Public Programs And Events

Join us in celebrating New School for Social Research alumnus Dr. Peter Berger on the 50th anniversary of his book Social Construction of Reality.

The text was named by the International Sociological Association as the fifth most influential book written in the field of sociology during the 20th century.

Professor Peter Berger previously taught at the New School for Social Research, Rutgers University, and Boston College. He has written numerous books on sociological theory, the sociology of religion, and Third World development, which have been translated into dozens of foreign languages. Among his more recent books are Redeeming Laughter: The Comic Dimension of Human Experience (1997); Modernity, Pluralism and the Crisis of Meaning (with Thomas Luckmann, 1995); The Capitalist Revolution: Fifty Propositions About Prosperity, Equality and Liberty (1988); and The War Over the Family: Capturing the Middle Ground (with Brigitte Berger, 1983). In 1992, Professor Berger was awarded the Manes Sperber Prize, presented by the Austrian government for significant contributions to culture. Since 1985, Professor Berger has been Director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture.

 

Event Schedule:

4:00 pm: Panel discussion featuring:

 - Eviatar Zerubavel (Rutgers University): “The Five Pillars of Essentialism: Reification and the Social Construction of Objective Reality.”

 - Alan Sica (Penn State): “Social Construction as Fantasy.”

 - Asia Friedman (University of Delaware): “Perceptual Construction: Rereading The Social Constructi​on of Reality through the Sociology of the Senses.”

 - Steve Hoffman (SUNY-Buffalo): “The Practical Uses of Less Reality: Taking Berger and Luckmann into the Wild.”

 - Silke Steets (TU Darmstadt Institute of Sociology): “Taking Berger and Luckmann Elsewhere: Architecture as a Social Construction.”

Moderated by: Hector Vera (UNAM)

6:00 pm: Video communication by Thomas Luckmann

6:20 pm: Lecture by Peter Berger (via Skype)

7:45 pm: Reception