The University of Chicago Press awarded the 2025 Gordon J. Laing Award to Prof. Jenny Trinitapoli for her book An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi President Paul Alivisatos presented the award at a gala reception on April 9 at the David Rubenstein Forum.  “An Epidemic of Uncertainty exemplifies the kind of scholarship the Laing Prize was created to honor—empirically rich methodologically rigorous and conceptually bold,” Alivisatos said “In exploring HIV-related uncertainty as a measurable and consequential social force Trinitapoli has produced a thought-provoking work of global relevance.” the Laing Award is presented to the faculty author or translator whose book has brought the greatest distinction to the Press Books published in 2022 and 2023 were eligible for the 2025 award In An Epidemic of Uncertainty, Trinitapoli emphasizes something social scientists routinely omit—what people know they don’t know half of Malawian young adults don’t know their HIV status Despite admirable declines in new HIV infections and AIDS-related mortality Within the bustling trading town of Balaka Trinitapoli argues that HIV-related uncertainty is measurable pervasive and impervious to biomedical solutions with consequences to relationship stability the journal Social Forces praised the book’s “rich innovative” data—a mix of historical accounts demographic research and ethnographic vignettes—to form a “compelling and complex analysis” of the role of uncertainty in Malawi.  chair of the Board of University Publications lauded Trinitapoli’s work as a “remarkable feat of scholarship.”   Trinitapoli combines micro-level analysis of how individuals confront social decisions with macro-level findings about the impact of this uncertainty on fertility “An Epidemic of Uncertainty does nothing less than crystallize an emergent field that Trinitapoli calls ‘uncertainty demography.’”  “It’s an honor to be recognized by the university community; it’s especially gratifying to know that the work we did in Balaka is spurring a more expansive conversation about the role of uncertainty in social life,” said Trinitapoli a professor of sociology at the University of Chicago “Demographic research is only as good as the data it is based on and An Epidemic of Uncertainty rests on the good work of the Tsogolo La Thanzi (TLT) study team Leading TLT for more than a decade has been the most rewarding experience of my career.” “We are very proud to support Professor Trinitapoli’s work which reveals the sociological importance of studying unknowns and treats uncertainty as a significant determining factor in understanding human experience,” said Garrett Kiely who served as general editor of the University of Chicago Press from 1909 until 1940 firmly establishing it as the premier academic publisher in the United States.  Trinitapoli joins a distinguished list of previous recipients that includes Get more with UChicago News delivered to your inbox 5 changes you need to know in the new Chicago Manual of Style UChicago Press awards top honor to Margareta Ingrid Christian for … news@uchicago.edu Smart and timely features from our books and authors The University of Chicago Press is pleased to announce that An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi by Jenny Trinitapoli is the recipient of the 2025 Gordon J The award was presented by the University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos at a gala reception on April 9 in the City View Room of the David Rubenstein Forum at the University of Chicago Laing Award is conferred annually by vote of the Board of University Publications on the faculty author or translator whose book has brought the greatest distinction to the list of the University of Chicago Press The award is named in honor of the scholar who serving as general editor from 1909 until 1940 firmly established the character and reputation of the University of Chicago Press as the premier academic publisher in the United States An Epidemic of Uncertainty advances a new framework for studying social life by emphasizing something social scientists routinely omit from their theories and measures–what people know they don’t know Taking Malawi’s ongoing AIDS epidemic as an entry point Jenny Trinitapoli shows that despite admirable declines in new HIV infections and AIDS-related mortality an epidemic of uncertainty persists; at any given point in time fully half of Malawian young adults don’t know their HIV status Reckoning with the impact of this uncertainty within the bustling trading town of Balaka with consequences that expand into multiple domains of life the journal Social Forces offered this praise: “The data in the book is rich and unveils a deep connection and understanding of the Balaka region in Malawi Trinitapoli expertly weaves together historical accounts of shifts in global HIV policy and the local legislative order and data from her own longitudinal studies and ethnographic vignettes to offer a compelling and complex analysis of the role uncertainty plays in the lives of young adults in contemporary Malawi.” commented: “The Laing Award celebrates the historic links between the University of Chicago Press and the faculty of the University  This year’s winner, An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi by Jenny Trinitapoli  Its focus is on something intangible yet pervasive: uncertainty the most salient ‘known unknown’ is the HIV status of both themselves and their potential or actual partners  Those making decisions about marriage and reproduction must live in the shadow of what remains (despite the rollout of life-saving treatments) an epidemic Trinitapoli combines micro-level analysis of how individuals confront these decisions with macro-level findings about the impact of this uncertainty on fertility  An Epidemic of Uncertainty does nothing less than crystallize an emergent field that Trinitapoli calls ‘uncertainty demography,’” President Paul Alivisatos added: “An Epidemic of Uncertainty exemplifies the kind of scholarship the Laing Prize was created to honor—empirically rich In exploring HIV-related uncertainty as a measurable and consequential social force “It’s an honor to be recognized by the university community; it’s especially gratifying to know that the work we did in Balaka