The Workshop in Cultural Sociology is designed to be a permanent, ongoing part of the Graduate curriculum. Meeting weekly throughout both the Fall and Spring semesters, it will constitute an continuing, informal seminar to explore areas of mutual interest among students and faculty, both visiting and permanent. The core concern of the workshop is social meaning and its forms and processes of institutionalization, with special reference to the problem of civil society, democracy, and inclusion. Meaning is approached both as structure and performance, drawing not only upon the burgeoning area of cultural sociology but on the humanities, philosophy, and other social sciences. Our references are codes, narratives, and metaphors, and the elements of their performance. Institutionalization refers to the social processes that provide the context for culture-creation and that stratify its effects. Our references here are the normal stuff of sociology: class, race, gender, sexuality, religion, status hierarchies and marginality, centers and peripheries, and globality. Please note: Workshop readings are automatically available to current participants only and require authentication (username and password). Off-campus CCS Fellows can contact the CCS Administrator to gain access as needed.