Workshops & Seminars

The department hosts a range of research workshops and seminars that draw on the collective intellectual energy of our faculty and graduate students. These forums vary in format and formality, but each features current research from members of our community and beyond. 

The workshops and seminars are open to anyone interested in participating, regardless of academic level (undergraduate, graduate, faculty, etc.) or affiliation (Columbia, Barnard, NYU, etc.). If you are interested in participating or would like to be added to the listserv of a workshop or seminar, please reach out to the relevant faculty organizer or student coordinator(s) listed below.

The Carcerality, Law, and Punishment (CLP) Workshop is co-convened by members of the sociology departments at Columbia University and New York University, with participation from other units at each respective school.  

The aim of this workshop is to bring together scholars and centers that do resonant work on the criminal legal system for a deeper and more focused dialogue on new directions in the field. We also intend for this workshop series to be an opportunity to foster inter-unit and cross-university conversation and collaboration.  

This semester the workshop meets from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The workshop will alternate between the Columbia and NYU campuses during the academic year.

The workshop is supported by the generous sponsorship of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP) at Columbia University.  

Please contact David Knight at [email protected] if you are interested in the workshop or have further questions.

The Center for the Study of Wealth and Inequality (CWI) Seminar Series is sponsored by Columbia University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research Policy (ISERP) and is devoted to the investigation of social and economic inequality. The Seminar invites speakers from both within and outside of Columbia to present recent papers covering a wide range of topics pertaining to inequality, such as poverty, labor market behavior, education, and the family. The research topics and methodologies are at the cutting edge of the interdisciplinary study of wealth and inequality, as the CWI Seminar invites speakers from multiple social science disciplines and fields. Past speakers include Annette Lareau, Adam Gamoran, Timothy Smeeding, Lisa Kahn, Mario Small, Rob Warren and Florencia Torche, among numerous others.

Each month, about 20 affiliated graduate students from multiple disciplines convene to present their research at a Collaborative Organization and Digital Ecologies (CODES) Seminar. Some students are involved in COI research projects while others are conducting their own related research. Past seminars have highlighted research on online support groups for cancer patients, accountability practices of non-profit technology assistance providers, new forms of community among adolescents through instant-messaging, organizational responses to environmental uncertainty in New York new media industry, distributed cognition in Wall Street trading rooms, and the implications of the Internet for work life and politics.

The CPRC seminar is a vital center activity and includes some of the country’s leading scholars in population science, with a roster covering multiple disciplines. CPRC members, with tenure track affiliates given priority, have the opportunity to host speakers or to meet with them individually.

Fall seminars are held on Tuesdays at 4:00pm at the School of Social Work, with remote viewing possible at Mailman School of Public Health.

Spring seminars are held on Tuesdays at 4:00pm at the Mailman School of Public Health, with remote viewing possible from School of Social Work.

The Experimental Design Workshop gives social scientists the opportunity to workshop the design of an experiment they have not yet fielded. Graduate student and faculty presenters will present their designs and receive specific, actionable feedback from other workshop participants. 

For inquiries or if you are interested in joining the workshop's email list, please contact James Chu ([email protected]).

Funding support for the Experimental Design Workshop is provided by the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Lecture Series, administered by INCITE, which features events and programming that embody and honor Lazarsfeld’s commitment to the improvement of methodological approaches that address concerns of vital cultural and social significance.

Please contact workshop coordinators Dian Sheng ([email protected]) and Amy Weissenbach ([email protected]) for additional information. 

Qual Lab is a space for graduate students using qualitative methodologies (ethnography, interviewing and content analysis) to discuss ongoing work and hone analytic skillsets. Our monthly meetings allow students to workshop instruments, preliminary data, archival materials, analytic plans and drafts of papers, and to receive support from faculty and outside speakers. Each session features presentations by two students in a communal and collaborative environment. Meetings take place in Knox Hall 509 or at Prof. Tey Meadow’s home in Brooklyn.

If you would like to be added to the Qual Lab email list, please contact student coordinators Anna Thieser ([email protected]) and Ruth Shefner ([email protected]).

(Description forthcoming)

The Race & Ethnicity (R&E) working group is a gathering of graduate students interested in various components of race & ethnicity across all methodologies. Our working group aims to support ongoing graduate student work and create a collaborative environment for discussion and constructive feedback. At each of our meetings, two students present their works-in-progress (or nearly completed works). We meet approximately once a month in Knox 501D.

Please contact working group coordinators Eva Chen ([email protected]) and Kathy Pérez ([email protected]) for additional information. 

The Science, Knowledge, and Technology (SKAT) Workshop gathers social scientists interested in how science, knowledge, and technology are created, distributed, drawn upon, and collectively understood. The workshop brings together diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to the social studies of SKAT, including the sociology of expertise, the sociology of professions, organizational analysis, actor-network theory, medical sociology, and science studies. The workshop is primarily designed to assist advanced graduate students with their ongoing research projects. We aim to provide a supportive environment offering feedback and advice on all aspects of academic work, from devising and conducting research to producing written texts (grant applications, dissertation proposals, and publications).

The workshop meets on a weekly basis in Knox Hall. If you would like to be added to the email list, please send a message to workshop coordinators Anna Thieser ([email protected]) and Dian Sheng ([email protected]).

The Sociology of Algorithms Workshop at Columbia University aims to bring together researchers who are interested in understanding the role that algorithms and algorithmic technologies play in public and private life. The workshop occurs in a number of formats, including formal research presentations, paper development sessions, and panel discussions featuring scholars and practitioners from around the world. We welcome participants of all disciplinary and methodological backgrounds.

The workshop meets a few times each semester on an irregular basis. If you would like to be added to the email list, please send a message to the workshop coordinator Ari Galper ([email protected]).

The Sociology of Algorithms Workshop is supported by the Trust Collaboratory at INCITE.