It is so serendipitous that I was so involved in my chapter of Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD) as an undergraduate and during my MA program, because I am now honored to be working with the organization many years later. If you are unfamiliar, AKD is a the official international sociology honors society. Their purpose, as stated on their website, is “to acknowledge and promote excellence in the scholarship in the study of social problems, sociology, and intellectual activities that lead to the improvement in the human condition.”
To be members, sociology students must meet certain GPA requirements and pay a small fee, but the membership is for a lifetime and comes with some great professional development opportunities. When I was in college at the University of Northern Colorado, I served in leadership positions in our chapter. I helped with fundraising, application writing, event planning, and community outreach. All of my duties as a member of my AKD chapter were valuable in my professional development, and culminated in me attending my first professional sociology conference back in 2014.
This reflection brings me to why it has been both serendipitous and such a huge honor to be working with the organization and helping students gain valuable experiences in sociology and leadership.
My Current Work with Alpha Kappa Delta (AKD)
I work with AKD on a contract basis along with several other contracts I manage as the Director of Consulting Services at Applied Worldwide. Within the AKD organization, I serve under the title of Media Editor. In my role, I work with both the Executive Office of AKD and the co-editors of their official journal, Sociological Inquiry (SI), to curate an engaging digital presence for both the organization and their journal.
Now, “curating an engaging digital presence” is quite vague. So, what do I actually do to accomplish this goal? First and foremost, I have started developing a brand identity for the organization and their journal. Developing a brand identity is something I learned a ton about from co-founding my own digital media company, Applied Worldwide. It is also something that is vital for establishing a strong social media presence for any organization. Therefore, that was my first step when I started my contract work with AKD—create a brand identity that sociology students and professionals can relate to and want to engage with.
In addition to social media strategy and management, I have also launched new blog campaigns to celebrate AKD award winners and authors whose works are published in SI. In taking the extra step of celebrating members and authors, who are the backbone of both AKD and SI, I hope to create a supportive and celebratory digital space for sociologists.
At times, the Executive Office or co-editors do have specific tasks for me, such as creating promotional flyers or stickers to share at sociology conferences across the US. But, overall, I have been given a lot of freedom to use my unique set of skills to bolster the organization. That aspect of working with AKD has been one of my favorite parts of supporting this organization. Having the freedom to explore how my skills as a sociologists and my knowledge in digital media strategy can come together has been a genuine delight!
One of my Favorite Projects
Thus far, one of my favorite campaigns I’ve established in my role as Media Editor has been our “Reminders to Inquire” campaign for the journal. This simple campaign is based on the idea that all of us, regardless of our educational backgrounds, can sociologically inquire about the world around us. In doing so, we will have a deeper understanding of the social phenomena we experience and the way we interact with the world. Through this campaign, I share weekly reminders to the SI social media accounts on Instagram, Twitter / X, and Facebook.
These reminders are a simple sentence reiterating the importance of sociological inquiry in our day-to-day lives. The campaign gives the journal’s audience a chance to connect with the journal beyond the typical format of an academic paper. It also gives the journal a chance to invite their audience to engage with their brand without having to read or submit an academic paper. All that said, the hope is to create a conversation around the importance of inquiring sociologically about the word around us, whether that be through our sociological scholarship or our everyday interactions with our social world.
Practicing Sociology as Media Editor for AKD
I absolutely love that there are so many tools from my “sociological toolkit” I draw upon and rely on for my work with AKD. One of those tools is data collection and organization. For example, to establish our “Meet the Authors” campaign for SI, I created a form to collect answers to interview questions from featured authors. As submissions to the form come in, I treat them as I would any other data set—I organize them in a specific spreadsheet or file and have a system for tracking submissions that have already been shared.
While data collection is a skill you can acquire from various disciplines, I would argue sociologists have a larger variety of data collection approaches compared to other disciplines. For example, sociologists conduct ethnographic research, large-scale survey research, case studies, and more. As a sociologist I learned to lean on whatever data collection method best helps me answer my research questions. In my work with AKD and SI, I use this adaptability to choose the best method of data collection for any given project.
I also get to use my sociological theory and research literacy skills to interpret and summarize articles from SI to support various campaigns, such as our “Unpacking Social Problems with Sociological Inquiry” campaign. I read a set of related articles about a particular social problem and curate posts that summarize the main arguments. In order to identify the main arguments and make sense of them, I heavily rely on my training and education in sociology. Then, my sociological training comes in handy again as I concisely summarize the sociological argument for a social media audience.
Final Thoughts on Working for Alpha Kappa Delta as their Media Editor
As I said from the start, it is truly an honor to be working for Alpha Kappa Delta. AKD is a wonderful organization with an important purpose, and I have first-hand experience in how they fulfill their promise to sociology students. You can also read Applied Worldwide CEO Luke Hanna’s thoughts and experiences with AKD in his blog titled, Alpha Kappa Delta: Sociology Honors Society.
To stay up-to-date with everything AKD, be sure to follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter / X!
