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Meetings, meetings, meetings
Oct. 22nd, 2004 10:14 pmThe last few days have been very busy.
Wednesday we "elected" the new executive for the Graduate Sociology Students' Association. As usual with such things, it wasn't so much an election as doling out positions to the handful of people who bothered to show up for the meeting.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thoughtfreely is our new president, MasseyPrincess decided she didn't want to return, and I'm back in my old position of Graduate Student Union rep.
Last night was the big lecture by Claude Fischer. He spoke about how to raise the public profile of sociology and bring sociological ideas to the public so that they can be used in solving problems. He described what was in some ways a very activist approach to sociology, but he managed to do it without making it seem like the pure knowledge people are wasting their time, which many activists do not. I have to agree that it would be nice if sociologists could get some of the respect currently accorded to economists. I was joking with a friend today that economics is rather like a cult--leaders make all sorts of predictions that later prove to be completely wrong, and people just shrug and cling even more closely to the doctrine.
This morning was the grad student breakfast with Claude Fischer, followed by class, the NetLab lunch with Claude Fischer, and a presentation on the possibilities of GIS for sociology. Lunch went really well. Professor Fischer was surprisingly enthusiastic about my work, as was the Chair of our department, who was also at lunch with us. It was almost enough to make me think that maybe my idea really is worthwhile--if I can find a way to get data.
Wednesday we "elected" the new executive for the Graduate Sociology Students' Association. As usual with such things, it wasn't so much an election as doling out positions to the handful of people who bothered to show up for the meeting.
thoughtfreely is our new president, MasseyPrincess decided she didn't want to return, and I'm back in my old position of Graduate Student Union rep.Last night was the big lecture by Claude Fischer. He spoke about how to raise the public profile of sociology and bring sociological ideas to the public so that they can be used in solving problems. He described what was in some ways a very activist approach to sociology, but he managed to do it without making it seem like the pure knowledge people are wasting their time, which many activists do not. I have to agree that it would be nice if sociologists could get some of the respect currently accorded to economists. I was joking with a friend today that economics is rather like a cult--leaders make all sorts of predictions that later prove to be completely wrong, and people just shrug and cling even more closely to the doctrine.
This morning was the grad student breakfast with Claude Fischer, followed by class, the NetLab lunch with Claude Fischer, and a presentation on the possibilities of GIS for sociology. Lunch went really well. Professor Fischer was surprisingly enthusiastic about my work, as was the Chair of our department, who was also at lunch with us. It was almost enough to make me think that maybe my idea really is worthwhile--if I can find a way to get data.
