Welcome to the UCD School of Sociology Seminar Series! This dynamic and engaging series brings together leading scholars, researchers, and thought leaders to explore and discuss cutting-edge topics in sociology.
Each seminar offers a unique opportunity to delve into contemporary social issues, theoretical innovations, and empirical research findings. Whether you are a student, academic, or simply passionate about understanding society's complexities, join us for thought-provoking presentations and lively discussions that challenge and expand our understanding of the social world.
24th October 2024 13:00 - 14:15 | D422 Newman Building
Prof. William Outhwaite, Newcastle University
Title: European Sociology: A Sociological Interpretation
Abstract: In this talk, it is suggested that with the EU we have something like a European regional state, expanding and occasionally contracting, and a broader European society underpinning it. We will look briefly at the history of sociological engagement with contemporary European studies and some of the theoretical models brought to bear on the EU. The talk ends with some brief consideration of European macroregions and current threats to the EU and to Europe more broadly.
Bio:William Outhwaite, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, UK, taught at the universities of Sussex, in the School of European Studies, and Newcastle, where he is emeritus professor of sociology. His interests include the philosophy of the social sciences (especially realism), social theory (especially critical theory), political sociology and the sociology of knowledge. He is now working mainly on contemporary Europe.
10th October 2024 13:00 - 14:15 | D422 Newman Building
Dr. Kieran Connell, Queens University Belfast
Title: "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs": Race, Immigration and the Making of Multicultural Britain
Abstract: Drawing on his new book, Multicultural Britain: A People’s History, Dr Kieran Connell seeks to answer the question of how Britain became increasingly multicultural by focusing on Birmingham, Britain’s second city, during the 1960s, a period of rapid socio-political change. Birmingham was the site of largescale settlement from Britain’s former colonies in the Caribbean, South Asia and Ireland. Connell focuses on an archive of photographs taken in 1968 in a single inner-city area of Birmingham by Janet Mendelsohn, then a student under Stuart Hall at the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies. In so doing, Connell underscores the importance of urban change, social proximity and everyday relationships to what Hall characterised as Britain’s unruly, often-contradictory ‘drift’ towards the multicultural.
Bio: Kieran Connell is a social and cultural historian of modern Britain. His research interests include the New Left, cultural studies, urban history, race, immigration and multiculturalism. His most recent book is: 'Multiculturalism: A People's History' (2024)
19th September 2024 13:00-14:50 | G109, Newman Building
Prof. Catherine Hall, University College London
Title: Racial Capitalism across the Black/ White Atlantic
Abstract: The lecture explores what is meant by ‘racial capitalism’, a term that is used to focus on the centrality of racial inequalities to the formation of the modern world. It draws on work on eighteenth-century England and Jamaica, and in particular the activities of one transatlantic white family, to describe how ‘race’ structured not only the plantation economy and society but also forms of capitalist organization and cultural practice in the metropole.
Bio: Catherine Hall is Emerita Professor of History and Chair of the Centre of the Study of the Legacies of British Slavery at UCL. She has written extensively on the history of Britain, gender and empire including Family Fortunes (1987), co-authored with Leonore Davidoff, Civilising Subjects (2002) Macaulay and Son (2012) and, with others, Legacies of British Slave-ownership (2014). From 2009-16 she was principal investigator on the LBS project www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs. Her latest book is Lucky Valley: Edward Long and the history of racial capitalism (2024).
Research at the UCD School of Sociology
The School of Sociology is successful in attracting major research funding for research projects and a number of staff are involved in providing research leadership and/or are the key partners in these projects. The School of Sociology has strong research links with a number of academic schools in cognate disciplines, as well as the Geary Institute, the Institute of Criminology, the Institute of British Irish Studies, the Dublin European Institute, UCD Clinton Institute, the Humanities Institute and a range of other research centres and institutes within UCD and external to the university.
You can view faculty profiles and research interests here.