From April 12 to April 15, Professor Viviana Zelizer visited the UMass campus and the ISI community as the 2015 ISI Resident. Her visit was lively and ebullient, engaging, and successful. Over the course of her residency, students, faculty, as well as community members had a variety of opportunities to interact with Professor Zelizer. From meeting undergraduate students in a sociology class, to engaging in a lively discussion with graduate students from all over campus, and from sitting down with an interdisciplinary seminar on childhood to delivering an inspiring and thought-provoking public lecture, Professor Zelizer’s kind generosity and ability to connect a variety of audiences was emblematic of the kind of interdisciplinary experiences the ISI wants to foster. We would like to extend a special thanks to Professor Zelizer and the many others in the ISI community who made the 2015 Residency such a resounding success.
Professor Viviana Zelizer’s scholarship is motivated by a particular interest in how economic activities affect the meaning of interpersonal relations. A constant in her work is the belief that economic activity plays a key role in the way individuals conceive the value of those who are near and dear to them. Her books include Morals and Markets; Pricing the Priceless Child: The Changing Social Value of Children; and The Purchase of Intimacy. Reviewers have praised her work for its theoretical contributions, and for providing readers with a completely new perspective on markets and intimacy.
Widely recognized for her innovative scholarly contributions, Professor Zelizer has been elected to the American Academy for Arts & Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and received the first Distinguished Career Service Award for the Section on Children and Youth from the American Sociological Association. Viviana Zelizer is Professor of Sociology at Princeton University.