Seminars

Content and Methods of the Social Sciences

  • Founded
    1947
  • Seminar Number
    411

This seminar is concerned with methodology and theory in the social sciences as well as with its substantive results. As a rule, members and sometimes guest speakers present their current research in a manner which enlightens the seminar on various theoretical and methodological advances and helps the researcher to solve his difficulties and formulate a codified view of ongoing research in social sciences.

Co-Chairs
Tony Carnes
editor@nycreligion.info

Sidney Greenfield
sidneygreenfield@gmail.com

Rapporteur
Angie Tao Henon
ath2149@columbia.edu

Meeting Schedule

09/13/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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10/04/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM
A ‘Model Minority’ Myth: A White male sociologist named Asian Americans in The New York Times Magazine on January 9, 1966 as “the Model Minority” in order to undermine the civil rights of African Americans
Tony Carnes, A Journey through NYC religions
Abstract

Abstract

The creation story of the “model minority” is cited in hundreds, if not thousands, of academic articles. Yet, as far as I can tell, Petersen did not coin the term "Model Minority” in The New York Times Magazine and does not seem to have ever used the term, and he was an active proponent of civil rights for African Americans. How did this mythical story get started and become legendary in Asian American studies as well as popular among Asian American religious groups? I am still on the trail and appreciate any help you can provide.
11/15/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM
Regimes of Happiness: Civilizations, Disease and the Search for a Fulfilled Life--Joint meeting with (405)
Yuri Contreras-Vejar, Universidad Diego Portales, Chile
Abstract

Abstract

The notion ‘regimes of happiness’ is an attempt to capture and define the elusive nature and role of the ideals of human fulfillment in human societies. They are not mere mores or ethical aspirations. Regimes of happiness are social configurations that enact and articulate ethical ideals, which as complex articulations of ideologies concatenations of iconographic imageries and discourses—help social groups and societies to navigate natural and social uncertainties and catastrophes. Regimes of happiness are practical; they effect praxes, and their efficacies determine their abilities to produce lasting effects: institutions. Either as structured organizations or as ensembles of social roles, institutions are key articulators of authority. Regimes of
happiness define what is desirable, acceptable, and permissible.

To illustrate these analytical distinctions, the lecture “Regimes of Happiness: Civilizations, Disease and the Search of a Fulfilled Life” will focus on the rise of monasticism at the end of the Latin Roman Empire, the transformation of religious orders in Medieval Europe and the reorganization of social life during the Protestant revolutions.
12/20/2023 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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02/21/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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03/20/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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04/17/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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05/08/2024 Faculty House, Columbia University
6:30 PM

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