W&L's Jonathan Eastwood to Give Laurent Boetsch Term Professorship Lecture
Jonathan Eastwood, professor of sociology and anthropology at Washington and Lee University, will give his inaugural lecture marking his appointment as the Laurent Boetsch Term Associate Professor in Sociology on Feb. 3, at 4:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium, Leyburn Library.
The title of his lecture, which is free and open to the public, is “Challenges and Opportunities in the Study of National Identity.”
“Nationalism and national identity are notoriously difficult subjects to study empirically,” said Eastwood. “In this non-technical talk, I will describe two strategies I’ve been employing in recent work in progress. The first is an expert survey project on the history of national identity across Europe and the post-Soviet polities and a collaboration with Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl, Peter Grajzl and Nicolas Prevelakis. The second is a simulations project I have begun with a student.”
Eastwood joined the faculty of Washington and Lee in 2006. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University. He was a lecturer at Harvard University before coming to Washington and Lee.
His areas of research include sociological theory and comparative social science and is especially interested in relationships between collective identities, collective action and conflict.
Selected recent publications of Eastwood’s are “Comparative Politics: Classic and Contemporary Readings” (ed., 2016); “Can (and Should) We Construct An Evolutionary Psychological Theory of Institutions?” in Sociological Forum (2015); “Comparative Politics: Integrating Theories, Methods, and Cases” (ed., 2012, 2nd edition currently in progress); and “Reflections on the Implications of Evolutionary Psychology for the Theory of Institutions” in Journal of Institutional Economics (2012).
His book, “The Revolution in Venezuela: Social and Political Change Under Chávez” (2011), was named Choice Outstanding Title in 2012.
Eastwood is also ad hoc manuscript reviewer for American Journal of Sociology; American Sociological Review; Social Psychology Quarterly; Nations and Nationalism; Theory and Society; Philosophy of Social Science; Theory, Culture and Society; Politics and Policy, as well as university and academic presses.
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