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August 28, 2009

CURRICULUM VITAE

 

Stephen Vaisey

Department of Sociology

University of California, Berkeley

410 Barrows Hall #1980

Berkeley, CA 94720-1980

vaisey (at) berkeley (dot) edu

 

Employment

 

2008-               Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley

2008-               Faculty Affiliate, Survey Research Center, University of California, Berkeley

 

Education

 

2008                Ph.D. in Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dissertation: Three Essays on Moral Culture

2004                MA in Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2001                BA in French (Literature) and BS in Sociology, Brigham Young University.

 

Principal Areas of Interest

 

  • The origins and consequences of different moral worldviews
  • Culture, cognition, and action theory
  • The cultural worlds of “Generation Y” (or “Millennials”)
  • Statistical techniques for set-theoretic analysis

 

Published Articles

 

2010                “What People Want: Rethinking Poverty, Culture, and Educational Attainment.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. (Forthcoming.)

 

“Can Cultural Worldviews Influence Network Composition?” Social Forces. (Co-authored with Omar Lizardo; forthcoming.)

 

2009                “Motivation and Justification: A Dual-Process Model of Culture in Action.” American Journal of Sociology 114(6): 1675-1715.

 

                        “Unified Stratification Theory: Structure, Genome, and Status across Human Societies.” Sociological Theory 27(2): 99-121. (Co-authored with Daniel Adkins.)

 

                        “The Transformative Role of Religious Experience: The Case of Short Term Missions.” Social Forces. (Second author, with Jenny Trinitapoli; forthcoming in September issue.)

 

2008                “Parallel Public Spheres: Distance and Discourse in Letters to the Editor.” American Journal of Sociology 114(3): 781-810. (Second author, with Andrew J. Perrin.)

 

                        “Environmental Contingencies and Genetic Predispositions: Social Capital, Educational Continuation, and a Dopamine Receptor Polymorphism.” American Journal of Sociology 114(S1): S260-S286. (Second author, with Michael J. Shanahan, Lance D. Erickson, and Andrew Smolen.)

 

                        “Control or Conviction? Objective and Subjective Religiosity and Adolescent Marijuana Use.” Journal of Drug Issues 38(3): 689-715 (Co-authored with Kyle Longest.)

 

                        “Socrates, Skinner, and Aristotle: Three Ways of Thinking about Culture in Action.” Sociological Forum 23(3): 603-613.

      • Followed in same issue by a comment from Ann Swidler (pp. 614-618) and a reply (pp. 619-622)

 

                        “Catholic Guilt among U.S. Adolescents: A Research Note.” Review of Religious Research 49(4): 415-426. (First author, with Christian Smith.)

 

“Fuzzy: A Program for Performing Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) in Stata.” The Stata Journal 8(1): 79-104. (Second author, with Kyle Longest.)

 

2007                “Structure, Culture, and Community: The Search for Belonging in 50 Urban Communes.” American Sociological Review 72(6): 851-873.

 

“Helping Relationships and Genetic Propensities: A Combinatoric Study of DRD2, Mentoring, and Educational Continuation.” Twin Research and Human Genetics 10(2): 285-298. (Third author, with Michael J. Shanahan, Lance D. Erickson, and Andrew Smolen.)

 

2006                “Education and Its Discontents: Overqualification in America, 1972-2002.” Social Forces 85(2): 835-864.

      • Summarized in “Discoveries: New and Noteworthy Research,” Contexts, Summer 2007

 

2005                “Pathways to a Good Job: Perceived Work Quality among the Machinists in North America.” British Journal of Industrial Relations 43: 431-454. (Second author, with Arne L. Kalleberg.)

 

Book Reviews, Essays, and Other Publications

 

2009                Review of Fuzzy Set Theory: Applications in the Social Sciences, by Michael Smithson and Jay Verkuilen. Sociological Methods and Research 37(3): 455-457.

 

                        “‘Biofantasy’ and Beyond: Genetics, Social Psychology, and Behavior.” Pp. 50-64 in Within the Social World: Essays in Social Psychology, edited by Jeffrey C. Chin and Cardell Jacobson. Pearson Education. (Third author, with Michael J. Shanahan and Scott M. Hofer.)

