In The News: Department of Sociology

Travel Pulse

With three properties in Las Vegas now committed to reducing smoking, a question looms: could all of Sin City’s hotels and casinos go smoke-free?

Las Vegas Review Journal

Communion from a common cup. Handshakes and hugs. Even meeting for coffee and doughnuts after the service. All are worship practices that have disappeared over the past six months as the coronavirus pandemic hit Southern Nevada.

Correio Braziliense

They are supported by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, a text that considers the right to possession of weapons inalienable. They also use the internet for an almost devotion to rifles, in addition to engaging in advocacy for violence and radical political discourse. So-called "watchmen" and "militias" have made headlines in the United States. On August 26, three days after Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by the police, anti-racism protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Armed groups arrived from neighboring Illinois and clashed with activists from the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM, “Black lives matter”).

Greenville News

When hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters came out to a Confederate monument in downtown Greenville earlier this summer, men with guns who called themselves a "militia" showed up, too.

NBC News

Prosecutors say Kyle Rittenhouse, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, killed two people and injured one on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, when he opened fire on Aug. 25 during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Wall Street Journal

The K-pop group’s English music video attracts more than 101 million views on the streaming platform within 24 hours.

KNPR News

Southern Nevada, like much of the country, is struggling to come to terms with racial justice. The death of George Floyd was followed by dozens of protests in the streets of Las Vegas.

Refinery 29

On 24th March 2015, Germanwings flight 9525 headed to Dusseldorf, Germany crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Thousands around the world flooded social media to express their shock and grief, sending the hashtag #Germanwings to the No.1 trending spot on Twitter worldwide. Less than 24 hours after the crash, international sensation One Direction announced on Facebook that Zayn Malik was leaving the group after five years.

Reuters

How the South Korean band’s fanbase – known as ARMY – raised over $1 million for the Black Lives Matter movement, mostly in just one day.

Week

A whole generation have been “infantilised” and left without “self-sufficiency and intellectual independence” as a result of their parents’ failure to enforce boundaries, according to a new book by a leading sociology professor.

Al Jazeera America

Amid Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, K-pop fans are being hailed as a new force in politics and social justice.

NPR

2020 is weird. There’s just no getting around it. Few would have believed that fans of Korean popular music were going to be a driving force behind fighting police brutality and white supremacy following the George Floyd protests. But that’s exactly what happened. Fans of the popular music genre are using their knowledge of online platforms to rally support for political causes and solicit donations.