Event Report – “Memorial Conference for Xiaohong Xu”

On May 24, 2024, the Department of Sociology and the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan held an emotional conference in honor of sociologist Xiaohong Xu. Professor Xu, who passed away on December 12, 2024 at the age of 45, was a much beloved scholar and teacher, and a most original sociologist of Chinese politics, culture, political economy, and history. At … Continue reading Event Report – “Memorial Conference for Xiaohong Xu”

Letter from the Chair

Dear colleagues in the culture section, The ASA Meetings are fast approaching, so it is time to look ahead to the conference and to look back on the section activities of the past academic year. Just because I am looking forward to it, I begin with an invitation to the section’s reception at the conference, which will be a joint reception with the Theory Section … Continue reading Letter from the Chair

Announcements

Announcements Job Postings The University of Oregon, Department of Sociology, seeks to hire an assistant professor of sociology with expertise in culture, digital media and/or technology, broadly defined. The ideal candidate will have a record of methodologically rigorous scholarship, a commitment to institutional diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a dedication to inclusive teaching. Find more information about the position here: https://careers.uoregon.edu/en-us/job/531916/assistant-professor-of-sociology      The Department … Continue reading Announcements

Report on the Culture Section Mentoring Program – Marshall A. Taylor

We are well under way with the fourth annual ASA Culture Section Mentor Program. The best way I can think of to summarize the program so far is this: consistent, but a little down. Before I elaborate on that summary, though, I’ll quickly recap the structure of the program. The program is following the same structure as it has in previous years, with multiple mentees … Continue reading Report on the Culture Section Mentoring Program – Marshall A. Taylor

Taxing and the Boundaries of Art – Nathalie Heinich

Creators are sometimes the best social scientists’ friends. It is the case when they provide live experiments regarding the boundaries of art, as Marcel Duchamp and Constantin Brancusi did with the famous trial against the American administration after it had applied industrial taxing rules to an imported sculpture fault of having considered it an artwork.[1] Boundary objects such as design or contemporary art pieces are … Continue reading Taxing and the Boundaries of Art – Nathalie Heinich

CCL Event Report: Theodicy and the Problem of Meaning – Manning Zhang

Manning ZhangPhD CandidateDepartment of Sociology and Social PolicyBrandeis University On April 17, 2023, the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association held a live discussion themed “Theodicy and the Problem of Meaning,” as the third event of this year’s Culture and Contemporary Life Series. Miray Philips (University of Minnesota) moderated the discussion. Zeina Al Azmeh (Selwyn College and University of Cambridge), Christina Simko (Williams College), … Continue reading CCL Event Report: Theodicy and the Problem of Meaning – Manning Zhang