LIVING SOCIOLOGY Speaker Series
The LIVING SOCIOLOGY speaker series is designed to help students understand that sociology is an organic and vibrant discipline that is vital to understanding the world or their lives. Events are free and open to the public.
In 2006-2007, our department brought five nationally known speakers to our campus: Dr. Jennifer Lena, Dr. Larry Isaac, Rev. James Lawson, Dr. Randy Stoeker, and Dr. Patricia Yancey Martin. Their presentations centered on this year’s theme of “Social Movements and Social Change” and related to the three main areas of study within the sociology curriculum: social inequality, culture, and social institutions.
We continue to promote all LIVING SOCIOLOGY events to the community and they continue to be "standing room only." Our three events this fall have brought in nearly 600 people and we anticipate the series this year will serve between 1,200 and 1,500 people. We anticipate that our February event with Rev. James Lawson—that will help Belmont University celebrate Black History Month—will be another major event for us (much like Dr. Rodney Stark was in 2005-06).
The Living Sociology speaker series enriches the education of our majors, minors, and students across the campus community while highlighting our discipline. The talks are in line with goals for Belmont University, the College of Arts and Sciences, and Sociology. In particular, our speaker series in keeping with Belmont’s General Education goals to apply classroom learning to the "real world" and to illustrate learning beyond the classroom. It also ties into Belmont's Mission regarding intellectual development and lifelong learning. The series title, Living Sociology, emphasizes the applied nature of our field and the relevance of sociological study across disciplines. That is, sociology is not just the study of "old dead white guys" but is something vibrant and applicable to modern life.
In 2007-2008, as in past years, we will continue to bring "significant" scholars to our campus to address a broad range of sociological issues. We continue to rely on our personal and professional contacts to bring nationally known speakers to our campus for significantly reduced speaking fees. In 2007-2008, we hope to continue to bring “significant” scholars to our campus to address a broad range of sociological topics.
Fall 2007 - Spring 2008
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Dr. Gary Jensen "War and the Early Modern Witch Craze" October 24, 2007 10:00-10:50 LCVA Auditorium Distinguished Vanderbilt Professor Dr. Gary Jensen will discuss the structure of social conflict within the early modern witch hunts. |
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Dr. Shelby Longard November 16, 2007 10:00-10:50 Beaman Meeting Room A You've seen Little Miss Sunshine now find out about the real world of Southern Child Beauty Pageants. Dr. Longard will explain her research on the ways that family dynamics and socialization by mothers influences girls' gender development and ideas about beauty within the world of Southern Child Beauty Pageants. Are they deviants or not? |
Denver Schimming
March 12, 2008 10:00-10:50 Beaman Meeting Rooms A & B
The ACLU-TN "Right to Vote" (RTV) Campaign is pleased to offer a presentation by Denver Schimming, a former felon, speaking to why restoring voting rights is so important to the reintegration process, Charles Grant, an attorney with Baker Donelson, Beaman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz, discussing how past and current Tennessee laws impede former felons from registering to vote, and Michele Flynn, RTV Coordinator, providing insight into national and international policies that encourage enfranchisement. A short clip from the film "Democracies Ghost" will also be featured.
Background: The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. According to The Sentencing Project, our nation's prison population soared by more than 600% since the 1970s, despite a decrease in criminal activity. Over two million people were imprisoned in this country in 2005: almost one in every 136 U.S. residents. Black men, who make up 6% of the U.S. population, comprise 40% of our prison population — a black male born today has a 32% chance of spending time in prison. Nearly 2,800,000 American children have at least one parent in prison or jail, increasing their risk of serving a jail sentence, particularly if economic deprivation is present. When released, former felons face major barriers to community reintegration. Research has shown that the restoration of voting rights, along with finding a job, a place to live, and reuniting with family, lowers recidivism rates
Spring 2007
Rev. James Lawson returns! Yesterday's Lessons, Today's Dreams
Feb 21, 2007, 10am, Massey Auditorium
Rev. James Lawson was expelled from Vanderbilt University in 1960 for training black and white students how to organize sit-ins and engage in other forms of social action to end segregation. He came to Nashville at the request of Martin Luther King. Just before his assassination, King called Lawson “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.” Lawson’s passion for justice and nonviolence for all--during and even before the civil rights movement--subjected him to imprisonment and threats of violence. As a retired minister of Holman Methodist Church in Los Angeles, he continues to work for social justice around the country. We invite the Belmont University community and the public to hear this incredible man before he returns this summer to L.A. after a year of teaching Vanderbilt students in his position as visiting professor and a fellow at Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Religion and Culture.
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Dr. Patricia Yancey Martin of Florida State University Social Justice and Rape Work Monday, March 26, 2007, 10am, Massey Boardroom Martin, the Daisy Parker Flory Professor of Sociology at Florida State University, has written four books and more than 90 articles on gender and organizations. Her talk will be based on her most recent book, “Rape Work: Victims, Gender and Emotions in Organization and Community Context.” In the book, she examines how organizations, including police departments, hospital emergency rooms, and the courts, respond to rape victims and suggests ways to create organizational changes aimed at improving the quality of care for rape victims. Dr. Martin argues that 30 years of feminist protests and legal reforms have failed to improve rape victims' treatment by society because mainstream organizations instruct--and often require--employees to treat victims “unresponsively,” adding to rather than alleviating victims’ trauma. |
Dr. Randy Stoeker of University Wisconsin and Center for Economic and Community Development
Power or Programs: Two Paths to Community Development
Friday, April 18 2007
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Dr. Jennifer Lena |
Spring 2006
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Andy Bennett: 'Popular Music, Fandom and Ageing.' Friday, February 17, 10am, Multimedia Hall (Library)
Learn about the way in which long term investment in music--either as a music maker or a consumer--has shaped the biographies of older fans. Professor Bennett's talk will also touch on the marketing of music to the baby boomer generation. |
Naomi Tutu: 'Truth and Reconciliation: Healing the Wounds of Racism' Wednesday, March 1, 10am, Massey Boardroom
Pulitzer Prize nominee Rodney Stark: 'Knock, Knock: The Benefits of 'Irrational' Missionizing.' Monday, March 27, 4pm, Beeman A/B.
Why do some religious groups persist in door-to-door missionizing when they know the odds of success are minute? In any given year, the odds are about 50 to 1 that a given Jehovah's Witness or Mormon missionary will NOT make a single convert. Put another way, knock on doors for 50 years and get one convert -- maybe. What are depressing odds for the individual missionary are, however, quite good odds for the group. On average a congregation of 100 missionaries will grow by two new members a year and that will rapidly add up to substantial group growth. So the trick is for the group to keep people's spirits up and keep them knocking despite the brutal odds against individual success. How is this accomplished? Dr. Stark will explore the rational reasons and satisfactions that sustain missionaries in their efforts.
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!! The Road to Hope Tour Coalition. April 12, 2006, 10am. Massey Boardroom.
The Road to Hope Tour Coalition (www.hopesvoice.org) includes HIV/AIDS service providers, advocacy groups, and research organizations who have joined together in a historic movement to bring their national awareness campaign Does HIV Look Like Me? to sites from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco. The tour will focus on getting students to question stereotypes about HIV/AIDS with the goal of showing that that HIV can infect anyone regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, economic status, or gender.
