Thomas F. Gieryn (born 1950) is Rudy
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
of
Sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
at
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universi ...
. He is also the Vice
Provost of Faculty and Academic Affairs. In his research, he focuses on
philosophy and
sociology of science
The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolog ...
from a cultural, social, historical, and humanistic perspective. He is known for developing the concept of "
boundary-work
In science studies, boundary-work comprises instances in which boundaries, demarcations, or other divisions between fields of knowledge are created, advocated, attacked, or reinforced. Such delineations often have high stakes involved for the p ...
," that is, instances in which boundaries, demarcations, or other divisions between fields of knowledge are created, advocated, attacked, or reinforced. He has served on many councils and boards, including the Advisory Board of the exhibition on "Science in American Life" by the
Smithsonian's
National Museum of American History.
He retired in 2015 from his professorship at Indiana University.
Awards
*1982, Edwin H. Sutherland Teaching Award, Department of Sociology, Indiana University
*1994, President's Award for Distinguished Teaching, Indiana University
*1990, Gieryn won the Robert K. Merton Book Award from the Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology of the American Sociological Association.
Bibliography
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See also
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Sociology of scientific knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolog ...
*
Conflict thesis
The conflict thesis is a historiographical approach in the history of science that originated in the 19th century with John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White. It maintains that there is an intrinsic intellectual conflict between religion ...
*
Demarcation problem
In philosophy of science and epistemology, the demarcation problem is the question of how to distinguish between science and non-science. It examines the boundaries between science, pseudoscience, and other products of human activity, like art ...
*
Science wars
The science wars were a series of scholarly and public discussions in the 1990s over the social place of science in making authoritative claims about the world.
HighBeam Encyclopedia defines the science wars as the discussions about the "way the sc ...
Weblinks
Homepage of Gieryn
References
1950 births
Living people
American sociologists
Kalamazoo College alumni
Sociologists of science
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