Annual Morris Rosenberg Lecture feat. Dr. Brian Powell

When:
Fri, Nov 6, 2026 - 2:30PM
to
Fri, Nov 6, 2026 - 4:00PM

Where:
Margaret Brent Room A, Stamp Student Union

Host:
Department of Sociology

Speakers:
Brian Powell, James Rudy Professor of Sociology at Indiana University

 

The Morris Rosenberg Memorial Lectureship was established in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland to pay tribute to the scholarly contributions made by Dr. Rosenberg. The lectureship brings eminent sociologists to campus who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the discipline. The inaugural Rosenberg Lecture was given by Charles Tilly in October 1999. Since then, the Lectureship has brought some of the most prominent sociologists to speak to the UMD Sociology community. 

On November 6, 2026, Dr. Brian Powell will deliver this year's lecture, titled "Recounting Family: Additions, Subtractions, and Divisions."

Abstract 

Several decades ago, most Americans held a narrow definition of “family”—one in which same-gender couples were excluded or counted out. Few could have predicted the remarkable shifts in social, cultural, legal, and political acceptance of same-gender families. Today, these families are increasingly counted in, but their inclusion is part of a much broader recount of what Americans consider a family. 

These changes or additions, however, have been accompanied by subtractions, contested boundaries and new forms of division.  In this presentation, Brian Powell examines these changing contours of family life, considering how Americans’ definitions of family—and their related views of parenthood—have evolved. He also identifies emerging battlegrounds over who is included and who remains outside these boundaries, including debates over the denial of services to same-gender couples and attitudes toward transgender youth and adults. Drawing on two decades of survey data, he explores the shifting social math through which Americans count families in, count others out, and continually redraw the boundaries of family.

Brian Powell is the James Rudy Professor of Sociology at Indiana University. An author of COUNTED OUT: Same-Sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family and WHO SHOULD PAY? Higher Education, Responsibility, and the Public, he served as president of the Sociological Research Association, vice-president of the American Sociological Association (ASA), and chair of the General Social Survey Board. He is the recipient of distinguished career awards from three ASA sections (Social Psychology, Education, and Family), the ASA Distinguished Contributions to Teaching Award, and the Spencer Foundation’s inaugural Mentor Award.