Timothy (artist in Gulu), based on the theme Disability is not Inability (Flickr, cc)

December 7th, 2021

Disability History Month:

‘I Live a Life Like Yours’, Discussing Jan Grue’s personal reflections

 Moderated by Dr Philly Wiseman and Dr Nicola Burns, Centre for Disability Research

Disability History Month is upon us, and this year’s theme focuses on sex and relationships, and hidden impairments – both sites of invisibility for disabled people. This sociology café gives us an opportunity to chat about, and around, Professor Jan Grue’s piece in the Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/04/the-high-cost-of-living-in-a-disabling-world?fbclid=IwAR39-dUQGnZfDpiTnSSNnm6z7ASrJvxjqRKUpUBoJs1ZeL240kFIFP4HJRk) and/or have a listen to his short section on BBC 6Music with Cerys Matthew (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0011s68 - section starts at 1hr 10 mins; a chance to hear some great tunes too). Jan beautifully talks through the intimacies of his life, the various relationships he has navigated and how these are shaped in and through disablist landscapes.

All welcome!

Anastasiya Markovich, Illusion of Reality, detail (Wikimedia)

November 23th, 2021

Bring Your Own Creativity

 Moderated by Professor Andy Smith

This week the Sociology Café  - building on our previous Bring Your Own Poem sessions – converts into an open mic / open gallery space. Everyone is invited to bring along a short piece of writing, a photo, a track, a picture, a song, a poem. Share it with others and share why it matters to you. Old standards and original compositions equally welcome. Or, if you prefer, just join us to listen and watch.

All welcome!

Nov 9th, 2021

On Being a Social Movement Activist

Moderated by Smina Akhtar

Resource Page

What are social movements and how do we become part of them? From Black Lives Matter to climate justice, an increasing number of people are engaging in some form of activism, but do we have to be card carrying members of a social movement to be part of it?

Smina Akhtar has been an activist in Glasgow for over 25 years and is now completing her PhD on experiences of and resistance to state racism in Scotland.

All welcome!

October 26th, 2021

  Sociology as a Vocation: 

A chat with Prof. Bridget Fowler

Please join us for a relaxed discussion with our very own Prof. Bridget Fowler,  one of the founding members of Glasgow’s original Department of Sociology. We’ll be asking Bridget about her experience of sociological research and teaching over many years, about the changing landscape of the discipline, and about how she has navigated the tensions between personal, political and professional commitments. Please do come with your questions, and for anyone keen for a bit of preliminary reading, do take a look at Bridget’s recent article, remembering and reflecting on a sociological life (in the Journal of Classical Sociology, here).

All welcome!

Oct 12th, 2021

Are we really all in this together? Chatting on Global Vaccine Inequity

Moderated by Dr Giovanni Picker

Resource Page

In April 2020, UN Secretary General António Guterres announced: "We are all in this together. The virus threatens everyone" Numerous reports and articles published later confuted Guterres' statement -- older, disabled, racialised, and working class people and groups, among others, are disproportionally affected by this virus and the measures to counter its spread. In this context, one would think that vaccine distribution had been planned with these inequalities in mind...has it? Poor countries are suffering from a disproportionate shortage of vaccines. Is this because life expectancy is lower in poorer countries? Where are the interests at play and how are we - in various countries - variously affected by these inequities? 

All welcome!

Sept 28th, 2021

Welcome! What's On at the Sociology Café This Year?

Welcome everyone to the 2021-22 academic year.  This is a welcome session in which we'll introduce the Cafe and its 2021-22 main activities and plans,  while all who join will have a chance, if they want, to introduce themselves. If you are new to the Café, check last year's events and related resource pages, but don't take them as the only possibilities -- new ideas and proposals are very welcome! Come along and share your thoughts or just listen to your fellow students and your lecturers. You can also get in touch via the Contact Form at the bottom of this page. 

All welcome!

March 30th, 2021, 3-4pm

How do we understand post-truth in social media after Trump?

Moderated by Dr Catherine Happer

Resource Page

During what we now might call ‘the Trump years’, we witnessed the emergence and widespread use by journalists, academics and thinkers of the term ‘post truth’, implicit to which is a sense of disruption to the normal or preceding condition in which ‘truth’ was held sacred.  Media scholars however have long since argued (and demonstrated empirically) that media content often presents a partial version of ‘truth’ at best, and has been deeply dishonest in the neoliberal era at worst. Meanwhile audiences immersed in multiple information ecologies across social media platforms increasingly recognise that the idea of one privileged lens on the world is contestable.  In this context, are we to understand Trump as an inevitable consequence of the current political and technological age, or should we see him as an aberration?  If so, in what way should he be understood as qualitatively different?  More generally, does society still place a high value on ‘truth’?  And, if so, how should we assess the credibility of information produced from multiple and competing sources? 

