Sociology 2016 Newslette

SOCIOLOGY NEWSLETTER | Issue #1 4 “Tocatch the reader'sattention,placean interesting Inaugural Bradford Gray Lecture Series Featuring: Kai Erikson “The Sociological Perspective: A Look at Disasters of Our Time, From Buffalo Creek to Katrina” On February 17, 2016 the sociology department welcomed Kai Erikson, Professor Emeritus at Yale University, as the inaugural speaker for the Brad- ford Gray Lecture Series. Dr. Erikson, whose life’s work has focused on un- derstanding the social, economic, and psychological impacts of disaster and how communities recover from them, presented sociological sketches that highlighted his many years of research on this important and timely topic. As Oklahomans are well aware, the di- mensions of devastation following disasters, whether natural or man- made, are multiple and complex. Tor- nadoes, floods and earthquakes all affect Oklahoma communities. Coinciding with Research Week 2016 here at OSU. Dr. Erikson spoke to a full house of students and faculty about the value that studying sociology has brought to his life and career, and the potential held by sociologists to im- pact the world. “It’s not that we seek to simply change the world, and then look for things needing to be changed. It’s that we seek to understand the world, and in doing so, needed chang- es and the paths to do so are re- vealed,” explains Dr. Erikson. Discuss- ing the wide-reaching breadth of soci- ological knowledge, he noted “We’re the field in which strange thoughts come from…We aren’t talking about a revolution, but a whole change in the climate of knowledge.” His lecture, titled “The Sociological Perspective: A Look at Disasters of Our Time, from Buffalo Creek to Katri- na,” offered valuable insight into his success- ful career in disaster research. When asked about his experiences with devastated com- munities, he offered advice for future re- searchers, “I walk into a place considered to be the ‘expert’, yet I know less about that space than a three year old child living there. But, what I am an expert on is asking questions.” He ended the engagement with an inspirational mandate, to go into the world with curiosity and a sociological imagina- tion. The department would like of extend a big “thank you” to Brad Gray for making opportunities like this pos- sible