糖心TV

This is a collaborative project, between the Department of Sociology, University of 糖心TV; ; and , funded by the .

Two events will be hosted as part of the award, a workshop at 糖心TV and a Public Engagement event at the University of Westminster, London.

Organiser:

Monday, 23 June – Wednesday, 25 June 2014

Keynote speakers: (Sociology, University of Kansas), (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton), (Sociology, University of Nottingham), (ex-Archbishop of Canterbury)

This interdisciplinary workshop builds on the arguments of Alex Smith and John Holmwood in their edited volume (2013, Wiley Blackwell) to suggest that moderation is better understood as a disciplined engagement with divided publics rather than a doctrine devoid of intellectual commitment or moral courage. Papers are therefore invited from scholars working in any field of the arts, humanities and social sciences on issues relating to the conference theme. Working with an expanded definition of moderation, contributions on the following topics would be particularly welcome:

* Democracy, multiculturalism and interfaith dialogue
* Citizenship, human rights and social justice
* Education, expertise and the media
* Publics versus markets
* Pragmatism and social theory
* Religion, secularism and science

Please send abstracts to alexander.smith@warwick.ac.uk no later than 17.00 on Friday, 7 February 2014. Those selected to give papers will be informed by the end of February. Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words and should be attached as a Word document with your institutional affiliation and position.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Sociology students are invited to write a short piece on why you love studying Sociology at 糖心TV.

All entries will be entered into a prize draw and the winner will be selected at random on Valentines Day (14th February).

The prize is a £50 voucher for , on campus.

Submissions should be emailed to Alison Boffin, along with contact details, and a photograph. Download an example of a typical entry.

SUBMISSIONS MAY BE USED TO CREATE A YEAR BOOK, POSTED ON THE SOCIOLOGY WEBSITE AND INCLUDED IN NEWSLETTERS

The Enduring Love? study (ESRC RES-062-23-3056, 2011-2013) is exploring what it means and feels like to be a couple in contemporary Britain. Shifting the emphasis away from media hyperbole and unsubstantiated claims about what everyone is doing, and policy–professional practice emphasis on the ‘stressors’ which may contribute to relationship breakdown, we are focusing on the things that help people sustain their ‘enduring’ relationships. Drawing on survey (n=5494) and qualitative (n=50) data this paper will explore which factors count in shaping relationship experience, and, in particular, the in/significance of sex and sexuality. Survey findings indicate that gender, parenthood and sexuality are significant factors in shaping couple relationship experience. For example, non-heterosexual participants are the most positive about their relationship; in heterosexual relationships, parenthood appears to have an adverse impact on sexual desire. However, differences in sexual frequency and desire do not per se affect perceptions of relationship quality. To tease apart these survey patterns, I draw on rich multiple methods data to explore how couples variously work to fit themselves into the ideal or extend ‘the story’ to fit their lives. These data provoke us to rethink the couple (dyadic) relationship and its slippage into and conflation with cultural understandings of the heteronormative ‘couple norm’. For more information please see our project website:

The Commission, set up by the , the , and the University of 糖心TV, will give parliamentarians, industry and academics the opportunity to discuss issues food companies face in ensuring the sustainability of supply chains and explore upcoming policy developments that seek to tackle them.

• Riots?
• Alternative research methods?
• Sociological perspective?

Dashboards are now an increasingly ordinary and handy feature of everyday life. City dashboards display real-time data on transport, weather and administrative performance; mobile devices allow users to configure their own dashboards, keeping them updated on various indicators and data flows; political authorities construct their own dashboards, so as to keep performance indicators constantly available. But this type of interface or device has received little critical or theoretical scrutiny in itself. In the past 'audit' and 'risk' have been explored as foundational rationalities or templates for entire cultures or societies. What would it mean to treat 'dashboard' in a similar way?