Join us for the 98th Annual Meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association, PSA 2027, in Oakland, CA. This year’s theme is, of course, taken from Antonio Gramsci’s famous quote about living through the end times of capitalism, “The old world is dying, and the new world struggles to be born: now is the time of monsters.” Each of us has likely witnessed our share of monsters in the last several years, but we continue to be motivated by the hope that these presage the turbulence of a new and better world being born, the last gasps of a society in crisis, if you will.
Sociology itself is a discipline that was born in crisis, as our founders attempted to understand and delineate the new world of capitalism and its various discontents. It is only fitting then that we go back to our roots as we attempt to understand the new world struggling to be born. What monsters have emerged and how do we confront them? What can sociologists do to steer the ship in the directions we collectively wish, between Scylla and Charybdis?
This conference invites participants to address these questions and speak from our various experiences to this question of where we are as a society, how we got here, and – importantly – how we might proceed moving forward.
Registration is currently open on our website at PacificSoc.org.
Graphic by Molly Klingler and the Visual Arts Community at University of Idaho.
PSA 2026—Long Beach
We would like to thank PSA President Michelle Jacob and Program Chair Kirsten Vinyetta for leading a warm and successful 2026 Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California. All told 838 members participated! The conference theme was Shúkwaatnim na iwáyumixa (Yakama Ichishkíin language, English translation: Knowledge brings us together). As the conference organizers explained, the theme was “centering Indigenous, environmental, and intersectional sociologies. In doing so, we remember the past to support us in realizing our collective dreams.
We make space for and honor Indigenous peoples, lands, languages, and ways of knowing and being. We engage teaching and scholarship that cares for and learns from Tiichám, our Mother, the Earth.” The first morning of the conference started with an Opening Ceremony with PSA 2026 Conference Elder-in-Residence, Louie Robles (enrolled member of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation).
PSA 2026 Elder-in-Residence, Louie Robles, also spoke for the Presidential Plenary: Indigenous Stories and Songs of Southern California and guided members on a Saturday visit to the sacred ancestral site Puvungna located at the California State University, Long Beach campus. The conference included powerful lessons that enriched PSA participants and will be carried forward.
Meet PSA President, Allison Hurst, Oregon State University
Allison is a long-time PSA member who came to her first PSA conference while a graduate student at UO in the early aughts. She is currently a Professor of Sociology in the School of Public Policy at Oregon State University (thus, the rare duck/ beaver). While in graduate school she began to question what education meant for a working-class girl like her and began a long career studying class, education, and social mobility. Allison was one of the founders of the Association of WorkingClass Academics (AWCA), recently served as the President of the Working-Class Studies Association., and is the outgoing Chair of ASA’s Community of FirstGeneration and Working-Class Persons in Sociology. She is currently working on a multi-year multi-site study examining how class background shapes academic careers in sociology.
Her most recent book is Everyone Has Class: A Guide to Understanding American Inequality, co-authored with Sean McCloud, will be published by Oregon State University Press in the fall. Her previous work include The Burden of Academic Success: Loyalists, Renegades and Double Agents (2010), College and the Working Class (2012), Working in Class: Recognizing How Social Class Shapes Our Academic Work (2016), and Amplified Advantage: Going to a "Good" School in an Era of Inequality (2019).
