Sociology Book Series Now Led by UAlbany Editorial Team

At left, the covers of two books called "The Company We Keep" and "Collateral Damages." At right, four faculty members, two standing and two sitting, pose in front of a full bookshelf.
The new editorial team for the Rose Series are, clockwise from top left, Joanna Dreby, Steven Messner, Katherine Trent and Aaron Major, all from the Department of Sociology.

By Margaret Hartley

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 13, 2023) — A group of faculty from UAlbany’s Department of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences has been granted editorial stewardship of the American Sociological Association’s Rose Series in Sociology, a book series published by the Russell Sage Foundation, through 2025.

Rose Series publications focus on sociological research that applies to a broad audience of social scientists and policymakers. Since 1967, Rose has published a few select volumes a year, bringing the best of sociological research on major issues of public concern to the larger academic and public policy community. For sociologists hoping to influence major areas of policy debate, the Rose Series offers a unique publishing opportunity.

Professor Joanna Dreby is the lead editor for UAlbany’s Rose Series team. Professor Katherine Trent, Associate Professor Aaron Major and Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus Steven Messner round out the editorial group, with Suzanne Kawola, a PhD candidate and instructor in the department, serving as managing editor.

“Our vision for the Rose Series is to identify and help develop manuscripts that contribute methodologically and analytically diverse perspectives to Rose's core areas of policy-relevant inquiry of contemporary public issues,” Dreby said.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Jeanette Altarriba said, “The prestige and honor that accompanies the selection of editorial leadership for a source such as this one underscores that our Department of Sociology is highly regarded nationally and internationally as a premier department in the field.”

Recent Rose Series publications include Collateral Damages: Landlords and the Urban Housing Crisis by Meredith Greif, and The Company We Keep: Interracial Friendships and Romantic Relationships from Adolescence to Adulthood by Grace Kao, Kara Joyner and Kelly Stamper Balistreri.

At the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting this summer, Rose editors Dreby and Major will host a special session featuring a conversation about forthcoming Rose book, Overcoming the Odds: The Benefits of Completing College for Unlikely Graduates, by Jennie E. Brand (Russell Sage Foundation 2023).

Editorial leadership rotates in three-year terms. The previous two editorial teams came from the City University of New York (CUNY) and Rutgers University.