Keynote Speakers

Andrew Abbott

Andrew Abbott is the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Sociology and the College at the University of Chicago. His work includes The System of Professions (Chicago 1988), a theoretical analysis of the professions and their development that won the ASA's Sorokin Award in 1991. More recent books of relevance to the conference include a historical study of academic disciplines and publication, Department and Discipline (1999) and a theoretical analysis of fractal patterns in social and cultural structures, Chaos of Disciplines (2001). Abbott is currently working on a general work of social theory entitled The Social Process as well as a book on the future of knowledge.

Rudolf Stichweh

Rudolf Stichweh is professor in sociological theory and general sociology at the University of Lucerne. From August 1st 2012 he will be Professor for the 'Theory of Modern Society' at the University of Bonn. He has published extensively on a wide range of topics, including the sociology of world society, sociological systems theory, and, of particular relevance for this conference, the sociology of science and of universities. His books on the latter topic include Zur Entstehung des modernen Systems wissenschaftlicher Disziplinen (1984), Der frühmoderne Staat und die europäische Universität (1991) and Wissenschaft, Universität, Professionen (1994).

Sheila Jasanoff

Sheila Jasanoff is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her work explores the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of modern democracies, with particular attention to the nature of public reason. Her books include Controlling Chemicals (1985), The Fifth Branch (1990), Science at the Bar (1995), and Designs on Nature (2005). Jasanoff takes a keen interest in the development of STS as an academic field, and has recently contributed a chapter entitled “A Field of Its Own: The Emergence of Science and Technology Studies,” in R. Frodeman, J.T. Klein, and C. Mitcham, eds., Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).

Lars Qvortrup

Lars Qvortrup is professor at the Department of Education and Philosophy at Aalborg University. He has published extensively on a wide range of topics, including education, knowledge, electronic media, and systems theory. Available books in English are - among others - The Hypercomplex Society (2003) and Knowledge Education and Learning: E-Learning in the Knowledge Society (2006).