is spurring a more expansive conversation about the role of uncertainty in social life Demographic research is only as good as the data it is based on the most rewarding experience of my career,” said Trinitapoli Jenny Trinitapoli is professor of sociology at the University of Chicago She joins a distinguished list of previous recipients that includes For a complete list of winners, visit the Laing Award page “There is this sense that the Core [Curriculum] is the Core and cannot change,” Jenny Trinitapoli associate professor of sociology and director of the Center for International Social Science Research But Trinitapoli and her colleagues in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division believe the Core can evolve—and two major changes are in store for the Social Sciences Core including a new course that Trinitapoli will be chairing In the 2018–2019 College Catalog, released online in early April, the Social Sciences Collegiate Division revealed two major additions to the Social Sciences Core the existing course Social Science Inquiry (SSI) will be expanded into three distinct versions sociology professor and master in the Social Sciences Collegiate Division said that Global Society is the first new sequence since Democracy and Social Science—which is now SSI—was introduced in the 1990s Trinitapoli said the idea for Global Society developed out of conversations over the past several years within her department “[We were] trying to think about how we can expand our notions of what constitutes social theory [to] think about problems in the world that we actually live in ranging from migration crisis to climate change and population sustainability,” she said According to Global Society’s course description “The sequence is designed to cultivate an understanding of social science research that extends beyond experiences and processes that are particular to Western civilizations.” The course will also “expose students to a long-standing globally expansive canon within the social sciences and teach students to distinguish cultural particulars from universal concerns.” Global Society will focus on a different topic in each quarter of the sequence The first quarter of the course will include readings on society from varied cultural traditions The thinkers to be explored include philosophers Thomas More and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and feminist Raden Ayu Kartini The second quarter will discuss population through demographic approaches both archaic and modern A significant component of the class will focus on economist Thomas Malthus Global Society will discuss issues of global change and development The quarter will culminate in a capstone project on a specific population and its connection to social change Trinitapoli said she put together the course with sociology professor Andrew Abbott and assistant professor in sociology Kimberly Kay Hoang They were supported by Clemens and associate professor in history James Sparrow The College Curriculum Innovation Fund funded Global Society’s development Clemens described the initiative to The Maroon as a University effort to support more innovative courses as undergraduate enrollment grows Her department supported Global Society through this program providing grants for a research assistant and text translation Trinitapoli said Global Society’s development unofficially goes back nearly a decade; Abbott has been researching and translating texts that will be used in the course for around eight years Abbott piloted a version of the first quarter “We designed this [course] because we wanted to teach it and because we thought the students would love it,” Trinitapoli said “I think that it absolutely does address a need to… rethink what is canonical Trinitapoli also emphasized that Global Society is also meant to help students build analytical skills including standardization and precise comparisons across populations As an example of how the course will examine texts Trinitapoli pointed to one example that will be used in the course: Pandita Ramabai’s America: Conditions of Life in the United States visited the United States in 1886 and wrote an account of her observations “It’s her ethnography of the United States; everything from gender relations to agricultural practices from the perspective of an outsider,” Trinitapoli said During a lecture she gave in India after her visit Ramabai noted that if anyone felt she was exaggerating figures they should look at the 1880 United States Census Trinitapoli said this spurred a conversation among her colleagues: “Wouldn’t it be cool if we could read this and do the exercises with the U.S Census from 1880 at the same time and look at different parts of the world simultaneously…and put that hand-in-hand with the social theory How would that change how we think about…the relationship between social thought and characteristics of populations?” UChicago United, a coalition of campus multicultural organizations, welcomed Global Society’s announcement in a Facebook post on April 18. “We’re glad the University is hearing and acting on at least some of our demands,” the post reads “Looking forward to having a Comparative Race & Ethnic Studies Department Representatives from UChicago United did not respond to multiple requests for comment SSI will be offered in three versions starting in the fall: the existing version as well as two new sections focusing specifically on formal theory and spatial analysis Clemens said the intent behind SSI’s expansion is to clearly signal what skills will be taught in each sequence and to correlate the course with faculty expertise “What was happening in Social Science Inquiry was that you had a Core that was built on the premise that what it wanted to do was basically walk students through the experience of systematic quantitative data analysis in [the] social sciences to learn how to do that,” Clemens told The Maroon.  “By spring when students should be sort of focused on how do we take these methods of knowledge and methods of analysis and apply it to specific projects of analysis they weren’t coming into those sections with the same background So the splitting into multiple numbers [was] basically to make it clearer that you should stay in your same track.” The Formal Theory version of SSI will use mathematical and political approaches to examine societal interactions in which one person’s ideal actions depend on the actions of others The course’s first quarter focuses on deductive reasoning and rational choice The second focuses on elements of game theory namely different forms of equilibrium—the state in a game at which no one wants to change their strategy The final quarter focuses on games of incomplete information as opposed to theoretical games in which all participants have complete knowledge about each other The Spatial Analysis version of SSI will focus on how space and related concepts help to answer social science questions The first two quarters deal with spatial thinking and analysis the course concludes with a capstone project Students will work on a research problem tied to space using concepts learned throughout the course Clemens said that the Social Sciences Collegiate Division is working to ensure that students are informed about the differences between the SSI sequences She added that the Division has already spoken with academic advisors about the expansion When asked if there are any plans to revisit and rethink any of the other Social Sciences Core classes beyond SSI Clemens said that a review process occurs every year as each course’s staff plans syllabi “One of the durable challenges is how to incorporate a greater diversity of voices while also teaching ‘the classics,’” Clemens added “Some [courses] expand the range of readings globally [and] the new Global Society course will make this a hallmark of the entire year Others incorporate a range of critics as well as those who sought to extend the seemingly universalistic claims of liberal theory or political economy to the full range of humanity thereby revealing important limits to the arguments.” While not facing as significant a shift as SSI, the Self, Culture, and Society sequence is also facing changes to diversify its scope The first quarter will now include Arab historiographer Ibn Khaldun the third quarter has been significantly altered The quarter previously covered the social and historical conceptions of personhood; it will now focus on contemporary issues and how the social sciences approach topics such as feminism and environmentalism Authors to be discussed include American physicist and philosopher Thomas Kuhn and Palestinian American literature professor Edward Said Your support will ensure that we can continue producing powerful and accessible reporting that serves the University of Chicago and Hyde Park communities Cancel reply This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, and University of Southern California provide funding as members of The Conversation US View all partners The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work Most parents living in industrialized countries today reasonably presume that all their children will survive childhood But child death remains woefully common in some parts of the world. A baby born in certain sub-Saharan African countries is roughly 20 times more likely to die in early childhood than a baby born in North America or Western Europe Our recent study measures the proportion of parents who’ve lost a child Academic research on child death typically focuses on an individual child’s risk of death so examining this tragedy from the perspective of parents is a new approach To determine how many parents have lost children, we used Demographic and Health Survey Program data to track 30-year trends in 20 sub-Saharan African countries with the highest child mortality rates These surveys have collected detailed reproductive histories from women for decades allowing us to evaluate the experiences of mothers over time We found that more than 20% of all young mothers across West East and Southern Africa have lost a child under the age of 5 primarily due to infectious and waterborne diseases Data from the West African countries of Mali as well as from three southern and eastern African countries – Malawi Rwanda and Uganda – is even more staggering up to one in five mothers has suffered the death of two children The death of a child is an excruciating and enduring event that affects parents in lasting ways Bereaved parents have an elevated risk of depression, anxiety and an array of physical health problems, from cardiovascular disease to early death. The stress of losing a child also strains marriages Quantifying how many mothers have lost a child gives us a sense of these individual and collective strains in a given place. In our paper, which published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal in February we call this collective grief the parental “bereavement burden.” tells us something important about the broader social context for all women In places where infant and child death rates are high Even women who have not lost a child worry that they will is a shared phenomenon that affects how all women in a society navigate major life decisions In the shadows of the high child mortality rates are millions of grieving mothers who bear the personal social and marital costs of a child’s death Yet this population receives very little scholarly or political attention that’s more than half of all women who are invisibly suffering the bereavement burden Our study illustrates the pressing need to understand the mother’s experience of child death and incorporate grief into a country’s public health considerations [Insight, in your inbox each day. You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter.] Kona Grill Seared Sockeye Salmon SashimiScottsdale, AZ  (RestaurantNews.com)  Kona Grill has announced the launch of their [Entice] menu in all 23 locations nationwide The [Entice] menu will feature 5 brand new items including a sashimi dish that Corporate Sushi Chef Takeshi Trinitapoli is particularly proud of “Our new seasonal menu [Entice] is looking to be another great success for Kona Grill We have created new and awe inspiring recipes to be paired with great wines and cocktails The seared sockeye salmon sashimi paired with a refreshing Gekkeikan draft sake is a combination sure to wow our guests.” Also on the menu guests will find a new salad flat bread and dessert that Kona Grill hopes will be considered favorites among new and frequent diners alike Availability of these items will be based upon the Fall season which the dishes aim to complement The menu began September 12th and will conclude on October 28th Kona Grill Chili Lime Shrimp SaladAbout Kona Grill Since 1999, independent operators, national chains, PR companies and other restaurant related businesses have turned to RestaurantNews.com to distribute their restaurant news and help build their brands.  