A Visiting Fellow Lecture with Dr. Michael Sauder

What makes for a successful social scientific idea in the eyes of the public? How do social scientific ideas diffuse from the Ivory Tower to the fertile plains? How are such ideas appropriated and interpreted by the public?

This presentation will compare how prominent arguments in the social sciences reach the public via newspaper articles. Our project examines diffusion over a ten year window for each of the following books: The Second Shift (Arlie Hochschild, 1990-2000), The Overworked American (Juliet Schor, 1992- 2002), The Clash of Civilizations (Samuel Huntington 1993-2003), The Bell Curve (Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, 1994-2004), Bowling Alone (Robert Putman, 1995-2005), The Culture of Fear (Barry Glasner, 1999-2009), and The Rise of the Creative Class (Richard Florida, 2002-2012).

Dr. Sauder, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Iowa, has published broadly in the area of cultural sociology; he uses a creative combination of qualitative and quantitative data to understand processes ranging from the impact of U.S. News and World Reports’ ranking system on law schools to how college football creates prestige for universities. His publications have won multiple awards, including the Alfred R. Lindesmith Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems, the Clifford Geertz Prize for Best Article from the American Sociological Association Sociology of Culture Section, and the Shelton Prize for Outstanding Published Empirical Research in Legal Education from the Law School Admissions Council.

This talk is open to the IU community and the general public. Light refreshments will be served

Light refreshments will be served.