Welcome to the ESS Opportunities in Retirement Network (ESSORN)

We are a network of sociologists who have left, or expect to leave, our primary jobs but want to continue our sociological lives.  While some of us are fully retired as sociologists, many of us are sociologists who are, or expect to become, "semi-retired” — retired from our primary employment, but not necessarily retired professionally.  Our special focus is on opportunities for doing sociology in this chapter of our lives, but all those interested in any aspect of retirement are welcome.

We have been slowly building content for the site since late fall of 2009. At this stage, we have deployed the Resources & Links, several sample Career Vignettes, and the Discussion Forums. We are now welcoming your active participation. As other portions and features are ready, we will roll them out for use as well, gradually building more content and capacity as plans develop and mature. Your ideas and suggestions will be very valuable in this process, so please share them via the Discussion Forums, where we have a board open for such idea sharing and comments. We hope you will join in the on-going discussions.

Site registration is free and is open to anyone. While portions of the site are public and do not require a registration, some areas (such as the discussion arena, for example) are open only to registered users. The registration and login links are located at the very botttom of the page (in the footer), in the extreme lower right hand corner. 

Announcements
ESSORN Focuses on Retirement at 2012 ESS Annual Meetings (Sunday, February 26th) - Thursday, January 12, 2012

ESSORN at the 2012 Meetings

Participate in this Joint ESS/ESSORN Retirement Survey

HTTP://WWW.SURVEYMONKEY.COM/S/ESSORN

The ESS Opportunities in Retirement Network (ESSORN) is conducting a survey of retired members and those who may be contemplating retirement. It is important that you try to respond before February 10, 2012.

We want to find out from those who are retired what they are doing, how they found these activities, how satisfied they are with what they are doing and what, if anything, they would like from the ESS. We want to find out from those who might be contemplating retirement their thoughts on retirement and what assistance, if any, they would like from the ESS.

This fits in very well with the theme of this year’s convention “Storied Lives” since we will be telling the stories of our retired and near retired members. If you wish to participate, CLICK HERE. The survey has received IRB approval at Brooklyn College. Please be assured that all responses will be anonymous. Remember: it is important that you try to respond before February 10, 2012.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Susan Prager at profprager@aol.com or (917) 545 2178. The findings will be presented at the annual meetings, which will be held at the Millennium Hotel in New York City on February 23-26, 2012. Our session is scheduled as Session #434 on Sunday, February 26th at 12:00 - 1:30 PM. We hope that you will attend the session and participate in the discussion. If you would like a copy of the findings, please contact Susan Prager at the number/email above.

We hope you will become involved in helping to enrich and support ESSORN's resources for the benefit of future and currently retired colleagues. 

Essorn held its first sponsored session on March 18th, the first day of the 2010 Annual ESS Meetings at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel and Towers. 

About that 2010 Session (Session 35): Conversations with— Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, Robert S. Weiss, Charles Willie on "Retirement." This session was organized by Peter Stein and Lynda Lytle Holmstrom and was moderated by Peter Stein.  Special thanks to Peter, Lynda, and the other session participants for organizing what by all accounts was an innovative, interesting, and valuable interactive forum.

 

 
Finally, An On-Line Resource Site for Sociologists Approaching, Entering, or in Retirement - Friday, October 02, 2009

We hope you will find this site to be a useful resource for depositing and sharing information, suggestions, personal experiences, and especially for social networking on themes, concerns, and opportunities related to our shared interests in continuing as active sociologists in the retirement phases of our professional and personal lives.

Please explore what is currently just the beginning of what we hope will grow to become much more. With your help and good ideas, we are sure that together we can each and all improve the role-making agendas and skills needed to establish and sustain productive and useful sociological lives in retirement.

We express our sincere appreciation to Katherine Gerson (ESS President 2008-2009), Rosanna Hertz (ESS President 2009-2010), Emily H. Mahon (ESS Executive Officer) and the ESS Executive Committee for their collective vision in recognizing the need for such resource sharing and for agreeing to host the launch of this resource on the ESS web site. We look forward to a continuing and growing partnership in further developing such a professional service together.

Check the folder options listed across the top of the home page to access current content. The menu will grow as we do too.

 
About Us
  • This initiative grew out of the sharing of concerns and discussions between two colleagues and friends (Rosalyn Benjamin Darling/Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Natalie Sokoloff/John Jay College of CUNY) of role ambiguities surrounding impending retirement. Roz suggested, and Natalie agreed, that they would co-chair and organize a session at the 2009 ESS Meetings in Baltimore to bring together others interested in the same concerns to discuss some potential ways for expanding and sustaining such discussions.            
  • An email-based ad hoc “organizing committee” emerged from that session. This committee also consisted of Esther Chow (American University), Jon Darling (University of Pittsburgh/Johnstown), Judy Gordon (Yale University), Lynda Lytle Holmstrom (Boston College), Kay Snyder (Indiana University of Pennsylvania), and Peter Stein (University of North Carolina/Chapel Hill). The committee soon resolved to develop an on-line presence to continue expanding such collegial discussions of options and directions, and to propose an affiliation to the ESS, which would include a presence on their web site to open the discussion to the profession world wide via the Internet, if they agreed.
  • 2008-2009 ESS President Katherine Gerson (New York University) quickly accepted the proposal, and with the assistance of ESS Executive Officer Emily H. Mahon (William Paterson University) and the ESS site webmaster, planning for this web site began.
  • Launch occurred in mid-October 2009, when the project was opened for everyone's involvement. We can now all join together to clarify and expand our options by developing creative solutions and pathways for more meaningful professional engagements in retirement.