skip the i-GuideIllinois State UniversityAdmissions at ISUAcademics at ISUEvents at ISUMap of ISUISU A to Z ListingISU AccessibilityISU 150th Anniversary
College of Arts and Sciences News
Article Details
Acclaimed Sociologist to Discuss Terror
Dr.NeilSmelser
Dr. Neil Smelser
Renowned sociologist and scholar Neil Smelser will deliver a lecture entitled “Why Are Terrorists’ Beliefs So Powerful?” at Illinois State University’s Old Main Room on Monday, April 3, at 7:00 p.m. Smelser’s work has focused on economic sociology, collective behavior, and sociological theory, as well as other areas of inquiry. He has served as member for the Committee on Science and Technology to Counter Terrorism for the National Research Council and as the Chair for the Panel on Behavioral, Social, and Institutional Issues and the Panel on Understanding Terrorists to Deter Terrorism for this NRC committee. He has authored or edited over 35 books including Terrorism: Perspectives from the Behavioral and Social Sciences and Discouraging Terrorism: Some Implications of 9/11. “Neil Smelser is one of the preeminent figures in sociology over the past half century,” said Nick Maroules, Chair of Department of Sociology and Anthropology. “His scholarship has had a significant and defining impact on many areas of the discipline, including, most notably, economic and psychoanalytic sociology. We are incredibly fortunate to have someone of his stature as a Visiting Distinguished Professor.”

 

Smelser is a prolific writer whose prominent books such as Economy and Society, Problematics of Sociology, The Social Edges of Psychoanalysis, and the International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences have shaped the sociology discipline. He has also published over 130 articles and essays in a wide range of journals and venues such as the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, The American University, Psychoanalytic Sociology, International Sociology, American Sociological Review, and Current Sociology.

Smelser is visiting Illinois State for the spring semester as a Distinguished Professor. He is currently teaching two classes: Economic Sociology, an undergraduate course studying historical and contemporary economic behavior, institutions, and processes, and Intellectual and Institutional History of Sociology, a graduate seminar discussing the growth and dynamics of knowledge, intellectual history, dynamics of theoretical development, and internationalization of sociology.

Smelser received his Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, was University Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, and is now professor emeritus. He is past president of the American Sociological Association, is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and has received countless number of grants and fellowships.

Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, the lecture is free and open to the public. If accommodations are needed, please call the Disability Concerns Office at (309) 438-5853 (voice) or (309) 438-8620 (TDD).
Return