Tag Archive for: book

SOU's Sojka and de Vries co-author book on transgender experiences

SOU faculty members co-author book on transgender experiences

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(Ashland, Ore.) — SOU’s Carey Jean Sojka and Kylan Mattias de Vries – both faculty members in the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program, and both previous recipients of the university’s Distinguished Teaching Award – have co-authored a new book about the identity experiences of transgender people.

The book, “Transgender Intersections: Race and Gender through Identities, Interactions and Systems of Power,” was published last month by Polity Books, an international publisher in the social sciences and humanities – often on topics with general readership and that draw media discussion. The company has offices in Cambridge and Oxford in the U.K., and in Boston and New York in the U.S.

“While transgender lives are at the forefront of contemporary politics, what do we really understand about the complexity of trans experience?” the publisher asks on the new book’s webpage. “Trans people who go through various aspects of gender transition experience shifts not only in their gender, but also with regards to other categories of identity such as race, social class, sexuality, disability and more.

“Centering the stories of trans people and their loved ones, Sojka and de Vries investigate how intersectionality operates at various levels of social meaning – the individual, the interpersonal and the structural – in the experiences of transgender people.”

Reviews of the book say it effectively captures the breadth of trans experiences and social connections through the stories it shares of transgender people and their loved ones.

“In a time of hostile stereotyping of trans groups by right-wing politicians and media, it is refreshing to meet the reality, clearly presented: complex lives, shaped by the whole spectrum of differences and relations of power across the contemporary USA,” Raewyn Connell of the University of Sydney said in an online review.

Sojka is an associate professor whose research and teaching interests include transgender studies, embodiment, gender, sexuality, race, disability and fat studies. She conducts community trainings on LGBTQ issues in southern Oregon. Sojka earned bachelor’s degrees from Luther College in Women & Gender Studies and Sociology. Her master’s degree in Women’s Studies and doctorate in Sociology are from State University of New York at Albany.

de Vries is a professor with a joint appointment in the GSWS and Sociology & Anthropology programs at SOU. His academic interests include inequalities, transgender studies and social psychology. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication at Antioch University Santa Barbara, and a master’s degree and doctorate in Sociology at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Sojka received SOU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2020, and de Vries received the award in 2017. Sojka and de Vries co-chair SOU’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Program.

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SOU emeritus professor Mike Rousell has a new book about surprise

Retired SOU professor examines surprise in new book

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(Ashland, Ore.) — Mike Rousell, a psychologist and emeritus professor of education at SOU, has a new book that should surprise no one who has followed his career. “The Power of Surprise,” which will be released Sept. 15 by Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, is the result of more than 30 years of researching life-altering events and the surprises that typically triggered them.

“One day, while pouring over my vast collection of transformative stories, looking for patterns, I experienced a revelation: A surprise sparked most of these events,” Rousell said. “Here’s the key: Moments that change us happen to us, not by us, during a surprise event.”

He cites the example of “Cindy,” a student who tended to be among the last to finish tests, and a librarian who complimented that slowness as “attentive deliberation that shows grit.”

“The comment surprised Cindy, giving her a burst of the motivator neurotransmitter dopamine and creating a window for belief formation,” Rousell said. “Now, when Cindy writes tests, her instincts prompt her to go slowly and feel proud because it confirms her grit.”

The new book – which can already be ordered on Amazon – examines the science of surprise, how it can result in spontaneous personal and societal changes, and how it is used strategically by comedians, magicians, filmmakers, writers and others. Rousell looks at how surprise can open the door for a change in belief even without conscious awareness and how it can be tapped to enrich lives, maximize influence and create positive mindsets.

He said the book is intended for a general audience – parents, teachers, coaches, supervisors, healthcare providers and others who may want to draw upon the positive influences of surprise.

Rousell said that surprise events produce a jolt of dopamine, a chemical that enables the transmission of signals among the brain’s nerve cells.

“I found that big surprises in our evolutionary past often indicated momentous opportunity or danger,” he said. “Thinking slowed reaction time. Those that stopped to think during critical moments often perished, along with the propensity to ponder when surprised. Evolution favored those who learned instantly. As a result, we developed a disposition to bypass thinking and learn instantly.”

Rousell was an associate professor of education at SOU for about 12 years before his retirement in March 2020. His previous publications include the 2007 book, “Sudden Influence: How Spontaneous Events Shape Our Lives.” A video of his 12-minute presentation about surprise at a 2019 TEDx Talks event in Salem drew thousands of views on YouTube.

He received his bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Alberta, and his master of education and doctorate from the University of Oregon. He taught elementary, middle and high school in Edmonton, Alberta, before joining the School of Education at SOU, and also has worked in private practice and school counseling as a certified psychologist.

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