The World According to Peter Hart-Brinson
Media and Cultural Sociology
Research
In graduate school, the main areas of study that I pursued in classes had to do with the relationship between media, culture, and politics. I am interested in what scholars call "civil society," that analytical construct formed by the relationships among media, the state, and everyday life. In concrete terms, I am interested in how people in different social contexts develop their particular cultural understandings of the world and how they act on their "worldview" (for lack of a better word) in matters of public significance. While I focused mostly on political sociology and media in my classes, I found a home in cultural sociology later in my grad school career.
Below are a few working papers that were basically seminar papers or prelim papers. I am actively working on the first one. The others represent various areas of interest more than any polished work. Alas, there are only so many hours in the day! I am continually confronted with thoughts of, "Wow, that would make a great study!" It is both a blessing and a curse that I continually struggle with. The variety of topics represented in the papers below is indicative of that curiosity.
In the future, I hope to pursue work using the cultural diamond, as I find it a useful tool for thinking about how people interpret various cultural objects. In addition, I am interested writing a paper on the similarities and differences in how sociologists and communications scholars use the "framing" concept, and I have an enduring interest in the apparently ever-increasing role of communications media in shaping life in "post-industrial" societies.
The Cultural Diamond in 3D? Clarifying the Relationship Between Media Studies and Cultural Sociology
Ethnic Media: The Need for New Directions in Research
Sources of Power and the Power of Sources: Towards a Theory of Mass Media and the State
Links
Rutgers Culture and Cognition Network
ASA Sociology of Culture Section
Public Sphere Program of the Social Science Research Council
Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at University of Virginia
Sociological Images--Blog about images that illustrate important sociological concepts and ideas.
Stateline--Political news from all 50 states. Site maintained by Pew Charitable Trust.
Indymedia--Left-wing, grassroots news from all over the globe. See also local indymedia affiliates.
New America Media--Ethnic media from all over the U.S.
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Page last updated November 13, 2009