Department kicks off Spring Lecture Series

The Department of Sociology and Anthropology is hosting a new lecture series this spring, 2007.   Speakers from our own department and from other universities have been invited to present and discuss their current research.  Curious about the Maya in Belize? The media coverage of “looting” during Katrina?  The world of on-line gaming?  These are some of the many topics that will be addressed this semester.  We hope you will attend!  Most of the talks will be held on Fridays from 2-3pm in 212 Leavell Hall. 

See the full schedule below for all the details:

Feb. 15th-19th  Southern Anthropological Society Meetings, Oxford MS. See schedule for locations and times for panel sessions.

Friday, Mar 2nd (2-3pm), Kathleen O’Neil, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Denison University presents “Rise of a Quest Culture?: Evidence from the Most Popular Nonfiction Books of the 20th Century,”  212 Leavell Hall.

Friday, Mar 9th (2-3pm) Jeffrey Jackson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Mississippi presents “Global Aid Flows and the Transnational State,” 212 Leavell Hall.

Friday, Mar 23rd (2-3pm) Gabriel Wrobel, Assistant Professor of Anthroplogy, University of Mississippi presents “Discovering the Ancient Maya of Belize,” 212 Leavell Hall.

Monday, Mar. 26th  Patrick Williams, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Arkansas State University, presents “From Moral Panics to Mature Games Research.” 

Bio: J. Patrick Williams is a sociologist and social psychologist who does ethnographic research on youth (sub)cultures and digital culture. His work has appeared in a variety of journals and books, including Symbolic Interaction, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, International Journal of Deviant Behavior, Media International Australia, and Youth Subcultures: Exploring Underground America. He has edited two books on gaming: Gaming as Culture: Essays in Social Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland 2006) and The Players' Realm: Studies on the Culture of Video Games and Gaming (McFarland 2007).

Thursday, April 19th (1:00 - 2:15 PM)   Peter Morrison, PhD from Brown University and Retired Senior Consultant at the RAND Corporation presents a talk “At-Large Election Systems Under Legal Challenge: An Applied Demographer’s Perspectives,” 105 Leavell Hall.

Friday, April 27th  (2-3pm) Kirk Johnson, Assistant Professor of Sociology and African American Studies University of Mississippi, “Looting Up a Storm: Television’s View of Race and Theft During Hurricane Katrina,” 212 Leavell Hall.

Friday, May 4th (2-3pm) Ahmet Yukleyen, Croft Institute for International Studies, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Mississippi, “Anthropology of Islamic Authority and Knowledge in Europe,” 212 Leavell Hall.