Academy of Social Sciences Annual Lecture 2013

“The Public Value of the Social Sciences”

What is the purpose of social science? How can social science make itself relevant to the intractable problems facing humanity in the twenty-first century?

The social sciences are under threat from two main sources. One is external, reflected in a global university crisis that imposes the marketization of higher education on the ancient practice of scholarship. The other, internal threat is social science’s withdrawal from publicly–engaged teaching and research into the protective bunker of disciplinarity. In articulating a vision for the public role of social science in the twenty-first century, John Brewer argues that these threats also constitute an opportunity for a new public social science to emerge, confident in its public value and fully engaged with the future of humanity in its teaching, research and civic responsibilities, while also remaining committed to science.

The Academy’s Annual Lecture 2013 will be given by Professor John Brewer AcSS, Professor of Post-Conflict Studies at Queen’s University Belfast and former Chair of the British Sociological Association. It will take place on Thursday 4th July 2013 at 2.30pm at 30 Tabernacle Street, London EC2A 4UE (registration from 2pm).

Attendance is free and open to any interested person, but spaces are limited.

Following the lecture will be the ACSS AGM. The Lecture is free to attend and open to anyone who is interested, but the AGM is restricted to members of the Academy. The AGM will be followed by a drinks reception sponsored by Taylor and Francis.