Congratulations to Edward Smith who recently passed two graduate milestones: preliminary exams and dissertation proposal defense. Edward's committee is chaired by Dr. Stjepan Meštrović, members include Dr. Holly Foster, Dr. Rob Mackin, and Dr. Adam Seipp (History).
Edward's dissertation proposal is titled "Recontextualizing South Park through a Sociological Lens." Within the growing field of sociology of popular culture, episodes of the animated series, South Park, have been researched, albeit, in a mostly a theoretical manner. Edward's dissertation will recontextualize and apply social theorists who tend to be neglected in this area of research. The theorists include but are not limited to Arthur Schopenhauer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, William James, Thorstein Veblen, and David Riesman. Hermeneutics will be used as a method to discover and connect the meaning of South Park in contemporary culture in the context of a recontextualized reading of these theorists.