Contact Information      Digital Inequality      9/11 Political Discourse      Global New Media      Curriculum Vitae

 

 

 

Laura Robinson

Assistant Professor 

Dept. of Sociology

500 El Camino Real

Santa Clara, CA 95053

lrobinson@scu.edu

 

 

EDUCATION

 

2006                Ph.D. Sociology

                        University of California, Los Angeles

 

                        Dissertation: “Negotiating 9/11: Cultural Repertoires and Discourses in

                        Brazilian, French, and American Online Fora.”

 

                                    Award: 2007 Outstanding Dissertation of the Year

                                    NCA: International and Intercultural Communication Division

           

2000                M.A. Sociology

                        University of California, Los Angeles

 

1996                M.A. European Studies: Specialization in Media

                        Euromasters Consortium and l'Université de Paris III: la Sorbonne Nouvelle

                                                                       

1995                Certificat d'Etudes Supérieures: Mention Bien

                        l'Université de Paris III: la Sorbonne Nouvelle

                                   

1994                B.A. French, English, and Interdisciplinary Studies: Phi Beta Kappa

                        University of Southern California

           

 

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

 

Digital Inequality

9/11 Political Discourse

Global New Media

Cross-National Comparativism: Brazil, Argentina, France, and U.S.

Sociology of Communication

Sociology of Culture

 

 

APPOINTMENTS

 

Assistant Professor of Sociology 2008-present

Santa Clara University

Department of Sociology

 

Postdoctoral Fellow 2006-2008

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Funded Project

University of Southern California & UC Berkeley

 

Lecturer Summer 2006

UCLA Dept. of Sociology

UCLA Dept. of Communication

 

 

BOOKS

 

Negotiating 9/11. Under contract with University of Michigan Press.

 

 

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES

 

“Digital Inequalities Among American Youth: Access, Attitudes, and Information Seeking.” Forthcoming

June 2009 in the Second Annual Special Issue of the Communication and Information Technologies Section

of the American Sociological Association Information, Communication, and Society Volume 12: 4.

 

“New Avenues for Sociological Inquiry: Evolving Forms of Ethnographic Practice” (with Jeremy Schulz).

Forthcoming in Sociology.

 

“The Moral Accounting of Terrorism: Competing Interpretations of September 11, 2001.” 2008.

Qualitative Sociology, Volume 31: 3.

 

“The Cyberself: Symbolic Interaction in the Digital Age.” 2007.  New Media & Society, Volume 9: 1.

 

                        Award              2007 Outstanding Paper

                                                ASA: Computer and Information Technology Section

 

“Online Art Auctions à la française and à l’américaine: eBay France and eBay USA.” 2006.

The Social Science Computer Review. Volume 24: 4.

 

“Debating the Events of September 11th: Discursive and Interactional Dynamics in Three Online Fora.” 2005.

The Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Volume 10: 4.

 

                        Awards            2005 Best Graduate Student Paper

                                                ASA: Computer and Information Technology Section

 

                                                2005 Student Paper Award

                                                Association of Internet Researchers

 

Robinson, Laura and David Halle. 2002. “Digitization, the Internet, and the Arts: eBay, SAG, e-Books, and Napster.”

Qualitative Sociology. Volume 25: 3.

 

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

 

“Creating Social Categories of Art: the Sociology of Art in Context.” forthcoming in

Les Actes de l’Art & @rt: l’Université de Paris VII.

 

“Black Friday and Feedback Bombing: An Examination of Trust and Online Community in eBay’s Early History.”  2006.

Everyday eBay Culture, Collecting, and Desire. Ken Hillis, Michael Petit and Nathan Epley (Eds.), Routledge.

 

“Cultural Constructions of Trust and Risk in Virtual Auction Houses: eBay France and eBay USA.” 2006.

Les Actes de l’Art & @rt: l’Université de Paris VII.

 

 

WORKING PAPERS

 

“Nationalism and Transnationalism: Brazilian, French, and American Online Communities Respond to 9/11.” 2005.

The World Society Foundation Focus Paper Series.

 

 

BOOK REVIEWS AND OTHER PUBLICATIONS

 

Book Review: “Doing Visual Ethnography” 2008. Library and Information Science Research, Volume 30: 4.

 

“Virtual Structure vs. Digital Agency: Revolution, Mediation, or Replication?” 2007 (August).

Re-public Re-Imagining Democracy.

 

Book Review: “Critical Cyber-Culture Studies.” 2007. The Journal of Communication, Volume 57: 4.