2026 Pacific Sociological Association Award
Distinguished Contributions to the Pacific Sociological AssociationPresented by the Emeritus and Retired Sociologist Committee
Dr. Dean Dorn
Emeritus, Sacramento State University
The Distinguished Scholarship Award Dr. Stephanie L. Canizales
University of California, Berkeley
Book: Sin Padres, Ni Papeles: Unaccompanied Migrant Youth Coming of Age in the United States
Dr. Yan Long
UC Berkeley
Book: Authoritarian Absorption: The Transnational Remaking of Epidemic Politics in China
In Memoriam Award
The Early Career Award for Innovation in Teaching SociologyPresented by the PSA Committee on Teaching
Dr. Garry Lee Rolison
Full Professor Emeritus, Sociology - California State University, San Marcos
Dr. Phi Hong Su
Williams College
The Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Praxis Award Dr. Edward Orozco Flores
Community and Labor Center
University of California, Merced
The Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Perspectives AwardPresented by the PSA Publications Committee
Dr. Yan Zhang and Dr. Lening Zhang
“Racial Structural Conditions and Anti-Asian Hate Crimes," Sociological Perspectives 68 (1-3) Honorable Mention
Dr. Minyoung Kim
“Evolving Emotion, Situated Context, and Movement Activism: The Case of Bereaved Families,” Sociological Perspectives
2026 Pacific Sociological Association Award Recipients
The Distinguished Undergraduate Student Paper Award
The Distinguished Graduate Student Paper Award
The Social Conscience AwardPresented by the Social Conscience Committee
Emma Ruderman
Santa Rosa Junior College Paper: “Fatness as a Political Identity: The Intersection of Fat Liberation, Desire/ability Politics, and Anti-Blackness”
Yen-Ting Hsu
University of California, San Diego Paper: “Who Governs Heritage Production? Evidence from Institutional Politics in 21st-Century Taipei”
Mackenzie Bonner
University of California, Irvine Paper: “Bureaucratic Entrapment: Refugee Experiences of the European Union (EU) Migration Regime”
American Indian Studies Program
California State University, Long Beach For support their community partnership work and for contributions to the Long Beach community.
From the PSA 2027 Program Chair, Leontina Hormel, University of Idaho
Hi everyone! We are about eight months away from assembling together in Oakland, California. I am happy to share the list of panel themes for abstract submissions and the names of thirteen excellent sociologists who have agreed to support members’ efforts to share their ideas with one another next year. Please note that presentation abstracts, as well as proposed panels and book salons, are all due by Friday, October 16, 2026. This deadline is important to follow so that each organizer in the committee has sufficient time to review abstracts and place thoughtfully in different panels. We have a little less than a month to finish this process so that we can draft and distribute a draft program by December. This quick turnaround enables members to plan well ahead of the conference and take advantage of affordable options.
We understand that one of the monsters we are grappling with is the problem of increased costs associated with conference attendance while higher education budgets contract. Let’s work together to help everyone’s opportunity to be in Oakland for the 2027 PSAs. Have a great summer recess!
On the next page is our program committee for 2026-2027 which includes the list of generous sociologists organizing our panel themes this year.
2026-2027 Program Committee
President 2026-2027: Allison Hurst, Oregon State University
Program Committee Chair 2026-2027: Leontina M. Hormel, University of Idaho
Volunteer Coordinators 2026-2027: Tina Burdsall, Portland State Univeristy & Karma Rose Zavita, UC Irvine
2026-2027 Topic Organizers
Submission Themes
Capitalism, Class, and Community
Crime, Law, Drugs, and Justice
Culture, Media, and Technology
Environmental Sociology
Gender & Sexuality
Labor, Work, Occupations, and Organizing
Politics & Political Economy
Race & Ethnicity
Social Movements, Activism, Praxis
Sociology of Education
Sociology of Health
Teaching Sociology & The State of The Discipline
Theory, Epistemologies, Science, and Methods
Undergraduate Roundtable and Poster
Sessions
Organizer
Christie T. Batson
Joshua Meisel
Jeff Sheng
Laura Earles
Miriam Abelson
Alondo C. Campbell
Julius McGee
Patrick Greiner
Mark Hudson
Celeste Atkins
Megan Henley
Ann Stram
Reha Kadakal
Robert Kettlitz
Announcement from the Nominations Committee
The Nominations Committee (Michelle Jacob, University of Oregon; Alicia Gonzales, California State University-San Marcos; Maura Kelly, Portland State University) is responsible for building the next ballot. Elections will happen in Fall 2026. Terms begin July 1, 2027. We need more candidates, especially for these four positions:
• Vice-President
• Nominations Committee-Central Region
• Committee on Committees-Central Region
• Committee on Committees-Northern Region
Region information is here: https://www.pacificsoc.org/Regions. Committee information is here: https://www.pacificsoc.org/Committees.
We welcome candidates for all other positions on the upcoming ballot as well: President, Treasurer, Secretary, Publications Committee, Council-North Region, Council-Central Region, Council-South Region, Council-Graduate Student Representative, Committee on Committees-Southern Region.
Please email PSA Past-President and Nominations Committee Chair Michelle Jacob mjacob@uoregon.edu by August 1, 2026 if you would like to run for a PSA leadership position!
