ABOUT THE CONFERENCE THEME
Within the field of sociology, scholars have advanced various approaches to the interpretation of social life. While these approaches share a drive to uncover the deep meanings underlying human actions, events, and experiences, they often diverge in their core assumptions, methods, theoretical vocabularies, and levels of analysis. They also draw on different theoretical traditions, from the reflexive social psychology inspired by George Herbert Mead and the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, to the thick description of Clifford Geertz, the hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur, the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure, the social phenomenology of Alfred Schütz, the cultural anthropology of Mary Douglas, and the psychoanalytic thought of Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, among other influences. Moreover, scholars working in these various traditions have developed different programs to grasp the rich layers of meaning behind human experiences. Some of these programs – including the strong program in cultural sociology/cultural theory, symbolic interaction/pragmatism, and psychoanalytic sociology/psychosocial theory – have made significant contributions in their own right.
In an effort to build bridges among these traditions and advance the overall aims of interpretive sociology, we will hold a two-day conference (beginning one day before the 2018 ASA meeting): The Roots and Branches of Interpretive Sociology: Cultural, Pragmatist, and Psychosocial Approaches. We envision this conference as providing a unique space where scholars from cultural sociology, symbolic interaction/pragmatism, and psychoanalytic sociology can come together to discuss different approaches to common themes.
Sessions and presentations will address a variety of topics and themes, including but not limited to:
• The social foundations of meaning with regard to self-other relations, events, and experiences
• Interpretive methods
• Narrative identities and selfhood
• The body and embodiment
• Social performance and interaction work
• Logics of action and cultural practices
• Cultural and emotion codes
• Memory, narrative, and time/temporalities
• Semiotics and signification/Language
• Social cognition
• Classification processes and symbolic boundaries
• Ritual transgressions, liminality, and rites of passage
• Belief systems and social epistemology
• Politics and symbols
The deadlines for submitting a proposal and registering for the conference have passed, but please address any questions, comments, and/or suggestions to the Program Committee Co-Chairs, Thomas DeGloma and Julie Wiest.
In an effort to build bridges among these traditions and advance the overall aims of interpretive sociology, we will hold a two-day conference (beginning one day before the 2018 ASA meeting): The Roots and Branches of Interpretive Sociology: Cultural, Pragmatist, and Psychosocial Approaches. We envision this conference as providing a unique space where scholars from cultural sociology, symbolic interaction/pragmatism, and psychoanalytic sociology can come together to discuss different approaches to common themes.
Sessions and presentations will address a variety of topics and themes, including but not limited to:
• The social foundations of meaning with regard to self-other relations, events, and experiences
• Interpretive methods
• Narrative identities and selfhood
• The body and embodiment
• Social performance and interaction work
• Logics of action and cultural practices
• Cultural and emotion codes
• Memory, narrative, and time/temporalities
• Semiotics and signification/Language
• Social cognition
• Classification processes and symbolic boundaries
• Ritual transgressions, liminality, and rites of passage
• Belief systems and social epistemology
• Politics and symbols
The deadlines for submitting a proposal and registering for the conference have passed, but please address any questions, comments, and/or suggestions to the Program Committee Co-Chairs, Thomas DeGloma and Julie Wiest.