 

2007                “On Justification (and Motivation).” Culture: Newsletter of the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association 21(2): 1-5.

 

Review of Emerging Moral Vocabularies: The Creation and Establishment of New Forms of Moral and Ethical Meanings, by Brian M. Lowe. Contemporary Sociology 36(3): 259-260.

 

2004                Review of Human Institutions: A Theory of Societal Evolution, by Jonathan H. Turner. Social Forces 83: 432-3.

 

Conference Presentations (since 2005)

 

2009                “The Contingent Nature of Social Capital and Educational Continuation.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco. (Co-author, with Michael J. Shanahan.)

 

2008                “The Cultural Consequences of Modernity: Individualization, Rationalization, and Subjective Well-Being.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Boston. (Co-author, with Andrew Payton.)

 

2007                “Can Cultural Worldviews Influence Network Formation? A Longitudinal Investigation.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York.

 

2006                “Whatever Works? Cultural Justification and Moral Motivation Among Young Americans.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Portland, Oregon.

 

“Spiritual Capital in Urban Communes.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Portland, Oregon.

 

                        “Talk in a Mediated Public: Letters to the Editor as Democratic Deliberation.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montréal. (Second author, with Andrew J. Perrin.)

 

“Can Reasons Be Causes? Culture, Moral Languages, and Civic Engagement.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montréal. (Co-author, with Kraig Beyerlein.)

 

“Linking System and Practice: A Dual Process Approach to Culture.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston.

 

2005                “The Moral Foundations of Social Capital: Evidence from 50 Urban Communes.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, Rochester, New York.

 

“College, Culture, and Class: The Declining Symbolic Value of a College Degree.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia.

 

Invited Presentations

 

2009                “What People Want: Poverty, Aspirations, and Educational Attainment.” Department of Sociology, University of California-San Diego.

 

“Moral Cultures and Successful Societies.” Meeting of the Successful Societies Program of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, San Francisco.

 

2008                “Imagination and Desire: Poor/Non-Poor Differences in Future Aspirations.” Miniconference on Culture and Poverty (sponsored by the Ford Foundation), National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago.

 

2007                “Motivation and Justification: Toward a Dual Process Theory of Culture in Action.” Washington State University, University of Chicago, Indiana University, University of Michigan, UC Irvine, Cornell University, UC Berkeley, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University (Kellogg School of Management).

 

“Toward a Dual-Process Theory of Culture in Action.” 5th Annual Conference of the Yale University Center for Cultural Sociology.

 

2006                “The Moral Worlds of American Youth: Consequences for the Transition to Adulthood.” 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Royster Society of Fellows, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

“Critical Realism and Cultural Sociology.” Center for Human Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

2005                “Moral Cultures and Moral Intuition.” Brigham Young University.

 

Grants and Awards

 

2009-2012       Co-Investigator (with Christian Smith, PI). "Stimulating Innovative Global Research in the Science of Generosity: RFP & Primary Research Initiative on Origins, Manifestations, and Consequences." John Templeton Foundation. $4,999,360.

2007-2010       Co-Investigator (with Christian Smith, PI). “Tracking the Religious Lives of American Youth into Early Adulthood: NSYR Wave 3." Lilly Endowment Inc. $1,096,631.

2007-2008       Charlotte W. Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship (Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation)

2007-2008       Howard W. Odum Award for Excellence (given yearly to most outstanding graduate student by the UNC Sociology faculty)

2006-2008       Yale University Center for Cultural Sociology Pre-Doctoral Fellowship

2003-2006       National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

2002-2008       Caroline H. and Thomas S. Royster, Jr. Fellowship (Graduate School, UNC Chapel Hill)

 

Courses Taught

 

Sociology of Culture (graduate), University of California, Berkeley

Sociology of Culture (undergraduate), University of California, Berkeley

Social Theory (classical and contemporary), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Fuzzy-Set and Qualitative Comparative Analysis: Introduction and Applications (two-day course)                       

 

Professional Service

 

Editorial Boards: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociological Theory

 

Consulting Editor: American Journal of Sociology

 

Ad hoc reviewer: American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Contemporary Sociology, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Organization Science, Review of Religious Research, Social Forces, Social Psychological Quarterly, Sociological Methods and Research, Sociological Theory

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