About the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Lecture Series

The Paul F. Lazarsfeld Lecture Series features events and programming that embody and honor Lazarsfeld’s commitment to the improvement of methodological approaches that address concerns of vital cultural and social significance.

In his 1962 presidential address to the American Sociological Association Lazarsfeld outlined a vision for research that achieves three important ends:

  1. Creates social and cultural research that “leads to formal ideas, to distinctions and interconnections relevant for many sociological pursuits well beyond the realm of strictly empirical research.”

  2. Provides “technical training to graduate students who are empirically inclined” and gives “students opportunities for closer contact with senior” faculty.[1]

  3. Expressed the importance of engaging the public around ideas that matter.

In this spirit, the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Lecture Series explores and forges new methodological connections between the disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, while serving as sites for intellectual cooperation between students, faculty, and guests. The workshops, lectures and conferences that compose this series provide a forum for innovative, thought-provoking research that spans substantive domains.

Further, this series makes it possible to engage with the public around the most important political and social issues of our times.

Lazarsfeld was the founder of the Bureau of Applied Social Research, a direct ancestor of INCITE.  The Paul F. Lazarsfeld Lecture Series is generously funded through the Paul F. Lazarsfeld endowment at Columbia University.  

 Ongoing workshops and conferences in the Lazarsfeld Lecture series include:

Past workshops and conferences in the Lazarsfeld Lecture series include:

[1] These quotes were excerpted from: Lazarsfeld, P.F. “The Sociology of Empirical Social Research.” American Sociological Review. 27, 6. December 1962.