Goldsmiths - University of London

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Annual Methods Lab Lecture

Thurs 17 Nov, 5-7pm, inc. drinks reception.
Small Hall (Cinema), RHB.
Free, to reserve sociology@gold.ac.uk

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ON NARRATIVE
Ken Plummer

Human beings are narrating animals and the societies they create are homes for their stories. We create, appreciate and live stories all our lives; and we need stories in order to live.  Although stories and narrative are often neglected in the orthodoxies of social analysis, they are usually critical to every stage of the human social research process. In the broadest terms we study the stories that people tell; we connect these stories to the wider stories of the world; and we ultimately represent them as our ‘social science stories’ – in theses, articles & books (and sometimes more startlingly in films, photos, media, conferences, exhibitions). Narrative and story telling also crucially places a critical role in shaping personal lives, political change and ethical choices.  In this presentation, I will ponder a number of story images that enable us to think more clearly about the role of stories in our research and lives drawing from my own researches and experiences as both a gay man and a transplant person.

Ken Plummer taught at the University of Essex from 1975-2006 and ran the introductory first year sociology course for 18 years. He has written some ten books and over 100 articles on gay life, human rights, symbolic interactionism, life stories, intimacies, global inequalities, critical humanism, queer theory, studies of sexualities, masculinity and the body. Most recently he has been writing about the experiences of transplant surgery – which saved his life in 2007. His manifesto of critical humanism can be found in  Documents of Life: An Invitation to a Critical Humanism (2001, 2nd ed).  He was the founder and editor of the journal Sexualities. His most recent books are Intimate Citizenship (2003) and Sociology: The Basics (2010), and he has just published the 5th edition of his text book with John Macionis  (Sociology: A Global Introduction). He is now an Emeritus Professor.

Methods Lab Event.

Thursday, 27th of October, 5-7pm, Small Hall (Cinema) RGB.

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Title: Frederick and the Sandbox: Methods for Researching Disastrous Futures

Speakers:
Judith Kroell (Shared Inc. / Xperiment)
Bernd Kraeftner (Shared Inc. / Xperiment)
Michael Guggenheim (Goldsmiths, Sociology Dept)


Bios:

Bernd Kraeftner is trained as a medical doctor and teaches at the Department of Digital Arts and Science & Art Visualization in Vienna. He is a member of the Research Centre for Shared Incompetence and has led transdisciplinary research projects.

Judith Kroell is a member of XPERIMENT! since 1999. She is the co-founder & coordinator of the Association "Researchers without Borders”. She teaches at the Dept. Of Social Studies of Science, University of Vienna.

Michael Guggenheim is currently directing a research project on "Organising Disasters. Civil  Protection and the Population". He has been involved in research on change of use of  buildings & projects at the intersection of art with ethnography.

"The project "In the event of ..." has been financed by the WWTF (Vienna Science and Technology Fund) in the Art(s) & Science(s) programme.


Methods Lab Annual lectures

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‘The deaths of Lumumba, Mpolo and Okito’ Tshibumba’
Provided courtesy of Johannes Fabian

Invitation to the Annual Methods Lab Lecture

Paul Connerton (University of Cambridge)
The Birth of Histories from the Spirit of Mourning

Thursday 28th October  RHB 309
5pm plus drinks reception


Author of: How Modernity Forgets (2009) How Societies Remember (1989)
Listen to Connerton http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n8m2s


Previous Methods Lab Annual Lectures

  • Annual Methods Lab Lecture

    Date: Friday 19th February 2010
    Time: 4-6pm
    Location: Small Hall (with drinks reception)

    Prof. John Scott (University of Plymouth) Maximising Impact through Research Methods: a View from Early British Sociology Discussant: Prof. Les Back (Goldsmiths).

    John Scott's new book is Social Theory: Central Issues in Sociology, an overview of historical and contemporary debates. His previous books include, A Matter of Record: Documentary Sources in Social Research (1990), Who Rules Britain? (1991), Social Network Analysis (Second Edition, 2000),Poverty and Wealth (1994), Sociological Theory (1995), Stratification and Power (1996), Corporations, Classes and Capitalism (1985), Corporate Business and Capitalist Classes (1997), and Power (2001).

  • Howard Becker -Telling About Society 
    The first Annual Methods Lab Lecture

  • Allesandro Portelli - Oral History and Literary Representations [PDF download]
    This year's lecture took place at Goldsmiths on 28 April 2009.
    Listen to the Annual Lecture by Alessandro Portelli