Category: Seminars

Research Seminar on “Everyday Aesthetics”

Steph

RESEARCH SEMINAR: AI HISANO

“EVERYDAY AESTHETICS: INDUSTRIAL DESIGN AND THE SENSES IN THE UNITED STATES FROM THE 1920S TO THE 1950S”

Virtual Event
Wednesday, October 25, 2023
Time:   9:00 a.m. EST (Please note time change for this seminar!)

“Our basic appreciation of design is ultimately dependent upon what we sense through vision, taste, hearing, smelling and feeling,” argued the industrial designer J. Gordon Lippincott in his 1947 book. By focusing on the expansion of industrial design in the United States from the 1920s to the 1950s, this paper explores how industrial designers helped construct people’s sensory experience in buying and using products. Industrial designers served as agents of what I call “aesthetic capitalism”—a mode of capitalism that rested on, and was fueled by, creating and appealing to sensory and emotional experience. In making this argument I draw on Jacques Rancière’s conceptualization of aesthetics as the sensory awareness of the world through which people understand themselves and their relationships with others. In the era of mass consumption, industrial designers helped consumers interact with, understand, and eventually naturalize technological artifacts, social norms, and more generally the era’s atmospheres on a sensorial and emotional level. Rather than simply being the outer look of consumer products, industrial design constituted and forged the everyday, serving as a mediator between people and products.

Ai Hisano is associate professor of history at the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. Her recent publications include Visualizing Taste: How Business Changed the Look of What You Eat (Harvard University Press, 2019), which won the Hagley Prize in Business History (Business History Conference) and the Shimizu Hiroshi Book Award (Japanese Association for American Studies).

David Howes of Concordia University will provide the comment.

Attendees are encouraged to read Hisano’s paper, “Everyday Aesthetics: Industrial Design and the Sense in the United States from the 1920s to the 1950s” which may be obtained by contacting Carol Lockman at clockman@hagley.org.   Please note the time for this seminar is 9:00 a.m. EST.

Registration for this event is via Eventbrite.

Langlois on The Corporation

Steph1 Comment

On Friday, September 29th from 12:30pm through 4 pm, the Penn Economic History Forum will host a symposium on Richard Langlois’s recent The Corporation and the Twentieth Century: The History of American Business Enterprise (Princeton, 2023). 

Pdf files of the opening and closing chapters of the book will be available not later than the end of the summer via the PEHF webpage 

https://live-sas-www-history.pantheon.sas.upenn.edu/calendar/penn-economic-history-forum

and will be sent directly to everyone on the seminar list-serv and everyone outside the university who identifies themselves via a note to the organizer as raff@wharton.upenn.edu. Copies of the book itself, which is lengthy because detailed, can be conveniently obtained directly from the Princeton University Press via its website or from Amazon. Use code LANG30 for 30% off the list price on the Princeton website. (Amazon is offering 10% on its US site as of this writing, though if you have Amazon Prime you would not have to pay for shipping.) 

The plan on the day is for formal commentaries from Brian Cheffins (Cambridge University), Alexander Field (Santa Clara University), Patrick Fridenson (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales), Naomi Lamoreaux (Yale and Michigan), Laura Phillips Sawyer (Georgia), and, family obligations permitting, Mark Roe (Harvard), a brief response from the author, and then extended discussion from the audience. 

The meeting will take place in the History Department Lounge (College Hall 209) on the Penn campus in Philadelphia. There will be a buffet lunch on offer from noon East Coast time and refreshments from time to time during the course of the event. All are welcome to attend (but please signal intent to raff@wharton.upenn.edu so that an accurate headcount for food [and chairs!] can be made). There will also be a Zoom link (but once again please signal intent so that sufficient capacity can be made available).

AOM PDW Craft & Organizations

Steph

The ultimate goal for this PDW is to introduce the audience to the topic of craft and organizations in a way that emphasizes both its theoretical and practical significance and provide participants with an opportunity to discuss pre-submitted extended abstracts with editorial board members of diverse management journals.

This PDW will be divided into halves. In the first half, open to everyone, guest speakers will introduce the topic of craft and organizations. In the second half, participants who submit abstracts will be grouped at tables with editorial board members of diverse management journals that have affinity with craft-related research. Each participant will have an opportunity to introduce their abstract with the rest of the table and receive developmental feedback from an editorial board member.

We want to create a friendly and developmental environment for everyone interested on this line of research. We invite interested participants that are currently engaged or interested in engaging in craft and organizations research to submit extended abstracts (Max 900 words) for research on craft and organizations, both broadly defined.

Please use the following link to submit your abstract by July 14th. 

