More praise for sociology department

Considered one of the top graduate programs in the country and well-known for its research, IU's department of sociology will be recognized in August for another strength -- its training of teachers.\nThe American Sociological Association will be present the department with the Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award at its annual national meeting.\nThe award is an honor usually reserved for individuals.\n"It's a rarity for a department to receive this award," Robert V. Robinson, chair of the sociology department, said in a statement. "I'm hoping that we'll serve as a model for other leading research departments in showing that it's important to train students, not just as scholars or researchers, but also as effective classroom teachers."\nEarlier this year, IU's sociology department was ranked 11th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.\nBut the department's most recent recognition stems from the its training of graduate students to become teachers. The special teaching program has yielded more IU teaching awards than any other department and landed graduates in prestigious teaching positions at institutions across the country.\nThe architects of the teacher-training program are professors Bernice Pescosolido, Brian Powell and Kent Redding.\nPowell, co-director of the Preparing Future Faculty program, said IU's is the only sociology research department that's ever been acknowledged for its teaching. He said it's because IU provides equally for teaching and researching training.\n"We believe we have a moral obligation to make sure our teaching and training for teaching is comparable to our teaching and training for research," Powell said. "It's highly unusual for a research department ... to really be concerned about teaching."\nThe teacher training program includes student workshops during the summer, individual work with students, special courses on "surviving and thriving teaching," projects and experiences at other campuses. At IU, graduate students don't teach until their third year, Powell said.\nIU grads are teaching all over the country, including at the University of Pennsylvania, Duke University, Vanderbilt University, Emory University, New York University, University of Wisconsin and numerous smaller liberal arts colleges.\nThe recognition will complement another award the IU Department of Sociology will receive in August -- one for research; a grad student will be honored for best dissertation, Powell said.\nIU Spokeswoman Susan Dillman said the University is proud of the recognition.\n"Clearly, this is one more recognition of IU's quality and national reputation," she said.