Talk Matters Professor John Heritage, UCLA

Event details

Second Annual Lecture

Hosted by the Language and Social Interaction cluster, Department of Sociology.

The Department of Sociology at the University of York is delighted to be hosting a public lecture by Professor John Heritage on Tuesday 18th June. Professor Heritage is one of the world’s most prominent conversation analysts, and a leading figure in the study of social interaction, in both ‘everyday’ life and institutional settings. This promises to be a highly stimulating talk, and we welcome members of the public, staff and students from York and beyond!

One of the more surprising developments in sociology during recent decades has been the success of the ultra-microsociological field of conversation analysis (CA). As its name implies, this field focuses on how people talk in conversation and other forms of interaction, and it does so in fine detail. The field was invented in my Department at UCLA, and has since become a widespread approach to research on social interaction and commmunication, practiced worldwide and prominently here at the University of York. The success of this field has two sources: its contribution to solving basic problems in the social sciences, and its use as a resource in solving applied problems in many walks of life. This talk describes some of the basic problems, as well as some applications of CA in the everyday worlds of law, medicine and politics.

Drinks and snacks from 5pm. Talk to start at 6pm.