A Year of Living Minimally

On January 16, 2026 By Karen SternheimerIn Behind the Headlines, Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and ConsumptionLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

It has been a year since losing my home in the Los Angeles firestorm of 2025. While others are reflecting on the anniversary with concerts, community events, and hand-wringing over the rebuilding process, I have been reflecting on my 12 months as a minimalist. It has been an enlightening, and yes, in an odd way a positive experience.

Of course, I wouldn’t have chosen this experience. Finding myself without most of the material possessions I had accumulated for decades was quite a jolt. The first few weeks left me shell shocked. I was figuring out what I really needed for day-to-day living, while at the same time as managing insurance claims and other adventures with bureaucracy.

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Social Exercise and Healthy Aging

On September 29, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Immigration, Population, Aging, and Demography, Karen SternheimerLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

According to a recently published study of older adults at risk for cognitive decline, increased social engagement was one of four factors that led to cognitive improvement during a two-year period (the others were exercise, healthy diet, and cognitive challenges). In other words, beyond physical and mental exercise, we need “social exercise” too.

The experimental group in this study not only had a structured exercise program and diet to follow, but they also had to participate in mandatory social activities. “Socializing is one of the best ways to keep your brain young,” an NPR story on this study concludes. But why?

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How Pizza Became International Cuisine

On September 22, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Globalization, Karen Sternheimer, Popular Culture and Consumption1 Comment

By Karen Sternheimer

Do you remember your first taste of pizza? I don’t because I’ve been eating it all my life, as you probably have been too. Pizza is practically universal food; it’s one of those words that remains the same in multiple languages, although pronunciations might vary a bit.

Why is pizza something you can find nearly anywhere in the (industrialized) world? Yes, it tastes good, it can be portable, and sold by the slice. It’s a food with just a few ingredients that is relatively cheap and easy to produce. But it also teaches us about globalization and the way in which commerce and culture cross borders.

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Understanding Social Construction: What Makes a Country a Country?

On September 15, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, TheoryLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

Recently, I took a hiking trip to the Alps, spending time in Chamonix, France, and Courmayeur, Italy. These two alpine towns are connected by a tunnel through Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps. The tunnel is just over 7 miles, and it took us less than an hour to get from town to town by bus.

And yet, when some acquaintances heard that we were in Italy and France, they asked if we went to Rome (about 500 miles from Courmayeur) or Paris (about 425 miles from Chamonix) and were perplexed when we said no.

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Drawing the Line Between Research and “Me Search”

On September 8, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Statistics and Methods1 Comment

By Karen Sternheimer

A common question that comes up in my research methods class has to do with conducting research on topics that we are interested in, and maybe even groups that we are part of. Can we do research on issues close to our experience while still maintaining objectivity, or does our membership in a group mean that we are “biased?”

First, a note on terminology. Objectivity means that we are “faithful to the facts,” as this article on researcher objectivity points out. It doesn’t mean we don’t have related experiences or points of view, but instead that we are able to set those aside when evaluating our findings and be open to being wrong, or at least that others’ experiences might differ greatly from our own.

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Getting into Sociology: Advice for High School Students

On September 1, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Karen Sternheimer, Theory1 Comment

By Karen Sternheimer

I had a really cool social studies teacher in high school, and he taught a sociology class as an elective. I didn’t take it. Why?

It could have been the age-old “didn’t fit my schedule” or someone mentioned it was “hard.” I took his psychology class instead, maybe because I thought I knew something about psychology (I didn’t) or thought it might be easy (it wasn’t).

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Overtourism: Revisiting the Sacred and Profane

On August 18, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Behind the Headlines, Karen Sternheimer, TheoryLeave a comment

By Karen Sternheimer

You have probably seen news of protests in Europe about overtourism—locals upset about their hometowns being overrun with crowds, often pricing them out of local housing markets. Cities like Barcelona, Florence, Venice, and Paris have experienced problems with overwhelming summer crowds.

While the rebound after the COVID shutdowns of 2020 kept people from traveling for a year or more is part of the explanation, we can use our sociological imagination to think more deeply about why certain places draw crowds.

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Are we Being Replaced? Fertility, Mortality, and Demography

On August 11, 2025October 20, 2025 By econnellIn Immigration, Population, Aging, and Demography, Karen Sternheimer, Relationships, Marriage and Family1 Comment

By Karen Sternheimer

During a trip to Milan, one of the first places I visited was the Cimitero Monumentale, a cemetery famous for its ornate sculptures. We noticed a lot of funeral homes on our walk to this famous landmark, and flowers for sale for visitors to place on graves. This wasn’t surprising. But what was surprising were the many ads for funeral services on street signs in other parts of town.

The signs caught me a bit off guard, but they shouldn’t have. Italy’s population is aging; nearly a quarter of Italians are 65 or older (by contrast, only about 17 percent of the U.S. population is 65 or older). Funerals are a growing business.