Workplace discrimination is topic of visiting sociologist

Dignity, civility, and equality for minorities, women, the aged, and others unfairly discriminated against?all are the purview of Vincent Roscigno, a prolific scholar, author, and professor of sociology at Ohio State University.He will present a lecture titled "Micro-Politics of Discrimination, Incivility, and Legitimation at Work," starting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6, in Gannett Auditorium, Palamountain Hall.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be the main community presentation of Roscigno's presence at Skidmore this month. By invitation of the College's sociology program, he will also visit classes, give lectures, and interact with faculty and students.

The Oct. 6 talk will focus on what Roscigno describes as "the sociological evidence?that race, gender, and age discrimination, as well as more general forms of incivility, persist in American workplaces."Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data of nearly 75,000 cases of employment discrimination and ethnographic accounts of workplace bullying, Roscigno has analyzed the prevalent dynamics of inequality and the ways in which such inequality is legitimated by employers.

Roscigno studies andwrites about discrimination, race, gender, work, education, unions, music, bullying, citizenship, politics, and social movements, among other topics. He is the author ofThe Face of Discrimination: How Race and Gender Impact Work and Home Lives(2007)and co-author (with William F. Danaher) ofThe Voice of Southern Labor: Radio, Music, and Textile Strikes, 1929-1934  (2004).His published work also includes more than 60 scholarly papers, and he has won numerous awards for his research and teaching. He is currently president of the Southern Sociological Society and co-editor of the American Sociological Review.

Roscigno's lecture is co-sponsored by more than a dozen Skidmore offices, programs, and academic departments. For more information, call 518-580-5421.