 

 

GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND HONORS

 

2009-2010       Presidential Research Grant

                        Santa Clara University

 

2009                Provost’s Research Grant

                        Santa Clara University

 

2006-2008       Postdoctoral Fellow 2006-2008

                        John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Funded Project

                        University of Southern California & UC Berkeley

 

2007                Outstanding Dissertation of the Year

                        National Communication Association

                        International and Intercultural Communication Division

 

2007                Outstanding Paper

                        American Sociological Association

                        Computer and Information Technology Section

 

2005-2006       Research Grant

                        World Society Foundation Program

                         

2005-2006       Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: Advanced Brazilian Portuguese

                        UCLA Latin American Center

 

2005                Best Graduate Student Paper

                        American Sociological Association    

                        Computer and Information Technology Section

 

2005                Student Paper Award

                        Association of Internet Researchers

 

2004 & 2005   Bourse d’Accueil, Research Privileges in Paris, France

                        Ecole Normale Supérieure

 

2004                Collegium of Teaching Fellows Award

                        UCLA Department of Sociology and Office of Instructional Development

 

2000-2003       Mellon Fellowship

                        Latin American Studies: Fieldwork in São Paulo, Brazil

 

2001                Predissertation Fellowship for Fieldwork in Paris, France

                        UC Berkeley Institute of European Studies

 

2001                Predissertation Fellowship for Fieldwork in Paris, France

                        UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies

 

2001                WebShop Conference on Internet Research

                        National Science Foundation Funded Two-Week Seminar at Univ. of Maryland

 

2000                Tinker Foundation Grant

                        Latin American Studies: Fieldwork in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

 

2000                Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: Brazilian Portuguese

                        UCLA Latin American Center: Language and Culture Program in Salvador, Brazil

 

2000                Research Summer Mentorship Grant

                        UCLA Graduate Division

 

1999-2000       Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship: Brazilian Portuguese

                        UCLA Latin American Center

 

1995-1996       Fellowship at la Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris, France

                        l'Université de Paris III: Euromasters Programme

 

1989-1994       Trustee Scholarship for Academic Excellence

                        University of Southern California

                        Study at University of Cambridge and la Sorbonne

 

1993                Elected to Phi Beta Kappa

 

1991                Honorable Mention

                        Business Today Int’l. Competition: “The Global Economic Community in 2091”

 

 

PRESENTATIONS AT PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS

 

“Orientations Towards New Media: Economic Disadvantage and Conditions of Access.”

American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 2009 (August).

 

“Information Seeking and Evaluation Among Economically Disadvantaged Youth: Examining the Effects of Digital Inequality”

(with Jeremy Schulz). Southern Sociological Society 2009 Annual Conference in New Orleans (April).

 

“The Moral Accounting of September 11, 2001: Competing Understandings of Political Violence.”

National Communication Association Annual Convention, San Diego, 2008.

 

“Training the Sociological Eye on Digital Inequality.”

American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Boston, 2008.

 

“Nationalism and Transnationalism in Online Communities: Processes of Negotiation Using New Media.”

International Communication Association Conference, Montreal, 2008.

 

“National and Transnational Identities as Meaning-Making Tools.”

National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, 2007.

 

“Online Spaces and Ethnographic Inquiry: New Media Communication and Cyberethnographic Practice.”

National Communication Association Annual Convention, Chicago, 2007.

 

“Information the Wiki Way: Cognitive Processes of Information Evaluation in Collaborative Online Venues.”

International Communication Association Conference, San Francisco, 2007.

 

“Nationalism and Transnationalism in Online Communities: Processes of Negotiation Using New Media.”

International Communication Association Conference, San Francisco, 2007.

 

“National and Transnational Perceptions of the U.S.:  Negotiating 9/11 in Brazilian, French, and American Virtual Fora.”

Global Information Infrastructure Symposium, Washington, DC. 2007.

 

“National and Transnational Identities: Determining Spheres of Moral Concern.”

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, New York, 2007.

 

“Symbolic Boundaries, National and Cosmopolitan Identities: Brazilian Framings of 9/11.”

Symposium on Portuguese Traditions, UCLA Department of Spanish and Portuguese, 2006.

 

“A Cyberethnographic Account of 9/11: Analyzing Forum Communities in Brazil, France, and the United States.”

Association of Internet Researchers Conference, Chicago, 2005.

 

“Online Art Auctions à la française and à l’américaine: Comparing eBay France and eBay USA.”

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, San Francisco, 2004.

 

“The Internet: the Next Key Component of Visual Sociology.”

Annual Meeting of the International Visual Sociology Association, San Francisco, 2004.

 

“Vive la différence: Framing Art and Community in Two Online Venues.”

Annual Meeting of the International Visual Sociology Association, San Francisco, 2004.

 

“Framing and Reframing Museums: Art in Online Contexts.”

Art & @rt: l’Université de Paris VII, 2004.

 

“Virtual Auction Houses as Culturally Constructed Venues.”