Organizers:

Jose A. Cerecedo Lopez, UT San Antonio

Jochem Kroezen, Erasmus University

Speakers:

Innan Sasaki, University of Warwick 

Michael G. Pratt, Boston College 

Editorital Board Members:

Tobias Pret, Illinois State University

Silviya Svejenova Velikova, Copenhagen Business School

Jo-Ellen Pozner, Santa Clara University

——————————
Jose A. Cerecedo Lopez
The University of Texas at San Antonio
jose.cerecedolopez@utsa.edu
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AOM 2023 PDW: Developing Theory from Historical Research

Steph

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: AOM 2023 PDW 

Developing Theory from Historical Research 

Session # 17948 | Sponsors: MH, OMT, RM, TIM, STR 

Aug 5, 2023 from 3:15PM to 05:15PM ET 

Submission Deadline: July 17, 2023 

Who is this PDW for? 

If you are: 

  1. a.) engaged in (or interested in) conducting research with historical data, and 
  2. b.) doing inductive (i.e. theory-building rather than hypothesis-testing) work, and 
  3. c.) hoping to publish your work in top management journals 

then this is the PDW for you! 

Overview 

This PDW brings together a distinguished panel of scholars to stimulate an interactive and developmental exchange on conducting inductive research using historical data. Our core focus will be on the theory-building / theoretical contribution part of the research process – how do we understand the past to inform the present? How do we move from the setting being studied to higher-level conceptualizations, while maintaining a balance between generalization and contextualization? 

Importantly, our aim will be to focus on these questions from a practical standpoint, taking away useful advice that scholars can adopt in their research practices. And for those of you who have the opportunity to discuss ongoing projects with the panelists, you will also get advice tailored to your specific projects. 

Panelists 

  • Andrew Nelson, University of Oregon, Lundquist College of Business 
  • Roy Suddaby, University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business and Washington State University, Carson College of Business 
  • Dan Wadhwani, USC, Marshall School of Business 
  • JoAnne Yates, MIT, Sloan School of Management 

Organizers: Rohin Borpujari, London Business School & Chelsea Lei, Boston College 

Structure 

1. Panel Talk and Group Q&A: For the first part of the PDW, our panelists will lead exchanges around topics such as which research questions are best suited to historical case studies; how to balance the needs for contextualization vs. generalization in theorizing; how to write up a historical case study for publication in management journals, etc. 

2. Roundtables and Individual Feedback: Pre-selected participants will have the opportunity to engage in quick, entrepreneur-style “pitches” to the experts (separated into 4 different roundtables), with a view to receiving developmental feedback specific to their projects. 

Each participant will have 20 minutes in total – 10 minutes to describe their project (or project idea) and what areas they would like feedback on, and 10 minutes to receive feedback / engage in discussion with the expert. 

How to Apply 

Part 1 is open to all attendees and does not require any application in advance. 

For Part 2, in order to ensure quality interactions with panelists, we are limiting the number of “pitches” to 16 (i.e. 4 per panelist). If you are interested in receiving feedback on a project that you are currently working on, please submit your interest to the organizers at rborpujari@london.edu, by 11:59 pm Eastern Time (Boston time) on July 17, 2023. 

Specifically, please submit an abstract or overview of your project, including two questions that you would like to ask the panelists to receive feedback about that project. Please keep this document limited to 1 page, single-spaced, in PDF format. 

In addition, in your email, please rank order your preference for which panelist roundtable you would like to be a part of (with the number “1” referring to your first choice panelist and “4” referring to your fourth choice panelist). 

Note: In addition to the 1-page abstract, you may, if you wish, submit a theoretical model or diagram that you are working on in case your project is at a more advanced stage and you would like comments on the model you are building. 

If you have any questions about the PDW or the application process, please feel free to reach out at either rborpujari@london.edu or leicd@bc.edu. 

PhD Workshop at Copenhagen Business School

Steph

Humanistic Approaches to Societal and Global Challenges – HYBRID

Faculty

Course coordinator: Professor Christina Lubinski, Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS

Associate professor Marta Gasparin, Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS

Professor Dan Wadhwani, Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS

Professor Mitchell Dean, Department of Business Humanities and Law, CBS

Associate professor Maribel Blasco, Department of Management, Society and Communication, CBS

Professor Silviya Svejenova, Department of Organization, CBS

Aim

The course discusses humanistic approaches to the study of societal and global challenges. It introduces PhD students to the emerging field of “Business Humanities” and provides them a space to discuss the potential and challenges of integrating social sciences and humanities in their projects. Business Humanities has a notable two-fold character. On the one hand, it defines a domain of knowledge concerning the major challenges facing humanity that affect both business and the wider society. On the other hand, it focuses on understanding the human capabilities to meet these challenges. Grounded in theories of organization studies, entrepreneurship scholarship, history, and political science, the course will discuss different theoretical perspectives that can broadly be summarized as humanistic approaches to the study of business and organizing.

