Associate Professor (Ph.D. Northwestern University)

Research Interests

Space and Place, Time, Qualitative Methods, Symbolic Interaction, Northern Studies, Culture, Science and Technology Studies

Contact Information

Ph: 709 864 8677
Em: lvandenscott@mun.ca
Office: AA4061

Personal Profile

Dr. van den Scott began her academic career with an M.A. in Classics from Memorial University. Soon after graduating, she moved with her spouse to Nunavut, where she lived for five years. Eventually it became obvious to her that she could no longer deny her inner sociologist. With the guidance of Inuit community in which she resided, she began to do sociological research in this hamlet. Gradually she noticed how differently walls were treated both among families in this community, and across other cultures she encountered in her travels. From here she began to develop a Sociology of Walls, building on the work of others who had researched architecture, buildings, and space and place. She found the generosity and compassion of Inuit remarkable as they encouraged her work. She is currently working on a book which introduces a more formal Sociology of Walls, and examines the relationship of Inuit of one hamlet to their housing and the spaces of their everyday lives. She finds this is intimately tied to identity performance. Van den Scott has also published on reality TV and has an interest in the Sociology of Time, as well as deep roots in Symbolic Interactionism.

Office Hours

by appointment

Teaching

Dr. van den Scott regularly teaches seminar courses in the sociology of space and the sociology of time, in addition to qualitative methods and contemporary social theory.

Letter to students:
https://www.mindyourmind.ca/expression/blog/memorial-u-professors-letter-students-your-ideas-are-important-our-society

2019 Helena Lopata Mentor Excellence Award. Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction

Affiliations

Editor-in-Chief, Symbolic Interaction

The Avalon Research Society (co-Founder) www.aspaceforplace.com

Anglo-Nordic Network of Social Research, Featured Member

Annual Qualitative Analysis Conference, Conference Co-Organizer 2014-present

Research

Books

van den Hoonaard, Deborah K., and Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott.  2021.  Qualitative Research in Action: A Canadian Primer, 4^th edition.  Oxford University Press.

Kleinknecht, Steve, Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott, and Carrie B. Sanders, eds. 2018. The Craft of Qualitative Research. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press. 

Articles and Book Chapters

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K., and Emma L. Martin.  2022.  “Women Leaving and Losing in Politics: Eulogy Work on a Public Stage.”  Pp.81-101 in Ex-treme Identities and Transitions out of Extraordinary Roles.  James Hardie-Bick and Susie Scott, eds.  Switzerland: Palgrave.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K.  2021.  “Collective Memory.” Pp. 264-274 in The Routledge Handbook of Interactionism.  Dirk Vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco, and Will Gibson, eds.  London: Routledge.

Sandstrom, Kent L., Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott, and Gary Alan Fine.  2021. “The Triumphs, Permutations, and New Horizons of Symbolic Interactionism.” Pp. 435-446 in The Routledge Handbook of Interactionism.  Dirk Vom Lehn, Natalia Ruiz-Junco, and Will Gibson, eds.  London: Routledge. 

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K.  2020.  “Temporal Front and Back Stages: Time Work as Resistance.” Pp. 83-102 in Time Work: Studies in Temporal Agency.  Michael G. Flaherty, ed.  Berghahn Books.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2019.  “Symbolic Interactionism.”  In SAGE Research Methods Foundations, edited by Paul A. Atkinson, Sara Delamont, J.W. Sakshaug, and Richard Williams.  Sage.  doi: 10.4135/9781526421036807692

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2019. “Sociology and Ethics: Doing the Right Thing.” Pp. 1-15 in The Handbook of Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity. Ron Iphofen, ed. Springer.

van den Scott, Jeffrey, and Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott. 2019. “Imagined Engagements: Interpreting the Musical Relationship with the Canadian North.” Qualitative Sociology Review 15(2):90-104

Fine, Gary Alan, and Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott. Forthcoming. “The Sad Demise, Mysterious Disappearance, and Glorious Triumph of Symbolic Interaction at Twenty-Five.” Postscript to Gary Alan Fine: Etnografia e società. Matteo Bortolini and Andrea Cossu, trans. In Italian.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K., and Carrie B. Sanders. 2018 “Analyzing Materiality.” Pp. 278-287 in The Craft of Qualitative Research. Steve Kleinknecht, Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott, and Carrie B. Sanders, eds. Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2018. “Role Transitions in the Field and Reflexivity: From Friend to Researcher.” Studies in Qualitative Methodology (Special Issue: Emotion and the Researcher: Sites, Subjectivities and Relationships). 16:19-32

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2017. “Time to Defy: The Use of Temporal Spaces to Enact Resistance.” Oppression and Resistance: Structure, Agency, Transformation; Studies in Symbolic Interaction. 48:137-155.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2017. “Collective Memory and Social Restructuring in the Case of Traditional Inuit Shamanism.” Symbolic Interaction. 40(1):83-100.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K., Carrie Sanders, Antony J. Puddephatt. 2017. “Reconceptualizing Users through Enriching Ethnography.” Pp. 501-527 in The Handbook of Science and Technology Studies, 4th Edition. Clark A. Miller, et al., eds. MIT Press.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K., and Deborah K. van den Hoonaard. 2016. “The Origins and Evolution of ‘Master Status.’” Pp. 173-192 in The Anthem Companion to Everett Hughes. Rick Helmes-Hays and Marco Santoro, eds. New York: Anthem Press.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2016. “Mundane Technology in non-Western Contexts: Wall-as-Tool.” Pp. 33-53 in Sociology of Home: Belonging, Community and Place in the Canadian Context. Laura Suski, Joey Moore, and Gillian Anderson, eds. Canadian Scholars Press International.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2015. “Graduate Ethics and Graduate Ethics Boards: Socialization of Contemporary Students by Ethics Boards.” Pp. 306-332 in The Ethics Rupture. Ann Hamilton and Will C. van den Hoonaard, eds. University of Toronto Press.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K., Clare Forstie, and Savina Balasubramanian. 2015. “Shining Stars, Blindsides, and “Real” Realities: Exit Rituals, Eulogy Work, and Allegories in Reality Television.” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 44(4): 417-449.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2014. “Beyond the Time Crunch: New Directions in the Sociology of Time and Work.” Sociology Compass. 8(5):478-490.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2012. “Science, Politics, and Identity in Northern Research Ethics Licensing.” Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics. 7(1):28-36.

Fine, Gary Alan and Lisa-Jo K. van den Scott. 2011. “Wispy Communities: Transient Gathering and Imagined Micro-Communities.” American Behavioral Scientist. 55(10):1319-1335.

van den Scott, Lisa-Jo K. 2009. “Cancelled, Aborted, Late, Mechanical: The Vagaries of Air Travel in Arviat, Nunavut, Canada.” Pp. 211-226 in The Cultures of Alternative Mobilities: Routes Less Travelled. Phillip Vannini, ed. Surrey: Ashgate.