space" conceptual framework. Using examples from our teaching during the COVID-19 switch to the Zoom learning platform, we explain how different forms of engagement were realized in our English language and Linguistics courses. Our perspectives on using Zoom, with its affordances and challenges, may provide other educators with a practical insight into the various ways in which digital engagement can be facilitated. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Navigating COVID-19 linguistic landscapes in Vancouver's North Shore: official signs, grassroots literacy artefacts, monolingualism, and discursive convergence

This article describes the changing linguistic landscape on the North Shore of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, during the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic. I present an account of the visual representation of change along the area's parks and trails, which remained open for socially-distanced exercise during the province's lockdown. Following the principles of visual, walking ethnography, I walked through numerous locations, observing and recording the visual representations of the province's policies and discourses of lockdown and social distancing. Examples of change were most evident in the rapid addition to social space of top-down signs, characterised mainly by multimodality and monolingualism, strategically placed in ways that encouraged local people to abide by social-distancing. However, through this process of observation and exploration, I noticed grassroots semiotic artefacts such as illustrated stones with images and messages that complemented the official signs of the provincial government. As was the case with the official signs and messages, through a process of discursive convergence, these grassroots artefacts performed a role of conveying messages and discourses of social distancing, public pedagogy, and community care.

Literacy and the spatial production of school during a pandemic

This chapter considers spatial theory in literacy studies, and puts this work into dialog with discourses about remote schooling, from the popular press and TikTok, during the 1st year of Covid-19. It traces three formations: (re)productions of school space in the home and online;affective shortfalls of these spaces;and manifestations of student agency. The work then discusses potential implications for literacy theory and research. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Literacy and the spatial production of school during a pandemic

This chapter considers spatial theory in literacy studies, and puts this work into dialog with discourses about remote schooling, from the popular press and TikTok, during the 1st year of Covid-19. It traces three formations: (re)productions of school space in the home and online;affective shortfalls of these spaces;and manifestations of student agency. The work then discusses potential implications for literacy theory and research.

Harnessing Bourdieu's social theory to understand the deteriorating doctor-patient-nurse relationship in West Bengal government hospitals.

Communication patterns between doctors, nurses and patients determine both the efficiency of healthcare delivery, and the job satisfaction of healthcare workers. Job satisfaction is important to ensure retention of the doctor and nurse populations. Incidents of assault against physicians and nurses from relatives and family members of patients have become frequent both in the pre-pandemic and COVID-19 eras. Along with appreciation for frontline healthcare workers serving during the pandemic, there is physical violence directed at them for failing to salvage infected patients. Using Bourdieu's concepts of social space, forms of capital, and habitus this paper endeavors to theorize some of the interaction patterns observed in doctor-patient, nurse-patient, and doctor-nurse encounters that contribute to the waning of the relationship between healthcare workers and wider society as observed in West Bengal, India. Primary empirical data was collected through in-person, in-depth semi-structured interviews with both open and closed-ended questions conducted throughout 2018 across 5 government hospitals in Kolkata (major metropolitan center) and 1 hospital in a suburban area with population 100,000. The respondents consisted of 51 nurses (100% women), 20 doctors (5% women), and 33 patients (33.3% women) recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. Social space analysis indicated that the cumulative patient social capital is comparable to that of the doctors, despite the doctor's higher levels of cultural and economic capital because of the high patient to doctor ratio. The patient population can thus concentrate and delegate their social capital to select agents leading to violence against healthcare workers. Through this analysis, two doctors' habitus were postulated, along with a nurse and a patient habitus. The first doctor habitus is structured by the idealized status of doctors and the second habitus is structured by their resource-limited working conditions. The nurse habitus is structured by the desire for economic empowerment along with dutifully providing care as instructed. The patient habitus is structured by the need to balance healthcare expenditures with their limited financial means. This paper establishes how the habitus of the agents and the politics of healthcare interact to exacerbate extant tensions between healthcare workers and the population they care for.

The inclusive, social space-oriented participation of people with disabilities in the Bavaria–Tyrol border region during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: Although some individuals in Germany and Austria’s Bavaria–Tyrol border region live in one country, but work, study, shop and/or access healthcare in the other, realizing that lifestyle can be difficult for people with disabilities (PWD). Limited cross-border services currently available to PWD not only suffer from poor awareness and adoption, but also fail to meet PWD’s manifold individual needs. Thus, facing restricted individual social space, especially in rural areas, the region’s PWD experience various constraints to self-determined lives, which the COVID-19 pandemic’s isolation and heightened border control have only aggravated. Aim: Against that background, the aim was to identify factors that have enabled or constrained PWD’s individual agency in the Bavaria–Tyrol border region in the wake of the pandemic. Methods: Beginning in June 2020, 34 semi-structured interviews were conducted with PWD, their relatives and employers, as well as various institutional, political and administrative personnel regarding the use of cross-border education, housing, leisure and occupational services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bavaria, Germany and Tyrol, Austria. In a qualitative content analysis, the most prevalent results were summarized into eight s, which were later compiled into a qualitative online survey completed by 51 of 229 interviewees and other participants (22.27%). Results: Pandemic-associated developments and policies have been external shocks to an already fragile (cross-border) support system for PWD, endangering inclusion and participation. Added to pre-pandemic obstacles, including a lack of information, consensus and options regarding cross-border activities, new deficits in mobility, housing and funding for support, along with prejudices and the effects of digitalization, have further intensified challenges for PWD. © This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The “First Ones to Close and Last Ones to Re-Open”: Music Venues, COVID-19 and the Handling of the Crisis

