Give Theory A Chance

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Angela Jones, Associate Professor of Sociology at Farmingdale State College, State University of New York and author of the recently published book Camming: Money, Power, and Pleasure in the Sex Work Industry. Angela discusses the importance of recognizing W.E.B. Du Bois as a founder of the discipline, […]

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Rachel O’Neill, a Fellow in the Department of Media and Communications at The London School of Economics and Political Science. Rachel discusses the work of contemporary theorist Rosalind Gill.  Rachel introduces us to Gill’s writings on post-feminism and mediated intimacy. Rachel also demonstrates the value of the two […]

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Madeleine Pape, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Sociology and Science in Human Culture program at Northwestern University. Madeleine introduces us to the work of Anne Fausto-Sterling and discusses how Fausto-Sterling demands a move beyond a strictly binary model of sex and encourages a shift away […]

In this episode we are joined by Jaclyn Wypler, a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jaclyn joins us to reflect on her shift from not being a fan of theory to being an organizer of the 2020 Junior Theorists Symposium. Jaclyn shares what her approach to theory and cookies have in […]

In this episode we are joined by Ricarda Hammer, a PhD candidate in Sociology at Brown University and a Graduate Fellow at Brown’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. Her work has been published in Sociological Theory, Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, Political Power and Social Theory, and Teaching Sociology. Ricarda discusses the powerful insight […]

In this episode we are joined once again by Seth Abrutyn, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. Seth joins us to discuss what sociology can potentially add to the public conversation that surrounds COVID-19. In our conversation, Seth touches on the value of a number of theorists including Emile Durkheim, Erving […]

In this episode, Amy Guptill, Professor of Sociology at The College at Brockport, State University of New York, discusses her recent discovery of Niklas Luhmann and systems theory. In particular, Amy reflects on how Luhmann avoids some of the negatives associated with his intellectual mentor Talcott Parsons and provides a powerful tool to better conceptualize […]

In this episode we are joined by Richard Pringle, Professor of Sport, Health and Physical Education at Monash University. Richard reflects on the challenge of transitioning from reading kinesiology to reading Michel Foucault, discusses how Foucault provided him with a lens to understand pain and gender on the rugby pitch, and offers advice on the […]

In this episode we are joined by Erin Metz McDonnell, Kellogg Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame and author of the recently published Patchwork Leviathan: Pockets of Bureaucratic Effectiveness in Developing States. Erin introduces us to the “budgetary unit”–a powerful, but under-utilized Weberian term–and discusses how she expands Weber’s theorization of bureaucracy […]

Our guest today is Daniel Winchester, Associate Professor of Sociology at Purdue University. Dan tells us about his initial encounter with Pierre Bourdieu’s famously dense writings, his application of Bourdieu’s ideas in his Masters thesis on Islamic faith, and his more recent turn to the American Pragmatism to supplement his use of Bourdieu in studying […]