I³R Speaker Julia McQuillan: Can Sociology Help Maximize the Societal Benefits of Food Science?

The Institute for Integrative & Innovative Research (I³R) is excited to announce the inaugural I³R Speaker Series. The first event is co-sponsored by the Food Science Department of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food & Life Sciences. 

Dr. Julia McQuillan will be the first featured speaker on Thursday, March 16 at 10:30 a.m. in room 159 of the Shiloh Building, 481 S. Shiloh Dr. in Fayetteville.  

McQuillan is the Willa Cather Professor of Sociology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She evaluates fundamental social psychological theories with multiple kinds of research designs and analyses to study social inequality. Her studies inform how to change structures and practices to increase equity and wellbeing. 

Sociologists generally study food, food systems, food workers and automation from the perspective of "outsiders" who critique problems such as inequality in profits, nutrition and health. Are there benefits to integrating sociologists and their questions, theories, research designs and prior findings from the beginning of a project? This talk will argue that the answer is "yes" and will provide examples from published work, preliminary results from survey data on attitudes towards food innovations and working with robots, and proposed work to support meaningful broader impacts and maximize social benefits of proposed innovations. 

Attendees will be encouraged to raise questions, provide insights and explore the opportunities and challenges inherent in efforts to change complex systems such as food production.