All welcome!

March 16th, 2021, 3-4pm

Genders and Sexualities in University Life

Moderated by Dr Matthew Waites

Resource Page

This session moderated by Matthew Waites (Sociology) invites you as a participant – if you wish - to offer a comment on anything about gender or sexuality in relation to university life, for discussion.  Topics can include any aspect of gender or sexuality inequalities or social dynamics. For example: the division of childcare between men and women as it forms a backdrop to online zoom classes; the ways in which bisexuality appears in the curriculum; or experiences of negotiating pronouns in relation to gender identity, inside or outside university classes. It is suggested that for sociologists this an opportunity to discuss aspects of social life beyond the university’s official discourses, such as equal opportunities, to discuss what are the actual experiences of students and staff in the informal spaces and culture of the university or beyond; for example, how do trends on Youtube or TikTok actually shape some student experiences through a disjuncture with university life? How are international students experiencing disjunctures between the gender and sexuality cultures of different societies?  It is fine to either come with a comment to discuss or just to listen.  Hope you can join us !

All welcome!

March 2nd, 2021, 3-4pm

Our life online

Moderated by Dr Greti-Iulia Ivana

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us had long-distance ties and maintained them through technologically mediated interactions. However, the scale at which this is currently happening is unmatched. In lockdown, almost every interaction is mediated, and every bond is long-distance. We are still updated about those around us, be it through social media, or through voice and video calls, but the context of spending time with others has changed. In this week’s Sociology Café we will talk about what this shift means for our social lives. How does ‘keeping in touch’ look like in the pandemic? What about companionship? What are some of the practices, habits, rituals bringing us together in the virtual ‘third space”?

Join us on Tuesday afternoon and share your experience and thoughts about living life online.

All welcome!

Feb 16th, 2021, 3-4pm

In collaboration with GUSS - Glasgow University Sociology Society

BYOP - Bring Your Own Poem

Moderated by Professor Andy Smith

Given the great interest it received last semester, we are proposing BYOP again. Think of it as a kind of ‘open mic’ night. We’re inviting anyone who wants to, to come along and read or share a poem or song that matters to them. It could be something that you’ve found especially helpful in the context of the lockdown or, indeed, at any other time of your life. It could be something that you’ve written yourself, or something by someone else. It could be a formal piece of poetry, or a recording of a song, a rap or a slam performance (if there’s a link to a recording that you can post in the chat, we can play this through screen sharing). And it could be in any language. Of course, there’s no pressure at all to read, share or perform anything. Feel free to just come along and listen if you’d prefer. But do join us if you can as we celebrate the ability of poetry and song, in John Carey’s words, to craft something that lasts and endures from the ‘vast avalanche of language that hurtles past us everyday’.

All welcome!

Feb 2nd, 2021, 3-4pm

Covid-19: Possibilities for Change

Discussion moderated by Dr Marguerite Schinkel

Resource Page

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.”

  Arundhati Roy, The Pandemic is a Portal, 2020. 

FT

While Covid-19 has had devastating consequences for many, it has also shown that sudden changes in social policy and other areas are possible. For example, possibilities and calls for change have been set out in documents like this and this. In this Sociology Café everyone is very welcome to talk about the changes we have seen and the ways in which positive changes might be sustained or developed throughout the pandemic and after Covid-19 ends.

All welcome!

Jan 19th, 2021, 3-4pm

Populism: Why does it seem so important?

Discussion moderated by Dr Giovanni Picker

Resource Page

Donald Trump politically instigating violence; the Brexit referendum campaign; Viktor Orban establishing, in his own words, an "illiberal democracy", but also Obama's "We, the people" famous discourse, and a long list of other leaders around the world massively mobilizing large groups of people -- populism is one of the most widely debated political phenomena in both the media and academia. There seems to be a right-wing populism and left-wing populism,  but what's the difference, if any? Is populism a synonymous of radicalism? Extremism, perhaps? Is it simply the power of the populus (Latin for large group of people)? Is such an all-embracing concept of any use? 

Bring your own views, your sharp curiosity and your listening skills, because in this Cafe conversation we're going to discuss a very timely and important issue.

All welcome!