During the initial phase of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, music venues and clubs were the first to close—and often the last to re-open. Based on knowledge about music venues and club culture from the pre-COVID-19 era and data collected among club owners, clubbers, venue associations and cultural policy in Germany, this article encompasses a variety of perspectives regarding the situation of live music venues and clubs during the pandemic. Firstly, it analyses, from a German perspective, the club-related developments of the COVID-19 crisis from the first lockdown in March 2020 to the spring of 2021. Secondly, it considers the effect of “loss” among audiences and, thirdly, the discourse about cultural policy and emergency funds for music clubs and live music culture in Germany. © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2022, Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX

Facilitating Peer Interaction Regulation in Online Settings: The Role of Social Presence, Social Space and Sociability.

A plethora of studies stress students' self-regulated learning (SRL) skills to be conditional for successful learning in school and beyond. In general, self-regulated learners are actively engaged in constructing their own understanding also including the regulation of contextual features in the environment. Within the contextual features, the regulation of peer interaction is necessary, because college courses increasingly require peer learning. This goes along with the increasing interest for online learning settings, due in no small part to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In the present study we explore how social presence (i.e., the degree to which the other person is perceived as physical "real"), social space (i.e., trust building between peers) and sociability (i.e., the degree to which the virtual learning environment supports social presence and social space) are essential elements in the regulation of online peer interaction. To shed light in this matter, higher education students were qualitatively followed for 1 year in an online academic writing course by using retrospective interviews (n = 7) and reflective questions (n = 62). Additionally, for social presence, students' perceptions were quantitatively measured with a validated questionnaire (n = 41). The results show that the planning phase is the most important phase for supporting students' social presence because that is where the regulation of peer interaction becomes important. The sociability has an important role here as well becoming less prominent further on in the self-regulation process. In the SRL follow-up phases, students look for other ways to increase their social presence and social space in order to shape the regulation of peer interaction from a position of trust. In the evaluation phase, students are aware of the importance of social presence but less of social space for the regulation of peer interaction. We conclude with some design principles to facilitate students' regulation of peer interaction in online settings.

Ölüm Sosyolojisi Bağlamında Pandem(ik) Kapatılma: Sevgi, Duyumsama ve Hiçlik

Bu çalışma, Covid-19 pandemisi sürecinde ölümün toplumsal kapatılmasını tartışmaktadır. Modernizm, hastanelere transfer ettiği hastalık olgusu üzerinden ölümle ilgili bir tecrit yarattı. Pandemi ise ölümü, ilk defa hastane gibi mekânsal bir alanın dışında toplumsal alanda tecrit etmektedir. Pandemiyle ilişkili çalışmalarda ölümün sosyolojisini tartışan hali hazır bir metnin olmaması, çalışmanın özgün değerini ortaya koymaktadır. Mevcut çalışmalarda ölüm, metinlerin ana kurucu öğesi olarak değil, diğer konuların tamamlayıcı bir alt başlığı olarak kullanılmaktadır. Ölümün toplumsal sınırlarını tartışan çalışma, ölümün niçin temel bir aktör olduğunu sosyolojik olarak betimlemektedir. Bu çalışma ölümü, pandemi sürecinin kurucu öğesi ve başat aktörü olarak ele almaktadır. Çalışma pandemide niçin ölüm tartışılmalı sorusuna yanıt aramaktadır. Öte yandan çalışmada ölüm-toplum ilişkisini toplumsal kapatılma kavramı üzerinden tartışmaktadır. Çalışma, toplumsal kapatılma kavramını sevgi ve duyumsama üzerinden hareketle tartışmaktadır. Çalışmanın ilk bölümleri, tecrit ve kapatılma kavramlarını ölüm üzerinden ele almıştır. Ölüm duyarsızlaşması ve ölü beden yönetimi kavramlarını ise pandeminin hissizleştirdiği toplumsal alanın kendisine atıfla kullanmaktadır. Çalışmada pandemiyle ilişkilendirilmiş girişin temel kaygısı, ölümün niçin sürekli gündemimizde olması gerektiğini sorgulamaya odaklıdır. Bu odak, ölümün hem söylemde hem pratikte nasıl yönetildiğine dair tartışmaları da gündeme getirmek anlamına gelmektedir. Çalışma sonuç olarak salgınlar çağında topluluk halini güncelleyecek gerçekliğin ölüm olduğu vurgusunu yapmaktadır.Alternate : This study discusses the social closure of death during the COVID-19 pandemic. Modernism created death isolation by transferring illness over to hospitals. On the other hand, the pandemic has isolated death for the first time in the social sphere outside of a spatial area such as hospitals. The absence of a ready-made text discussing the sociology of death in studies related to pandemics reveals the original value of this study. Current studies cover death not as the main constituent item but as a complementary subtitle of other topics within the text. This study addresses death as the founding item and dominant actor of the pandemic process. The study seeks an answer to the question of why death should be discussed with regard to the pandemic. The text discusses the relationship between death and society through the concept of social closure, using the concept of social closure with a basis on love and sensation. The first part of the study deals with the concepts of isolation and closure through death. The concept of death desensitization is used with regard to social space itself and which the pandemic has numbed. The study focuses on questioning why death should always be on our agenda. This focus is also intended to raise discussions on how death is managed, both in discourse and in practice. The final stage of the study emphasizes death to be the reality that will update the state of society in the age of epidemics.

