Department News:
Congratulations to our students who have been inducted and accepted the invitation to join 2024 Alpha Kappa Delta:
Sophie Bauer, Liliana Brockway, Colin Core, Lila Cunneely, Drew Decatur, Angela Dergham, Alise Downey, Jacob Farrell, Devon Goerlich, Natalie Hanson-Richart, EmilyMarie Kave, Shannon Lawlor, Elisabeth Mohney, Holly Roethel, Riley Scholl, Megan Smith, Jordan Vargo, Alanna Vitko
Congratulations to Riley Scholl '24
Riley Scholl was the recipient of the 2023-2024 Sociology and Anthropology Department Senior Award.
Riley Scholl has been an exemplary sociology student. Earning an overall GPA of 3.86 (and a 4.0 within the major), Riley appeared on the Dean’s List every semester she attended Moravian and graduated a semester early Summa Cum Laude. This is even more impressive when considering that Riley double majored in sociology and political science. During her final two semesters at Moravian, Riley completed and successfully defended a Sociology honors thesis examining the potential connection between adverse childhood experiences (specifically, child abuse) and anxiety among university students. Her project included collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data. While completing her honors thesis, Riley worked part-time in a local law firm to gain experience in her intended field. She has been accepted into several law schools and plans to pursue a career in family law.
Highlight: Sara Yitzchaki '19
After graduating from Moravian University, I returned to my homeland, Israel, and pursued a law
degree at Tel Aviv University. I got to participate in various academic and practical experiences during my studies. I participated in an International Jewish Law Moot Court in Prague. The program included studying Talmudic cases in groups, and preparing, and presenting arguments in the moot court. The following year I attended the program as a teaching assistant in Vilnius. As a teaching assistant, I wrote the legal case, taught one of the groups the relevant Talmudic material, and assisted the students in presenting in the moot court. For two years I was a board member of Theoretical Inquiries in Law (TIL), Law Review Vol. 24.1, doing substantive and technical editing of the first and second drafts of articles written by academics worldwide. In my practical experience, I was a member of the Human Rights
Clinic, assisting in a civil lawsuit representing Arab citizens in a housing discrimination case, a
precedential case concerning the right to equality in housing. In 2023, I was one of the
founding members of the Student Protest against the judicial overhaul, that has become today “The
Day After”, an organization that offers a platform for young people to become activists, fighting for
the return of the hostages, building new Israeli leadership, and working towards peace in the region.
Today, I work as a law clerk at Meitar Law Firm, working towards getting my attorney license.
Congratulations to our 2023-2024 Majors/Minors who have made the Spring '24 Dean's List:
Sophie Bauer, Casey Bllaca, Lilianna Brockway, Leanny Cabrera, Trenton Cleghorn, Colin Core, Lila Cunneely, Drew Decatur, Angela Dergham, Alise Downey, Jacob Farrell, Catherine Forrester, Lexi Groff, Natalia Hanson-Richart, EmilyMarie Kave, Savannah Labukas, Kimberly Lakomiak, Shannon Lawlor, Megan Leary, Sophia Magistro, Danielle McEaddy, Danni McNamara, Elisabeth Mohney, Holly Roethel, Julia Ronca, David Rosado, Ebony Saccento, Nidanur Saglum, Riley Scholl, Hailey Tanner, Jordan vargo, Alanna Vitko, Nicholas Viva, Sophia Yanuzzelli
Congratulations to Dr. Allison Bloom on her recent publication:
Violence Never Heals
The Lifelong Effects of Intimate Partner Violence for Immigrant Women
Anthropologies of American Medicine: Culture, Power, and Practice
Published by: NYU Press
Discover a Career in Child Welfare: A presentation by Kim Kichline: Northampton County Children Youth and Families
Video Presentation: Kim Kichline, Discover a Career in Child Welfare
How to prepare for a career in Law Enforcement: A presentation by Detective Micheal Munch '89
Detective Munch has been a police officer at the Colonial Regional Police Department for 21 years and a Detective for the last 15 years. He has been a counterintelligence Agent in the U.S. Army for 24 years, including 11 years of active duty.
Video recording of Detective Munch's presentation
Stories in the Silence: A Conversation about Resilience among Youth Immigrants. Presented by Dr. Andrea Wilson, Casa Guadalupe Center, Allentown.
A very timely discourse of insights gained from methods of Narrative Inquiry of resilience among youth adults who are immigrants. The authentic experience shared by research participants will permit a presentation of the socio-ecological factors that are influencing their processes of resilience, suggested definitions of the concept, and motivation for their responses to adversity.
Video recording of Dr. Andrea Wilson's presentation
Della Winters: Controlling Care: Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives in Carceral Spaces
Straight Ahead! A conversation with David Garlock: A criminal justice reform advocate and statewide organizer
"David and his brother received a 25-year sentence in Alabama after taking the life of their abuser. He was released on parole in 2013. He subsequently obtained his bachelor's degree from Eastern University and was the Lancaster Program Director for New Person Ministries, a reentry program for men who have been convicted of sex offenses and other returning citizens, from 2017-2020." (https://straight-ahead.org)
Video Recording of David Garlock presentation
Digging Down In Denmark: Presentation by one of our current Moravian University students, Brendon Ward.
Video Recording of Digging Down In Denmark: Brendon Ward presentation
Zoom Presentation: Ethical Leadership in the Corporate World: '99 Moravian University Alumni: Laura Heacock along with five other experienced panelists.
Video Recording of Ethical Leadership in the Corporate World presentation passcode/fG!=9S3B
Zoom Presentation: '13 Moravian University Alumni: Kelsy Adams. "Applying Sociology in the Real World"
"Applying Sociology in the Real World": A zoom workshop to help students explore prospects of entrepreneurship after graduation. Please email Akbar Keshodkar keshodkara@moravian.edu for the Zoom link.
New Faculty joining the Department
The Department of Sociology and Anthropology would like to welcome Dr. Joon-Beom Chu, our new Assistant Professor of Anthropology. Dr. Chu’s primary research interests and areas of expertise include law school socialization, criminal prosecutors and defendants, jury trials, and legal language. By adopting a holistic approach to the study of criminal legal processes grounded in local dynamics of poverty, segregation, and disenfranchisement, Dr. Chu’s research highlights the ways that legal actors mediate the embodied, symbolic, and material production and experiences of violence and suffering—setting the parameters of what counts as violence and who deserves protection from suffering.
Dr. Keshodkar takes Moravian students to Tanzania
Dr. Akbar Keshodkar and 10 Moravian University students traveled to Tanzania for three weeks in December 2018 and January 2019 to gain first-hand field experience in examining how structures of the current global economy impact developments in society, the economy, and the environment in Africa and study how people in Tanzania situate themselves and challenge their positions from the periphery. They visited sites across Tanzania, including Zanzibar, Dar es Salaam, Moshi, Arusha, and Kilimanjaro. This was the first time Moravian University offered a study abroad course on the African continent.
Dr. Bloom presented her research at the Faculty Luncheon
Dr. Allison Bloom made a presentation on her research at the faculty luncheon in November 2018, examining issues of violence experienced by immigrant women in the United States. The title of the presentation was, "Embodies Hardships and Spiritual Strength: A Life Course Perspective on Aging, immigration, and Domestic Violence."
Sociology and Anthropology Club trip
Students from the Sociology and Anthropology Club visited the Eastern State Penitentiary, in Philadelphia, PA, in October 2018.