Art & @rt: l’Université de Paris VII, 2003.

 

“The Cyberself: The Self-ing Project Goes Online” (with Jeremy Schulz).

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, 2002.

 

Cyberethnography and the Future of Qualitative Digital Research.”

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago, 2002.

 

“The Impact of New Technologies on the Arts.”

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, 2001.

 

“Reputation and Trust on eBay: Black Friday: 08/20/99.”

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Anaheim, 2001.

 

“The Digitization of the Arts: Three Case Studies.”

LeRoy Neiman Center’s Annual Conference on the Sociology of Culture, Los Angeles, 2001.

 

 

INVITED TALKS

 

“Developing a Taste for the Necessary: A Bourdieuian Approach to Digital Inequality Among American High School Students.”

UC Berkeley Center for Globalization and Information Technology, Berkeley, 2009.

 

“Parallel Systems and Cultural Difference in Art Auctions: French and American use of eBay.”

USC Annenberg Center, Los Angeles, 2007.

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

 

Assistant Professor: Santa Clara University 2008-present

Undergraduate courses Computers, Internet, and Society,  Business, Technology, and Society, and Principles of Sociology

 

Lecturer: UCLA Department of Communication Summer 2006

Undergraduate course Communicating Culture and Identity Through International Cinema

 

Lecturer: UCLA Department of Sociology Summer 2006

Undergraduate course Introduction to Sociology: Film and Society

 

Teaching Fellow: UCLA Department of Sociology 2005

Undergraduate course Research Methods: At the Movies

 

Teaching Fellow: University of California Paris Center 2005

Undergraduate courses French Language and Culture

 

Co-Instructor: UCLA Department of Sociology and OID 2004 & 2005

Graduate course Supervised Teaching of Sociology

 

Teaching Fellow: UCLA Department of Sociology and OID 1998-2005

Graduate and undergraduate courses Sociology and New Technologies

 

Teaching Fellow: UCLA Collegium of Teaching Fellows 2004

Undergraduate course Sociology of Online Worlds: Redefining the Real

Grant for Instructional Improvement: Office of Instructional Development

 

Adjunct Faculty: Sociology, Santa Monica College Department of Social Sciences 2002

Undergraduate courses Introduction to Sociology: Film and Society

 

Lecturer: California Lutheran University Department of French 1997-1998

Undergraduate courses French Language and Culture 101, 102, and 202

 

 

TEACHING ASSISTANT EXPERIENCE

 

Teaching Assistant: UCLA Department of Sociology 1999-2000

Sections of undergraduate course Ethnographic Research Methods

 

 

RESEARCH AND UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCE

 

Director: UC Paris Center for French and European Studies Language Practicum Spring 2005

Developed and directed language practicum on French language and culture in Paris

 

Executive Director: UCLA LeRoy Neiman Center 2000-2003

Conducted research; implemented grants, coordinated annual conferences and lecture series

 

Graduate Student Researcher: UCLA Department of Sociology 1999-2000

Conducted research on virtual art for David Halle

 

Graduate Student Researcher: UCLA Department of Sociology 1999

Conducted research on eBay for Peter Kollock

 

 

OTHER EXPERIENCE

 

Stagiaire: Citibank Paris, France 1996

Conducted cross-cultural research as member of bilingual project team

 

Intern: U.S. House of Representatives, Washington D.C. 1993

Conducted research at the Library of Congress to examine current events and policies

 

 

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

 

Science Technology and Society Steering Committee Member: Santa Clara University 2008-2009

Computer Committee Member: UCLA Dept. of Sociology 2005-2006

Coordinator for Trust and Networks Working Group: UCLA Dept. of Sociology 2001-2002

Rep. to the Graduate Curriculum and Advisement Committee: UCLA Dept. of Sociology 2000-2001

Computer Committee Member: UCLA Dept. of Sociology 1999-2000

Member of the Provost’s Committee on Inclusiveness: University of Southern California 1992-1993

 

 

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

 

Communication and Information Technologies Section of the American Sociological Association

                                    Council Member 2008-2010

                                    Student Paper Award Committee Member 2008

 

Session Organizer:       American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco 2008

                                    International Communication Association Conference, San Francisco, 2007.

 

Journal Reviewer:        Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication

                                    New Media & Society

                                    American Sociological Review

                                    American Journal of Sociology

                                    Organization Science      

                                    Information Technologies & International Development

                                    Electronic Journal of Sociology

                                    Time & Society

                                   

Conference Reviewer: International Communication Association Conference

                                    National Communication Association Annual Convention

                                    European Conference on Information Systems

                                    Int'l. Community on Information Systems for Crisis Response & Management

 

Academic Editor:        The Social Issues Collection, Routledge

 

 

LANGUAGES

 

French

Brazilian Portuguese