Beyond high streets as we know them?

Matthew Carmona's article focuses on the crucial resources and responsibilities that market and state actors have in shaping high streets. In a "Futures Literacy" workshop I recently participated in,[1] workshop leader Loes Damhof reminded us that the future does not exist, but our I imaginations i of the future do. The "existential crisis" which confronts traditional shopping streets, and which Mathew Carmona's article so vividly and forcefully articulates, begs also for an opening up of the imaginations of their futures. Matthew Carmona's article focuses on the shopping function of high streets. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of Urban Design is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

TRANSITIONING TO ONLINE MODE FOR A SUPERVISOR-LED PHD COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

As curriculum designers and facilitators of doctoral education pedagogy at one South African higher education institution, we critically reflect on the transitioning of a traditional face-toface supervisor-led PhD community of practice (communal research supervision) to a fully online 'model', a reimagining brought on by the vicissitudes of the COVID-19 pandemic. This reflection responds to the erroneous tendency to critique online pedagogies in preference for inperson contact deliveries. The article suggests that establishing unique communities of practice are required for sustaining the new modes of delivery to counteract nostalgia for past operations. A forthcoming online engagement is likely to be characteristic of all higher education institutions irrespective of their former dominant methods of pedagogy. We invoke key social practice constructs, namely 'domain', 'community' and 'practice' (Wenger, 1999;Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002) as theoretical heuristics in our contemplation of sustaining community vibrance and continuity. We consider the tensions that present as they relate to, firstly, developing a continually (re)negotiated joint enterprise, secondly, enabling mutual engagement, and thirdly, facilitating a shared repertoire of the community's resources in an evolving, technologically mediated mode of operation. We argue that the key enterprise of this community, namely affordances of participation (research supervision and research learning) by both core and peripheral members of the community are likely to continue to accrue in the online space, despite challenges presented by video-conferencing technologies. We contend that given the strength of its leadership, the community as a social space of academic interaction/engagement can mutate into productive new assemblages. Shared communal resources are important for anchoring the community in COVID-19 era and beyond.

Pandemic as a Factor of Deformation of Social Time and Space in the Postmodern Community

The COVID-19 pandemic has defined new vectors for the development of the world community and social institutions. At the same time, the impact of the pandemic crisis on the evolution of civil society may differ significantly in the national (tactical) and global (strategic) dimensions. If at the national level there is a likely expansion of the space for public activism (medical volunteering, social assistance, etc.), then globally it is threatened by the de-intensification of international non-governmental cooperation and attempts to revise civil rights and freedoms. Today it is no longer possible to name a single area of public life that has not been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Directly or indirectly, the consequences of the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 virus are experienced by everyone - government authorities, large and small businesses, citizens of the vast majority of countries. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the future of each of the social actors is largely determined today, depending on the adequacy of the response to the pandemic crisis, the ability to absorb its most painful manifestations, and, possibly, find new opportunities for development in this difficult situation. The aim of the article is to investigate the vectors of influence of the coronavirus pandemic as a factor of deformation of social time and space in the conditions of postmodern society. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Postmodern Openings / Deschideri Postmoderne is the property of Lumen Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Data mining and socio-spatial patterns of COVID-19: geo-prevention keys for tackling the pandemic

A geographic perspective is essential in tackling COVID-19. This research study is framed in the collaboration project set up by the University of Cantabria, the Valdecilla Hospital Research Institute (IDIVAL) and the Regional Government of Cantabria. The case study is the Santander functional urban area (FUA), which is considered from a multi-scale perspective. The main source is the daily records of micro-data on COVID-19 cases and the methodology is based on ESRI geotechnologies, and more specifically on a tool called SITAR (a Spanish acronym which stands for Fast-Action Territorial Information System). The main goal is to analyse and contribute to knowledge of the spatial patterns of COVID-19 at neighbourhood level from a space-time perspective. To that end the research is based on data mining methods (3D bins and emerging hot-spots) and exploratory geo-statistical analysis (Global Moran's Index, Nearest Neighbourhood and Ordinary Least Square analyses, among others). The study identifies space-time patterns that show significant hot-spots and demonstrates a high presence of the virus at building level in neighbourhoods where residential and economic uses are mixed. Knowing the spatial behaviour of the virus is strategically important for proposing geo-prevention keys, reducing spread and balancing trade-offs between potential health gains and economic burdens resulting from interventions to deal with the pandemic.