ABOUT THE KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Donileen Loseke“Symbolic Interaction and the Productions
of Meaning in a Chaotic Post-Fact World” Donileen Loseke is a Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida. She has served as President of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. A proud recipient of the Mead, Cooley, and Mentor Awards from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, she is also a former editor of the Journal of Contemporary Ethnography and a current editorial board member for Social Psychology Quarterly and Symbolic Interaction. Her most recent book, Methodological Thinking: An Introduction to Social Research Design (2nd edition, Sage Publications, 2017), is an introduction to epistemological issues underlying both qualitative and quantitative research. Her current substantive interests are in narrative, emotion, and culture, especially in how stories on public stages can encourage support for political agendas. She is working on a new book titled Narrative and the Productions of Meaning, which she says is a particularly difficult project in this chaotic, “post-fact” era. |
Eviatar Zerubavel“Taken for Granted: Phenomenology
Meets Semiotics”
Eviatar Zerubavel is Board of Governors and Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University. He is the author of Patterns of Time in Hospital Life: A Sociological Perspective (1979), Hidden Rhythms: Schedules and Calendars in Social Life (1981), The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week (1985), The Fine Line: Making Distinctions in Everyday Life (1991), Terra Cognita: The Mental Discovery of America (1992), Social Mindscapes: An Invitation to Cognitive Sociology (1997), The Clockwork Muse: A Practical Guide to Writing Theses, Dissertations, and Books (1999), Time Maps: Collective Memory and the Social Shape of the Past (2003), The Elephant in the Room: Silence and Denial in Everyday Life (2006), Ancestors and Relatives: Genealogy, Identity, and Community (2011), Hidden in Plain Sight: The Social Structure of Irrelevance (2015), and Taken for Granted: The Remarkable Power of the Unremarkable (2018). In 2000-2001, he served as Chair of the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association. In 2003 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is currently writing a book on generic theorizing. |
Program Committee Co-Chairs:
Thomas DeGloma, President, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center
Julie Wiest, Publications Committee Chair, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, West Chester University
Organized & sponsored by:
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Yale University’s Center for Cultural Sociology, & Psychosocial Scholars Group
Co-sponsored by:
West Chester University and the Sociology Department of Texas State University
Additional support from:
Hunter College and the Sociology Department of the CUNY Graduate Center
Program Committee members:
Josephine Barnett, CUNY Graduate Center; Elisabeth Becker, Yale University; Anne Marie Champagne, Yale University; Lynn Chancer, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center; Daina Harvey, College of the Holy Cross; Hwa-Yen Huang, Rutgers University; Matthew Hughey, University of Connecticut; Leslie Irvine, University of Colorado Boulder; Isabel Jijon, Yale University; Erin Johnston, Standford University; Joseph Kotarba, Texas State University; Andrea Laurent-Simpson, Southern Methodist University; Melissa Lavin, SUNY Oneonta; Todd Madigan, Yale University; Lea Marzo, Georgia State University; Jason L. Mast, University of Warwick; Lisa McCormick, University of Edinburgh; Melinda Milligan, Sonoma State University; Richard Ocejo, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center; Max Papadantonakis, CUNY Graduate Center; Nicolas Simon, Eastern Connecticut State University; Vikash Singh, Montclair State University; Iddo Tavory, New York University; Marisa Tramontano, CUNY Graduate Center; Daniel Winchester, Purdue University
Thomas DeGloma, President, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center
Julie Wiest, Publications Committee Chair, Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, West Chester University
Organized & sponsored by:
Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Yale University’s Center for Cultural Sociology, & Psychosocial Scholars Group
Co-sponsored by:
West Chester University and the Sociology Department of Texas State University
Additional support from:
Hunter College and the Sociology Department of the CUNY Graduate Center
Program Committee members:
Josephine Barnett, CUNY Graduate Center; Elisabeth Becker, Yale University; Anne Marie Champagne, Yale University; Lynn Chancer, Hunter College and CUNY Graduate Center; Daina Harvey, College of the Holy Cross; Hwa-Yen Huang, Rutgers University; Matthew Hughey, University of Connecticut; Leslie Irvine, University of Colorado Boulder; Isabel Jijon, Yale University; Erin Johnston, Standford University; Joseph Kotarba, Texas State University; Andrea Laurent-Simpson, Southern Methodist University; Melissa Lavin, SUNY Oneonta; Todd Madigan, Yale University; Lea Marzo, Georgia State University; Jason L. Mast, University of Warwick; Lisa McCormick, University of Edinburgh; Melinda Milligan, Sonoma State University; Richard Ocejo, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center; Max Papadantonakis, CUNY Graduate Center; Nicolas Simon, Eastern Connecticut State University; Vikash Singh, Montclair State University; Iddo Tavory, New York University; Marisa Tramontano, CUNY Graduate Center; Daniel Winchester, Purdue University