Writing retreat:

The aim of a structured writing retreat is to use dedicated writing time to progress our writing projects in a supportive, non-surveillance environment. Example projects include book / thesis chapters, journal articles, research proposals and reports.

We use most of the time for writing, all of us in the same room. Brief scheduled discussions between writing slots often generate solutions to writing problems, develop drafts, lead to research-orientated conversations and provide feedback on writing in-progress.

Academic mentoring:

The aim of academic mentoring is to guide RPg students and early career scholars through the challenges and opportunities of academic life, from choosing a research topic to publishing their work. Our distinguished visiting professors will be sharing their tips on academic writing and research in an interactive setting.

About the speakers:

Michèle Lamont is a cultural sociologist who studies morality, group boundaries, and inequality. She has tackled topics such as dignity, respect, stigma, racism, and how we evaluate social worth across societies in Money, Morals and Manners, The Dignity of Working Men, How Professors Think, Getting Respect: Responding to Stigma and Discrimination in the US, Brazil and Israel (coauthored), and Seeing Others: How to Redefine Worth in a Divided World.  She is at work on a book tentatively titled “Recognition Globally.” The recipient of various awards, she has served as President of the American Sociological Association and is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, the British Academy, and the Royal Society of Canada.

Frank Dobbin is Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard.  His Inventing Equal Opportunity (Princeton U. Press 2009) shows how HR managers and activists defined what it meant to discriminate in the eyes of the law, broadening the definition over time. His Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn't with Alexandra Kalev (Harvard U. Press [Belknap] 2022) looks at the effectiveness of dozens of different diversity programs, in over 800 companies across more than 30 years, to answer the questions: Which programs help, which hurt, and how can harmful programs be improved?  Dobbin and Kalev are now investigating university programs designed to promote faculty diversity, using similar methods to sort out which are most effective.  

HKU Sociology Writing Retreat & Academic Mentoring Sessions by Prof. Michele Lamont and Prof. Frank Dobbin

Date: 25 February 2025

Time: 12:15pm - 6:20pm

Venue: CJT-9.29

Speaker: Prof. Michele Lamont and Prof. Frank Dobbin

Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?ueid=98688

Breakdown:

12:15 – 1:15pm Academic mentoring session by Prof. Michele Lamont*

1:15 – 5:20pm Writing Retreat

5:20 - 6:20pm Academic mentoring session by Prof. Frank Dobbin*

(*Open to non-retreat participants)

Max. participant no.: 25 (first come first served in registration)

This event is exclusively open to fellow early career scholars and research postgraduate (RPg) students under the Faculty of Social Sciences. Pre-registration is required.