The Field Speaker Series is designed to foster in-depth discussions and exploration of field theory within our academic community. The series aims to explore and advance about the theory's foundations, and understand its practical applications in various research contexts.
Organization of the Series:
- Session Structure:
- Each session is approximately two hours long, and focus on a semi-structured conversation around key aspects of field theory.
- The conversation will address fundamental questions such as the distinctiveness of field theory compared to other sociological theories, the criteria that define a field, and the practical implications of using this approach in research.
- Discussion Topics:
- The sessions will explore questions like:
- What is field theory and how does it differ from other sociological frameworks such as structural functionalism or symbolic interactionism?
- What defines a field, and in what contexts is it most useful to apply field theory?
- What conceptual clarity or insights has field theory provided in various research areas?
- How is field theory perceived within the broader academic community, and what are common misunderstandings?
- What is the relationship between fields and networks?
- Reading Materials:
- To complement the discussions, we will curate for each session a syllabus relating to the session’s theme.
- Each session, speakers will be asked to propose one of their paper and another selected one based on the session’s theme.