University of Richmond Sociology Professor Wins Outstanding Book Award For Book Exploring Human Condition During War

July 27, 2022

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — Sociology professor Jeffrey Hass has received a 2022 Outstanding Book Award from the American Sociological Association for his book Wartime Suffering and Survival: The Human Condition Under Siege in the Blockade of Leningrad, 1941-1944. Hass’ book was the co-winner for the ASA Section on War, Peace, and Social Conflict.

Hass’ research includes social change, economic and political sociology, and power and culture in Russia. His book examines individual and social survival in Leningrad, Russia, while the city was under siege for nearly 900 days by the Nazis in World War II.

“I have been interested in the Blockade of Leningrad since graduate school,” Hass said. “This was a moment of intense suffering and trauma. How did anything survive: people, collective practices, institutions, authority? We still know too little about social practices under duress. Who are we when our backs are against the wall?”

The book also received an honorable mention for the Distinguished Scholarly Book Award from the American Sociological Association.

“It is an honor, a humbling experience, and a source of satisfaction to know that colleagues and peers found something useful and important in my work, enough to honor me with such status,” Hass said. 

Hass has taught at the University of Richmond since 2006 and chairs both the department of sociology and anthropology and the Institutional Review Board.

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