To submit your restaurant news, please visit http://www.restaurantnews.com/press-release/ Jenny Trinitapoli’s work bridges the fields of social demography and the sociology of religion She has written extensively about the role of religion in the AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa Since 2008, she has been the principal investigator of Tsogolo la Thanzi an ongoing longitudinal study of young adults in Malawi which asks how young adults negotiate relationships and childbearing in the midst of a severe AIDS epidemic Prof Trinitapoli is the co-author of Religion and AIDS in Africa (2012) and her research has been published in numerous journals including the American Sociological Review the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes Executive Director for Strategic Communications Sociologist wins 2025 Laing Award for book on HIV crisis and uncertainty in Malawi Faculty/staff list includes multigenerational Korean family struggles Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks The harvesting of the first Patagonia nectarines in the San Ferdinando di Puglia and Trinitapoli (Apulia) started a week ago but prices are currently higher than last year very few Patagonia nectarine trees have survived Even the plants that have managed to bear a few fruits have been affected by cracking Luckily we are harvesting healthy high-quality fruits but grades do not meet expectations - they are not small We really hope this is only the first phase and that the nectarines we will harvest in 10-15 days' time will have better grades."   is making approximately €0,30 more than last year "As this is the second year of production of a new orchard yields should be 30-40% more than last year."   Talking about climate change and the resulting difficulties Bollino stresses that "we are going through a phase of 'solar minimum' a period within the solar cycle characterized by a lower Sun activity This can determine the late frost registered over the past few years as well as lower temperatures in general The stone fruit campaign will continue over the next few years with other nectarine "Next year we will introduce Saturn peaches and the first orchards will start producing after 2.5-3 years."  FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com child mortality remains prevalent across much of the world But just how often do mothers suffer this devastating loss University of Chicago and University of Southern California sociologists have proposed a way to estimate how the death of a child impacts mothers in sub-Saharan Africa In contrast to traditional measures of infant and child mortality the study captures the cumulative impact of child loss through a mother’s lifetime “The magnitude of the numbers we found is stark,” said study co-author Jenny Trinitapoli of the University of Chicago a leading social demographer of sub-Saharan Africa “These questions have not been asked or explored enough in this part of the world There isn’t just an inequality in the mortality burden but also an inequality in the knowledge base.” Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the first-of-its-kind study uses two decades of data from 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa The researchers found that more than half of 45- to 49-year-old mothers have experienced the death of a child under age five Nearly two-thirds have experienced the death of any child “In the shadows of very high child mortality rates that the global health community typically focuses on, are all these grieving parents that never receive any attention,” said lead author Emily Smith-Greenaway assistant professor of sociology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters “These results increase our recognition of bereavement as itself a public health threat—one that’s unfairly concentrated in low-income regions of the world.” Their study grew out of the idea that parents everywhere suffer immensely when they outlive their children While other researchers have examined the effects of child loss on parents in the United States and Europe very few have quantified the loss felt by mothers in Africa “These are factors that we need to consider very carefully as we think about the consequences of stress an associate professor of sociology at UChicago “Looking at child loss from the perspective of mothers gives us ideas about where interventions might be the most useful both for improving child health and helping women.” According to the World Health Organization the global infant mortality rate decreased from an estimated 65 deaths per 1,000 live births to 29 deaths per 1,000 live births annual infant deaths declined from 8.7 million to 4 million Sub-Saharan African countries have experienced some of the swiftest reductions—progress that is rightfully celebrated But the intensive focus on child mortality rates also obscures the long-term trauma of child loss especially for mothers who lose multiple children and young-adult mortality mean that mothers continue to experience bereavement over time “This study tells us the burden of bereavement is much greater than we knew and offers a new perspective on global inequality,” Smith-Greenaway said “These new indicators can be used to improve current understandings of mortality change While research on bereavement in developing countries is sparse studies in high-income settings demonstrate that the death of a family member is an underappreciated source of social inequality Those studies have found that bereaved parents are at higher risk of psychological problems deteriorating health and relationship strain.  