New Open Access Book: Mapping Goffman’s Invisible College
Jeff Pooley
mediastudies.press is a scholar-led, nonprofit, diamond open access publisher in the media, film, and communication studies fields. We are excited to announce the publication of Mapping Goffman’s Invisible College, by Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz.
Erving Goffman is often remembered as a solitary thinker—famously private, and never a co-author. This book offers a counterpoint by tracing Goffman’s connections to a network of colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania between 1968 and 1982, including Dell Hymes, William Labov, John Szwed, Ray Birdwhistell, and Sol Worth. It follows five major collaborations that emerged in that setting, along with others that never quite came together. The analysis also considers Goffman’s earlier work at institutions including the University of Chicago, the National Institute of Mental Health, the University of California, Berkeley, and Harvard University, alongside related initiatives at Indiana University and the University of Texas.
Beyond documenting Goffman’s intellectual network, the book uses his connections as a case study to examine interdisciplinarity, invisible colleges, and disciplinary history. By examining both the productive and faltering collaborations in Goffman’s orbit, the book sheds light on the complex, often unpredictable pathways through which academic ideas take shape. This work will appeal to scholars across disciplines seeking to understand the collaborative foundations of academic life.
The book is available online, and as a free download in PDF and ePub. A paperback version is also available.
Mapping Goffman’s Invisible College appears in the Goffman in the Open series. Scholars interested in proposing volumes in this or other series are encouraged to reach out with a query. You can learn more about mediastudies.press, including our operations and OA principles, on our site. The press is a member of the Open Book Collective and the ScholarLed consortium, and also publishes the History of Media Studies journal. Please contact us at pr...@mediastudies.press.