In the News: Amy Lutz

“Kids in Limbo: War, Uncertainty, and the School Experiences of Ukrainian Refugee Students in Poland,” co-authored by Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology, and Ph.D. student Iwona B. Franczak, was published in Sociological Forum.

Several Maxwell School faculty have been promoted to leadership roles, including Junko Takeda, who has been named chair of the Citizenship and Civic Engagement (CCE) Undergraduate Program after serving in an interim role since July 2023, and Leonard M. Lopoo, who began as chair of the Public Administration and International Affairs Department in July 2024. 

Affirmative action is an effective race-conscious admissions policy that facilitates the socioeconomic achievement of Black and Latino students. Using data from 750 schools, this study finds that Black and Latino students are more likely to graduate from selective colleges than White students with similar socioeconomic backgrounds and educational experiences.

In this selection of recently published books, faculty explore insurrections in Mexico, the intersection of race and class, the longevity of China's Communist Party, the effect of culture and social context on parenting, the origin of the farmer's address, race and borders in the Colonial Caribbean, and disaster and health  

Citizenship for oneself or a spouse is a motivator for immigrants, says Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology. But so is the chance to move up in the world. "The higher your socioeconomic status, the less likely you are to join the military."

"We don't want to press our interests in citizenship upon the students," says Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology, who will be teaching the new MAX course on research methods and civic engagement. "We want them to develop it themselves. We're there as mentors. So it shouldn't be that we give them the Action Plan and they fill it in. It should be initiated by the student's desire to engage with a particular social problem."

"The United States has a long tradition of enlisting immigrants. Immigrants make up an important part of the U.S. military, and have since the formation of the United States. Our country should not make it difficult for them to serve," writes Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology.