Department of Sociology

Description

Rainbow Trap: The Politics of Gender, Sex and Sexuality Categories

 Across data and statistics, some LGBTQ lives and experience are now counted. But what did these communities need to give up in order to be included?

 And is our current suite of data systems, methods and practices capable of reflecting the full diversity of people’s experiences – or are those who sit outside the demands for neat and tidy categories now doubly erased.

 Join Dr Kevin Guyan (University of Edinburgh) to explore ideas from his new book Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Categories and the Dangers of Inclusion (Bloomsbury Academic).

The book examines queer encounters with six different systems – stretching from hate crime reporting to dating apps – and highlights how the promise of inclusion requires LGBTQ people to locate themselves in an ever-growing list of classifications, categories and labels.

This requirement to be classified catches LGBTQ communities in a rainbow trap. Because when we look beyond the welcoming veneer of inclusive interventions, we uncover sorting processes that determine what LGBTQ lives are valued and what queer futures are possible.

Dr Kevin Guyan is a Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Gender + Sexuality Data Lab. He is the author of Rainbow Trap: Queer Lives, Classifications and the Dangers of Inclusion (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025) and Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022).

Description

What is the role of professional scholars in civic life? How and why should academics seek to reach audiences beyond their disciplines and institutions? Must there be tension between advancing along an academic career path and taking part in public conversations, or can these goals reinforce each other?

This book is a practitioner’s guide to civic engagement today, showing current and aspiring social scientists how to build a career in the public sphere. Drawing from personal experience and in-depth research, Philip N. Cohen gives straightforward advice that acknowledges professional risks as well as rewards. He calls on readers to embrace the reciprocal relationship between professional scholarship and active citizenship, arguing that aligning personal and vocational identities can enhance both public and academic contributions. Citizen Scholar explores intellectual work on social media, communication on topical issues, the role of political activism, and how to build trust while developing a public intellectual identity. It features lively examples from Cohen’s own work, from data-visualization principles to his experience suing President Trump for blocking him on Twitter—and winning.

For social scientists seeking to reach a wider public, Citizen Scholar provides tools and strategies for intellectual engagement and imparts invaluable perspective on how to lead a fulfilling professional and civic life.

Philip N. Cohen is a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, College Park. His books include The Family: Diversity, Inequality, and Social Change (fourth edition, 2024), and his commentary has appeared in major media outlets such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Description

A Sociology Colloquium talk presented by Cornell Soc Ph.D. cadidate, Erika Abbott.

Abstract forthcoming. 

Description

Sociology Colloquium talk presented by Cornell Soc Ph.D. candidate, Haowen Zheng. 

Abstract TBA