Many thanks to those who already agreed to be on the ballot!
Updates from PSA Council and Committees
PleasenoteournewPSAduesstructure:
This is the first modification in our dues structure in several years. Although some categories may see a dues increase, we have primarily simplified the process. The membership year now runs from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 and covers registration for the conference.
Areyouinterestedinattendingourfirsteverbanquet?
We are hosting a banquet alongside our awards ceremony this year. To defray our overall costs and to maintain our tradition of providing breakfasts and snacks throughout the conference, we ask each attendee to pay $50 towards the meal (with PSA picking up the rest of the per person cost). Check the website for how to buy a banquet ticket for yourself and to donate funds for students to attend. The cut-off date for purchasing a ticket will be posted on the website soon.
Wehavealsomodifiedourawardstimeline:
ALL nominations are now due November 15th. You may review all of the PSA Award descriptions at this webpage: https://www.pacificsoc.org/2027awards.
PSACommitteesarevitaltooursuccess:
Finally, we would like to thank all those currently volunteering for our many committees! If you are interested in volunteering to fill one of this year’s vacancies or as a permanent three-year committee member, please contact Ethel Nicdao, Chair of the Committee on Committees (ethel.nicdao@csueastbay.edu). You may review the committees and their responsibilities on this webpage: https://www.pacificsoc.org/Committees.
Our Call For Submissions is now open. For those who are graduate students, faculty, applied sociologist, ect., the submission deadline for your submissions is October 16th. For Panel and Book Salon proposals, the submission deadline is also October 16th. The deadline for undergraduate submissions (poster and roundtable sessions respectively) is November 16th. The conference will be held on March 18-21, 2027 at the Marriott Oakland City Center in Oakland, CA.
Visit our Call For Submissions page: see link below, for more information. You will find instructions for submissions as well as a full list of the Topical Areas. New Sponsored Sessions have been added and will continue to be added on a rolling basis. Be sure to check the page regularly.
To organize our annual meeting, PSA primarily uses an online system for “open submissions” to topical areas. You may not submit the same paper to more than one place within the online submission system. You may, however, submit multiple different papers. Please submit only papers you really intend to present. At PSA, papers are generally accepted. Do not submit a lot of papers in hopes that a few will be accepted. Submit only papers you firmly expect to be ready to present.
For 2027, topical areas are fewer than in recent years. This is aimed to support topical area organizers’ ability to consider more papers as they make sessions, so that sessions can be both robust and distinct.
PSA 2027 Call for Submissions Information page https://pacificsoc.org/PSA2027Submissions
Sociological Perspectives
The PSA scholarly journal, Sociological Perspectives, is published six times yearly in February, April, June, August, October, and December. PSA members can choose to receive print copies of Sociological Perspectives in the mail during their membership year by paying a $20 fee to PSA at the time they pay their membership. Members can access the journal online.
Established in 1957 and published for the Pacific Sociological Association, Sociological Perspectives offers a wealth of pertinent articles spanning the breadth of sociological inquiry. In the pages of Sociological Perspectives, contributions by leading scholars typically address the ever-expanding body of knowledge about social processes related to economic, political, anthropological and historical issues.
The journal’s purpose is to advance research, theory, scholarship, and practice within sociology and related disciplines. Preference is given to articles that are of general interest to members of the discipline and that, as a result, advance the accumulation of knowledge about social processes.
For more information, visit the SAGE publishing site.
Co-Editors of Sociological Perspectives editors are Dana Nakano, CSU Stanislaus, and Elizabeth Sowers, CSU Channel Islands, with Managing Editors Sam Robbins, UCLA, and Lauren Ballard, CSU Channel Islands.
The editorial team can be reached at socperspectives@pacificsoc.org .
Information on recent issues of the journal here, and information on prior editors here.
The PSA is now on a variety of social media platforms. We are on X (formally Twitter) at the handle @PacificSocAssoc. This is the same handle for us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. We are also on Linked In as well. Simply search "Pacific Sociological Association" and you you can connect with us there.
Please take a moment to like and share all of our social media platforms. Be sure to tag us on conference pictures and we are excited to post a variety of new content in the coming academic year.
