John Mohr
University of California,
​Santa Barbara

The Duality of Theory and Practice in Seattle

​As I set about organizing the Theory Section’s program for next summer’s ASA meetings in Seattle, I decided to highlight some of the new theoretical work that is emerging in sites where innovative empirical programs are finding their footing.  I think these are places where it is especially easy to see the duality of theory and practice at work.  This is the idea that I would like to focus our collective attention on this year, and it is with that theme in mind I tried to create a set of panels that would explore some of the interesting edges between what we know and what we don’t know—to reflect upon some research areas where we need theory to help us understand what we are seeing at the same time that we need new empirical research to help us advance theoretically. ​

Claire Laurier Decoteau
University of Illinois at Chicago

The 2015 Junior Theorist Award Lecture

​“I can tell you the exact date that I began to think of myself in the first-person plural …” (Pollan 2013)
 
This story is about a group of parents of children with autism in the Somali diaspora who think of themselves in the multiple, and how this constitutes both a postcolonial critique of Western biomedicine and a radical rethinking of the relationship between the social and biological body.  There is growing statistical evidence that Somali refugees and immigrants have higher prevalence rates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) than some other ethnic/racial groups (Barnevik-Olsson et al. 2008; University of Minnesota 2013).  Somalis in North America call autism the “Western disease” because there is no word for autism in the Somali language and because, they claim, it does not exist in Somalia (Brisson-Smith 2009).  

Joseph Klett, University of California, Santa Cruz

Is Beyoncé a feminist? And why is this a good question to pose in an undergraduate social theory course?

The answer to the second question is revealed in how students answer the first: of course Beyoncé is a feminist! Students implore: did you not see last year's MTV Video Music Awards? Beyoncé performed on stage in front of lights that spelled out the word “FEMINIST” in huge letters. Why question this self-identification by one of the most powerful and well-recognized women in popular music?
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“Well,” other students might say - perhaps with some prodding by the instructor – “let’s think about this.” Beyoncé put “FEMINIST” in bright lights, but does “Queen Bey” fit the definition of feminism as presented by theorists like Dorothy Smith? 

​Siri J. Colom, Connecticut College

What is theory for? There are nearly as many answers to this question as there are sociologists. Stinchcombe (1982) says one goal of teaching is to demonstrate models of great sociological research. Even if the classics are not perfect models of great research, they still offer students a sense of what sociology can be. By contrast, Michael Burawoy (2013) uses the metaphor of theory as maps—some better than others—for looking at particular areas of social life. He suggests that teaching theory is as much about teaching a way of thinking and looking at the world, as it is a series of ideas. Using the metaphor of a mountain range, he critiques survey courses where "students are taught to survey the mountain range from below, rather than attempting to climb one or more mountains and see things from their summits." From still another perspective, R.W. Connell (1997), in a classic critical look at social theory, notes that our celebration of "founding fathers," particularly in our courses and textbooks, is more a reflection of the preexisting institutions (of domination) that exist in the social world.

​Erin Metz McDonnell
University of Notre Dame

As researchers, we often speak of a “puzzle” in the symbolic sense of a theoretical puzzle – something as-yet unexplained by existing theories. By contrast, I will argue that, as teachers, employing the metaphor and material form of a jigsaw puzzle can be an effective teaching tool, enabling students to engage in visual and experiential learning to master theoretical arguments. The form of this pedagogical tool is easily transposable to a wide variety of different theoretical content. I will describe how I run the exercise, discuss pedagogical virtues of this approach, and conclude with specific tips to keep in mind if you decide to run a similar exercise in your courses.

B. Robert Owens
PhD Candidate
University of Chicago

​The Pragmatism and Sociology Conference, held August 21, 2015, at the Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago, drew a crowd of approximately 120. The conference was organized by Christopher Winship, Christopher Muller, Neil Gross, John Levi Martin, and Robert Owens, and co-sponsored by Andrew Abbott. The conference was part of a crowded slate of pre-ASA events, including the Junior Theorists’ Symposium, also hosted at the University of Chicago. These overlapping events created challenges for organizers and potential attendees alike. As the conference drew much more interest than initially anticipated, we had to decide whether to change our venue, our budget and, most importantly, our conception of the conference midstream. When registrations rose above 100 (we expected 30-50 at the outset), the organizers were faced with an apparent trade-off between two Deweyan ideals we valued equally highly: openness to all, and the opportunity for all to participate actively in the conference’s intellectual exchanges. We decided to err on the side of openness, and ultimately we were able to seat everyone who signed up through the conference website. Happily, the level of the conversation also remained high throughout the day, and short presentations followed by long discussion periods allowed for meaningful audience participation. 

Hillary Angelo, University of California, Santa Cruz

​Ellis Monk, University of Chicago

The ninth Junior Theorists’ Symposium (JTS) was held at the University of Chicago on Friday, August 21st. The one-day conference featured the work of nine junior scholars and three senior discussants: Patricia Hill Collins (University of Maryland), George Steinmetz (University of Michigan – Ann Arbor), and Gary Alan Fine (Northwestern University).

JTS began nine years ago as opportunity for sociologists at the earliest stages of their careers to engage prominent ‘senior’ theorists in conversation, and as a place to share creative, original, and half-baked ideas.