Using Demographic and Health Survey data funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development the study authors calculated the prevalence for three categories: death of an infant and the loss of any child for mothers in multiple age groups All three different metrics point to a much higher burden of loss than the story told by child mortality rates Trinitapoli and Smith-Greenaway also point to research on the negativity bias: Survival of children in one’s social network is a forgettable event whereas a child’s death registers as memorable and influential—and can live on in the collective memory for decades I’m interested in tapping into a collective consciousness,” Smith-Greenaway said.“These premature deaths live on in the collective memory in such a way that could shape ideas about parenthood and risk of tomorrow's generation of mothers “We have no reason to believe that the effects of these losses on mothers—the grief Although the study focuses on sub-Saharan Africa the authors say these indicators can be used to measure and consider the bereavement burden anywhere with high child mortality They anticipate these numbers would be just as high in many other low-income settings Smith-Greenaway and Trinitapoli have also laid out a method for other researchers to do similar work—in Africa or elsewhere “What we have advanced here is the simplest possible good estimate,” Trinitapoli said “This type of measure can be generated using existing It doesn’t add an additional burden to the national statistics offices collecting the data.” Citation: “Maternal cumulative prevalence measures of child mortality show heavy burden in sub-Saharan Africa,” Smith-Greenaway and Trinitapoli, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Feb. 10, 2020. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1907343117 —This story was adapted from a University of Southern California press release. Study examines public understanding of drug rationing amid AIDS… How genetic data can reduce mortality gap for breast cancer HIV-AIDS has been an epidemic for so long that young adults have never known any other reality but there aren’t enough to treat everyone who needs them So policymakers in the east African nation must prioritize and priorities have shifted many times over the years Young adults in Balaka are often unaware about what the current distribution strategies actually are People often end up confused and suspicious of a system of rationing that has not been clearly communicated while having clear ideas about who should get the drugs first Researchers in a new study find the ideas among community members are surprisingly quite similar to what actually happens The research was published recently in the Journal of the International AIDS Society associate professor of sociology at University of Chicago associate professor of health and behavioral sciences at the University of Colorado examined what young adults think about how anti-retroviral drugs are distributed Their findings suggest that decision makers who allocate anti-HIV drugs should make their policies—and the rationale behind them—clear to the publics they serve in part because such steps would help ensure people continue to come to health clinics “The priority of policymakers has not always been on communicating their priorities to the average people.” Trinitapoli said “But questions of access to anti-retroviral drugs and fairness in allocating them have consequences for how people will engage with the health care system broadly We are trying to see opportunities for improving relationships between people who are affected by policy and the people who are carrying it out.” The new findings are part of a long-term project begun by Trinitapoli and Yeatman in 2009 They have been following a group of 1,500 women and 600 men through a period of their lives in which most people form relationships and have children—also the time of life when most new HIV infections occur Respondents have been interviewed at four-month intervals to try to shed light on how young people deal with reproduction in an AIDS epidemic “In a generalized epidemic where as many as 20 percent of people in communities are infected HIV is really part of the context,” Trinitapoli said “The question of whether someone is infected or not has become secondary to the fact that everyone is trying to make decisions forge relationships and start their families with a backdrop of a deadly condition swirling around them It makes for very complex interactions for young adults especially as they navigate relationships and decisions about childbearing.” Yeatman and Trinitapoli wanted to find out what people understood about a new government policy that shifted priority access to drugs from the sickest people to pregnant women who are HIV positive so the researchers used pictures to probe what people think happens in the clinics under the new allocation system Participants were given six drawings—a healthy-looking pregnant woman and a sick-looking one; a healthy woman who was not pregnant and a sick one; a healthy man and a sick one They were asked to arrange them according to who they thought was likely to get anti-retroviral drugs and who wasn’t Then the researchers asked the study participants to re-arrange the drawings according to what they thought would be the fairest way to distribute the drugs Only about a third of women and 20 percent of their male partners showed that they understood how the drugs were being distributed But when those who didn’t understand moved the cards to show what they thought would be more fair they illustrated the policy that is actually in place “A lot of people moved the healthy-looking pregnant woman up to show that she should be prioritized,” Trinitapoli said “So the sensibilities around fairness are highly consistent with the policy But the policy hasn’t been communicated to a general audience And that gap between what people think is happening and what people think is fair is pretty unnecessary.” Trinitapoli and Yeatman plan to look at how HIV-AIDS reduces trust between partners and de-stabilizes relationships creating an environment in which the disease can spread more quickly And they want to look at how understandings of the disease are changing as more people gain access to treatment and live long where the GDP is one of the lowest in the world and most people live as subsistence farmers can it really happen that HIV will become a chronic manageable condition like it is in the United States?” Trinitapoli asked