The course focuses on developing students’ understanding of how the humanities and interdisciplinary social sciences address fundamental challenges to humanity. It sees business and forms of organizing as key to social transformation and explores which ethical and entrepreneurial capabilities help address these fundamental challenges. In that process, the course considers organizational actors as diverse as management teams, projects, formal organizations, start-ups, public institutions, crowds and different fluid and ephemeral forms of organizing for analysis.

Participants of the PhD course discuss the ongoing academic debates about theorizing at the intersection of social science and humanities (Zald, 1993, 1996; Ricoeur, 2016). They explore and contrast different disciplinary traditions with an interest in the human and questions of temporality (Wadhwani et al., 2018; Hernes, 2022), morality (Howard-Grenville and Spengler, 2022; Stjerne et al., 2022) and value (Boltanski and Thévenot, 2006; Dewey, 1939; Escobar, 2018). They learn how narratives and histories are brought into the present to actively shape actors’ understandings of themselves, their culture, meaning-making processes, and place in the world (Ricoeur, 2003, 2006; Wadhwani et al., 2018; Suddaby et al., forthcoming-a). Debating the strengths and weaknesses of humanistic theories and their potential contributions to the study of business and organizing may give inspiration to PhD students for their own project designs. In the idea paper (to be developed before the course starts) and the working paper (due after the end of the course) faculty members will develop and critique arguments with the students that are relevant to their projects. 

We invite PhD students with research projects that relate to the role of the human and humanistic thinking in business and organization, be it that these perspectives figure as an underlying dimension of the project design, are directly employed as theoretical approach, relate to the methods applied, or come up in the empirical data. Projects on entrepreneurship, social innovation, grand challenges, identity, narratives, work-life balance and human-based forms of organizing often pay implicit or explicit attention to humanistic theories and the course is designed to helps students be more assertive about their treatment of the business humanities and leverage the most recent scholarship on these issues.

Prerequisites

PhD students only.

Participants will submit a paper idea (2 pages) before starting the course. They then develop the idea into a working paper (20 pages), using theory rooted in the business humanities, including those discussed in the course. Each student will be responsible for one “intervention” (critical reading and introduction of a text to the group). Assignment of texts to be determined on the first day.

For “intervention”, course participation and submission of both the idea and working  paper a total of 5 ECTS will be awarded.

Deadline for submission of the paper idea is the 4th of September 2023.
Deadline for submission of the working paper is the 4th of December 2023.

It is a precondition for receiving the course diploma that students attend the whole course and submit both papers by the respective deadlines.

Reminder – Deadline for Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop approaching

Steph

Call for Papers: Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop in Business History, 29 June 2022 

Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University Newcastle. 

The ABH will hold its tenth annual Tony Slaven Doctoral Workshop on 29 June 2023. This event immediately precedes the 2023 ABH Annual Conference at Newcastle Business School, Northumbria University. The full call for papers can be found here: https://www.theabh.org/conferences. Participants in the Workshop are encouraged to attend the main ABH Annual Conference following the Workshop. They will also have an opportunity to participate in the Poster Competition (explained in the main call for papers). The Workshop is an excellent opportunity for doctoral students to discuss their work with other research students and established academics in business history in an informal and supportive environment. It is important to note that this will not be a hybrid event and all participants need to attend the workshop in person. Students at any stage of their doctoral studies, whether in their first year or very close to submitting, are urged to apply. In addition to providing new researchers with an opportunity to discuss their work with experienced researchers in the discipline, the Workshop will also include at least one skill-related session. The Workshop interprets the term ‘business history’ broadly, and it is intended that students in areas such as (but not confined to) the history of management and organizations, international trade and investment, financial or economic history, agricultural history, the history of not-for- profit organisations, government-industry relations, accounting history, social studies of technology, and historians or management or labour will find it useful. Students undertaking topics with a significant business history element but in disciplines other than economic or business history are also welcome. We embrace students researching any era or region of history. Skills sessions are typically led by regular ABH members; in the past these have included ‘getting published’, ‘using historical sources’, and ‘preparing for your viva examination’ sessions. There will be ample time for discussion of each student’s work and the opportunity to gain feedback from active researchers in the field. 

How to Apply for the Tony Slaven Workshop 

Your application should be no more than 4 pages sent together in a single computer file: 1) a one-page CV; 2) one page stating the name(s) of the student’s supervisor(s), the title of the theses (a proposed title is fine), the university and department where the student is registered and the date of commencement of thesis registration; 3) an abstract of the work to be presented. 

If selected for the workshop, you will be asked to prepare a 15-minute presentation that is either a summary of your PhD project (giving an overview of the overarching themes, research questions, and methodologies) or a chapter/paper. 

You may apply via email to Dr Michael Aldous at m.aldous@qub.ac.uk. Please use the subject line “Tony Slaven Workshop” and submit by 24 March 2023. 

