Fall 2016 Colloquia

All Colloquia are held 3:30-5:00 pm with Reception to follow unless otherwise noted*. Locations listed below. 

Schedule subject to change.  
View more info on our Events page.

September 29

“On the Other Side of Values”

John Levi Martin
Professor, Sociology, University of Chicago
Rouss Hall room 410, *reception to follow in Randall Hall

October 20

“Culture and Institutional Innovation:  Missionaries versus NGOs in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Ann Swidler
Professor, Sociology, University of California-Berkeley
Location: Rouss Hall room 410, *reception to follow in Randall Hall 212

Missionary Protestantism and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can both be seen as carriers of transnational institutional innovation. I compare their successes and failures in creating self-sustaining institutions in distant societies. Missionary Protestantism and NGOs both attempt to establish formal organizations outside kinship, lineage and ethnic solidarities. Analyzing how Protestant missionaries established congregational religion—a radical cultural and institutional innovation—in African societies suggests broader theoretical conclusions about how institutions arise at the intersection of culture and social practices. 

January 21

3rd Year Paper Presentations
Location: Robertson 258
*reception to follow in Randall Hall