Michael Ian Borer (Sociology) delivered the 2015 George Herbert Mead Lecture during the annual convention of National Communication Association (NCA) at the Rio Conference Center in November.
Borer’s lecture was titled, “Sensuous Knowledge and the Rise of Aesthetic Urbanism.” In the lecture, he noted that cities are chock full of distinctive smells, sounds, and tastes, as well as visual and tactile stimuli, each needing interpretation and subsequently endowed with a range of symbolic meanings. In order to recognize the sensuous ways that cities communicate with those who live, work, or play within them, Borer argued that we need to attune our bodies — as instruments of knowledge and power — to the production and consumption of aesthetic urban experiences. To support his argument, Borer discussed findings from his current ethnographic study of the Las Vegas craft beer scene.
The George Herbert Mead Lecture Series is an annual presentation established by a branch unit of Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction (SSSI) at NCA conventions. The purpose of the series is to promote the study of symbolic interactionism in the field of communication. The lecture serves to engage dialogues, discussions, and collaboration efforts between sociologists and communication researchers. NCA is the oldest academic organization in the field of communication, with a membership of more than 9,000 worldwide. The NCA convention is attended by more than 5,000 scholars, researchers, practitioners, and students in the field of communication annually.
