2022 Junior Theorists Symposium

Held as a hybrid in-person/zoom event on August 4th (additional details TBD)* 

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Friday, February 25, 2022 by 11:59PM PST 

We invite submissions of précis for the 16th Junior Theorists Symposium (JTS). The annual symposium will be held in person on August 4th (additional details TBD) prior to the 2022 ASA Annual Meeting. The JTS is a conference featuring the work of up-and-coming sociologists, sponsored in part by the Theory Section of the ASA. Since 2005, the conference has brought together early career sociologists who engage in theoretical work, broadly defined.  

It is our honor to announce that Steven Epstein (Northwestern University), Saskia Sassen (Columbia University), and Mario Small (Harvard University) will serve as discussants for this year’s symposium. Paul Joosse (Hong Kong University) and Robin Willey (Concordia University of Edmonton), winners of the 2021 Junior Theorist Award, will deliver a keynote address. Finally, the symposium will include an after-panel titled “Theorizing Intersections,” with panelists Tey Meadow (Columbia University), Tianna Paschel (UC Berkeley), Vrushali Patil (Florida International University), Mary Romero (Arizona State), and Adia Harvey Wingfield (Washington University St. Louis). 

We invite all ABD graduate students, recent PhDs, postdocs, and assistant professors who received their PhDs from 2018 onwards to submit up to a three-page précis (800-1000 words). The précis should include the key theoretical contribution of the paper and a general outline of the argument. Successful précis from last year’s symposium can be viewed here. Please note that the précis must be for a paper that is not under review or forthcoming at a journal. 

As in previous years, there is no pre-specified theme for the conference. Papers will be grouped into sessions based on emergent themes and discussants’ areas of interest and expertise. We invite submissions from all substantive areas of sociology. and we especially encourage papers that are works-in-progress and would benefit from the discussions at JTS. 

Please remove all identifying information from your précis and submit it via this Google form. Tara Gonsalves (University of California at Berkeley) and Davon Norris (The Ohio State University) will review the anonymized submissions. You can also contact them at juniortheorists@gmail.com with any questions. The deadline is Friday, February 25th. By mid-March, we will extend 9 invitations to present at JTS 2022. Please plan to share a full paper by July 5, 2022. Presenters will be asked to attend the symposium in its entirety in order to hear fellow scholars’ work. Please plan accordingly.  

*Presenters should plan to attend in-person, though this may change based on the Covid-19 pandemic.