King's Profile - Christine Lavrence

Name:

Dr. Christine Lavrence, Associate Professor

Department:

Sociology

What courses do you currently teach?
  • Sociology 2240E : Survey of Sociological Theory
  • Sociology 3372: Advertising and Consumer Social Institutions
  • Sociology 3373:  Mass Media and Society
  • Sociology 4404/5: Modern Sociological Theory I and II
  • Sociology 3329: Special Topics in the Sociology of Emotions
Areas of Research

My research falls under the rubric of cultural sociology, memory and trauma studies and more recently, affect studies. I am interested in how societies make sense of and ‘manage’ difficult pasts, and I have done research and published on the relationship between monumental public space and collective memory, as well as popular culture, Yugoslav war testimonials, and ‘memorialization’, broadly speaking.

Are you working on any current research projects?

My current research project investigates the memory of the Srebrenica genocide and the involvement of the international community in its memorialization. I have also been researching affect theory and what has been labelled the “therapeutic turn” in Western, especially Anglo-American culture. I’ve been particularly interested in how neoliberalism has arguably prompted new forms of subjectivity and selfhood organized around trauma, and emotional management. I have also co-written a paper with Kristin Lozanski on the practices of selfhood that are encoded within lululemon marketing.

How does your program make a difference?

Sociology is an interesting discipline because it encourages students to reflect on their own experience and to situate it within a broader structural context, developing what Mills has called ‘the sociological imagination’. Whether you’re discussing a 19th century classical sociological text or contemporary sociological research, it’s always possible to situate these texts within current events, everyday life and even popular culture. I think this helps account for the discipline’s popularity.

What do you enjoy about working at King’s?

King’s is a great place to work at because of its small size, the encouragement of interdisciplinarity and the emphasis that is placed on faculty-student interaction.

What are your interests outside of King’s?

I love reading fiction - anything from the classics to contemporary literature. I also enjoy film, travel, yoga, running and especially puttering around the garden with my kids.