CfP: Industriousness in the History of Capitalism

Steph

Call for Papers Hybrid/IRL Symposium: 

Working five to nine: Industriousness in the History of Capitalism

7 July 2023, Australian Catholic University

Victoria Parade, Fitzroy (Melbourne). Room TBA. Hybrid Format.

Convenors: Hannah Forsyth and Elizabeth Tandy Shermer

Twentieth century capitalism has relied to a considerable degree on industriousness at work and school. Such industriousness became key to accessing the elite. Yale law scholar Daniel Markovits describes a college application essay in which a student boasted that their dedication to study led them to pee their pants rather than interrupt an intellectual discussion. Such commitment became quite widespread. Musical icon Dolly Parton recently rewrote her iconic song, “9 to 5,” into “5 to 9” for an app commercial, which praised the many striving to get ahead, or just break even, in the Gig Economy. Productivity increases in service sector occupations have arguably driven a great deal of profitability since the late twentieth century. Longer working hours, fewer and shorter vacations, helicopter parenting  and other forms of investment in our own human capital have acted as a bulwark against falling into workforce precarity or losing class status, though it may be destabilized by the ‘Great Resignation’ succeeding COVID lockdowns. This symposium seeks to understand the origins and unfolding of this twentieth century work ethic, considering New Deal and welfare state preoccupations with full employment, the massive increase in years of schooling globally and the expansion of working hours, particularly among university students and in white-collar occupations.

We welcome proposals from history, sociology, education, political economy or other fields that consider industriousness in the twentieth century, whether in the USA, UK, Australia or elsewhere. Priority will be given to papers that may cohere into a published collection.

Please send short abstract proposals to Hannah by 1 May 2023: hannah.forsyth@acu.edu.au

For enquiries, feel free to contact either Hannah hannah.forsyth@acu.edu.au or Ellie eshermer@luc.edu

History & Archives in Practice Event

Steph

New event for historians and archivists by the Institute of Historical Research, The National Archives and the Royal Historical Society

2023 HISTORY AND ARCHIVES IN PRACTICE
Collecting Communities: Working together and with Collections

Wednesday 29 March 2023
Institute of Historical Research

For more information, see the programme here: https://files.royalhistsoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/30101854/HAP23-programme_web_version.pdf

Hagley Seminar on Business, Culture & Politics

Steph

Building on the long legacy of the Hagley Research seminar, the Hagley Seminar on Business, Culture, and Politics features original and creative work-in-progress essays that make use of business history sources. 

All seminars are held on Zoom between noon and 1:30 p.m. Eastern USA time. Seminars are based on a paper that is circulated in advance. Preregistration is required and space is limited. To find registration links as well as additional information on the seminars, please go to https://www.hagley.org/research/research-seminars. Questions may be sent to Carol Lockman, clockman@Hagley.org. 

2023 Spring Seminar Series

February 22, noon-1:30

Moeko Yamazaki, University of Oregon

“Making the World on Time: The Vietnam War, Deregulation and the Birth of FedEx”

Comment: Marc Levinson, Independent Scholar

April 5, noon-1:30

Angus McLeod, University of Pennsylvania

“Schools and Economic Development in Antebellum Texas”

Comment: John Majewski, University of California, Santa Barbara

May 3, noon-1:30

Brent Cebul, University of Pennsylvania

 “Creating the Intern: Philanthropy, Universities, and the New Deal”

Comment: Elizabeth Tandy Shermer, Loyola University of Chicago

HiMOS workshop in Helsinki

Steph

Dear Colleagues,

Consider joining us for the next HiMOS workshop (www.historymos.com) in Helsinki. The seminar series aims at promoting historical methods in management and organization studies and workshops history-informed papers for publication in top management journals. 

Location: Suomenlinna, Helsinki

Time: Friday, March 3, 2023 (full day, including dinner in the city)

Register here (DL: February 17)

Participation fee: Free of charge! We are grateful for the financial support of Jyväskylä School of Business and Economics (JSBE).

We are excited to welcome Dan Raff (Wharton) for a keynote, distinguished commentators, and authors of papers aimed at journals, such as JMS, JIBS, SMJ, and Org Studies. 

Speakers: Dan Raff (Wharton), Mirva Peltoniemi (JSBE), Christopher Hartwell (ZHAW), Saara Matala (Chalmers), Sandeep Pillai (Bocconi), & Rolv Petter Amdam (BI)

Commentators: Rebecca Piekkari (Aalto), Tanja Leppäaho (LUT), Robin Gustafsson (Aalto), t.b.d.

Organizers: Christian Stutz (JSBE), Nooa Nykänen (Aalto), & Zeerim Cheung (Sydney)

Please forward this invitation to anyone who might have an interest in participating. 

We hope to see you at Suomenlinna!

Kind regards,

The organizers