The Stuff of Family Life: Gender, Identity and Politics in Homes

What could our use of everyday objects teach us about our families? 

Michelle Janning, Ph.D., professor of sociology at Whitman College and co-chair of the Council on Contemporary Families, shows how objects and spaces in the home signify roles, relationships and inequalities that also play out in the public realm.

Building on the fields of design research, material culture studies, consumer research, social psychology and human-computer interaction studies, Janning offers a peek into homes with particular emphasis on gender and social class. Her talk draws on nearly 20 years of research on topics such as work-family boundary permeability in the use of briefcases and home offices, children's views of their bedrooms and belongings at two homes after parents divorce, the management of digital family photos, and the storage and curation of love letters. 

With reference to these concrete details, Janning argues that the private realm tells us much about public life. The personal is political.

Admission is free.