Gloria Martinez has been selected as the Best Professor of Hays County for the year 2022 by the San Marcos Daily Record. The Best of Hays Awards are given out each year in a multitude of categories and are voted on by members of the community.
Dr. Kotarba presenting at the NCA
Dr. Joseph A. Kotarba was selected to present the George Herbert Mead lecture at the 2026 annual convention of the National Communication Association (NCA). The 2026 NCA Convention is to be held at New Orleans, LA, November 19-22.
Congratulations Dr. Kotarba!
Kelly Mosel-Talavera wins SBC Faculty of the year award
Kelly Mosel-Talavera was honored this past Saturday at the Texas State University Football game for winning the Sunbelt Conference Faculty of the year award. Congratulations Kelly!
Toni Watt honored with Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Government Award
Dr. Toni Watt, Professor and Chair of Sociology, was recently awarded the 2025 Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Government Awards, given for research that contributes to the public good. Throughout her career, Dr. Watt has dedicated herself to evaluating programs and policies designed to improve outcomes for children and youth who have experienced trauma and/or the foster care system. She has extensive experience as a contracted program evaluator and initiated numerous policy studies to ensure that evaluation data is available to inform legislative decisions. Dr. Watt is an advocate for participatory research, consistently engaging individuals with lived experience in the foster care system as research partners. Her scholarly work has been featured in academic journals, white papers, national and international media, and legislative testimony. In addition, Dr. Watt is committed to mentoring the next generation of evaluation researchers. She co-founded and co-directs the Texas State Sociology SOAR (Student Opportunities for Applied Research) program, which provides undergraduate students with opportunities to conduct applied research.
Office Hours Podcast: Meet Dr. Claude Bonazzo Romaguera
Dr. Bonazzo appears in this newly released episode with the office hours podcast
Dr. Xi Pan
Dr. Xi Pan’s research focuses on social and environmental determinants of brain health, cognitive decline, and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Presently, she is leading a pilot project that involves partnering with colleagues and graduate students from TXST, University of Washington, and Yale University to examine the association of cognitive performance with exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighters, who are actively serving Central Texas. This pilot project is the first study in the nation to identify and quantify the PFAS-cognition relationship in firefighters.
Dr. Martinez named Best of Hays
Sociology Joins Bobcat Build
The Sociology Department participated in the University's Bobcat Build event. Sixteen students, staff and faculty members (one not pictured) came together to benefit the Hays County Community by clearing out brush, moving branches, washing windows and even (attempting to) remove a tree stump! Thank you to all who participated!
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Faculty Research
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