Sociology Celebrates 60th Anniversary
Posted on Tuesday 15 July 2025
Founded in 1965, the Department of Sociology at University of York was one of the first Departments to be established at the then newly built university. On a balmy day in June current and previous members of the Department congregated on Campus East for a day of celebrations to mark its 60th year.
We wanted to celebrate the rich contribution that the Department has made to the academic discipline of Sociology as one of the founding Sociology Departments in the UK and to honour the unique contribution that many of those who have passed through the Department have made over the decades. The day opened with a welcome by the current Head of Department, Prof. Nik Brown. Prof Colin Campbell recalled the very earliest days of the Department and Prof Stevi Jackson described the establishment of the Centre for Women’s Studies in 1984; a radical move at a time when there was very little diversity within the Department and the discipline more widely. Prof Mary Maynard described the unique approach to eclectic theoretical and methodological approaches which have long been the hallmark of Sociology at York and Phil Stanworth described his journey to York sociology across continents as he searched for a teaching post. We heard from colleagues past and present; how they fought for the discipline, often against hostile wider social and economic contexts.
The University as the ‘making of you’ was a key theme, in particular the kindness and support of colleagues helping to launch careers, and forge lifelong intellectual alliances. Among other notable Sociology alumni, Prof Beverley Skeggs described her first days as an undergraduate and social mobility journey and Prof Elizabeth Shove paid tribute to Prof Andrew Webster (head of Department between 2004-9 and Director of the Science and Technology Studies Unit at York). In the end, the day was a rich celebration of our proud contribution to the discipline, including developing radical theoretical directions in for example, conversation analysis, the sociology of scientific knowledge, consumer capitalism, health and illness, religion, the Global South, reproductive rights and parenting. It was a joy to hear talks from those who started their careers at York Sociology and are now at the forefront of the discipline; Kimberley Jamie, Sam Friedman, Laurie Hanquinet, Sophie Woodward, Jean-Baptiste Gouyon, Jack Denham, Matthew Sparkes and Rachel O’Neill to name a few.
We are proud of our intellectual heritage at York Sociology, but also of our community of scholars and students and the intellectual generosity, care and collegiality that runs through the Department. There was much nostalgia and reminiscing about Wentworth College, the original home of the Department of Sociology - including a photo of two intrepid lecturers canoeing on the lake in the 1970s - but there was also a lot of fondness for our beautiful new home on Campus East which was poignantly depicted on the day by Prof Merran Toerien. Prof Ruth Penfold-Mounce offered a moving tribute to all of the outstanding PhD students who have passed through the Department leaving their marks both personal and scholarly. Prof Mandy Rees, with us since 1998, sadly could not make the event but she was with us in spirit and it was fitting to pay tribute to her pioneering research around the history of the future. On the topic of the future, Professor Richard Tutton imagined a future Department of Sociology at York where module titles might include Immortality, Culture and Cryonics. The day ended with a powerful keynote from Dr Ali Meghji exploring how sociology can learn from anti-colonialism to produce meaningful public sociology. Drawing on Du Boisian sociology Ali reminded us of our moral obligation to see and use theory as a way of figuring things out for the common good. Ali left us all with a powerful message of hope as we enter our 70th decade of Sociology at York.