Dr. Jamie Dangler, Statewide UUP V.P. of Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Sociology at SUNY Cortland, will be speaking on  Applying Sociology to the Practical World: A Case Study in the Use of Sociological Concepts and Analysis in Efforts to Advance Family-Friendly Workplace Policies.

  Dr. Dangler will discuss the ways sociological concepts and analysis were used in efforts to build support for paid family leave and other policies to accommodate women and men who need to balance work and family demands. She will highlight the grassroots organizing effort that developed within the union movement more than 10 years ago and how that effort emerged in the context of a broader national and international effort to address family leave and work-family balance as a fundamental workers' issue.

Through a narrative that combines the personal and the political, she will highlight the role of sociological constructs related to class, ethnicity, gender, social justice, the importance of institutional supports to advance societal needs, and the intersection of individual and collective needs and practice.