To Those Planning to Attend the Vidich-Bensman Conference:

We met last week and have developed a preliminary plan for the Vidich-Bensman conference planned for May 5-7, 2017, CUNY Graduate Center, Dept. of Sociology, 365 Fifth Ave. between 34th & 35th Streets, New York City. The tentative schedule is as follows:

Fri. May 5:

7:00-9:30 pm 

Memories of Vidich and Bensman as teachers, collaborators, friends, and family. Participants will have opportunity to read statements, speak extemporaneously, or use audio/visual aids to revisit the lives of these two thinker. We solicit ideas for this session from interested parties

Sat. May 6:

10:00 – 1:00

Session on the legacy of Joseph Bensman:

Beginning with a panel discussion on Robert Jackall and Duffy Graham’s recently published anthology From Joseph Bensman: Essays on Modern Society, we will use a discussion of the anthology to begin to assess Bensman’s legacy as a sociologist and intellectual in relationship to his collaboration not only with Arthur Vidich but Maury Stein, Israel Gerver, Bernard Rosenberg, Robert Lilienfeld, Jack Kamerman, Michael Gavant, and others.

           1:15-2:15 LUNCH

           2:30-5:30

           Session on the Legacy of Arthur Vidich:

Starting with a panel discussion on Arthur Vidich’s memoir With a Critical Eye: An Intellectual and His Times, we will begin to assess Vidich’s individual legacy as a sociologist and intellectual in relationship to his collaboration not only with Joseph Bensman but Stanford Lyman, Guy Oakes, Robert Jackall, Michael Hughey, Maury Stein, Ronald Glassman, and others.

           7:00 DINNER at a local restaurant

Sun. May 7:

12:00pm-3:00

The Intellectual Collaborative Legacy of Joseph Bensman & Arthur Vidich and their contribution to sociology. 

3:00-3:30

          Concluding thoughts.

In the sessions on the work of Bensman and Vidich, participants will have the opportunity to discuss their written work, and have that work responded to as well as speak extemporaneously on issues raised. We still are soliciting ideas and are very interested to hear from people who wish to be moderators or participants in the panel discussions. As we hear from participants as to what they wish to contribute, the above schedule will develop more.

We will need to receive copies of papers and/or commitments to serve as commentators on panels by March 15, 2017. Selected papers will be distributed to all participants via email unless authors explicitly request a paper not be circulated.

For guidance regarding content, please see the article published in 1996 by Jerry Levy; it is a review essay of Arthur’s anthology The New Middle Classes. This paper is but one of many possible perspectives on their work.

While we will continue to email you updates, you may also visit this blog site dedicated to Arthur's career, maintained by Charles Vidich, for updates on the conference.

If you know of salient work already published which you think should be included in this conference, please alert us to those sources. Meanwhile, we encourage attendees to read or review the following books:

• From Joseph Bensman: Essays on Modern Society, Robert Jackall & Duffy Graham
• With a Critical Eye: An Intellectual and His Times, Arthur J. Vidich
• The New Middle Classes: Social, Psychological, and Political Issues (Main Trends of the Modern World), Arthur J. Vidich

We look forward to hearing from you soon. Please also confirm your attendance as soon as possible, whether or not you intend to participate in a panel.

Please call Jerry Levy at his cell number, (301) 775-8840 or his landline, (802) 254-8513 or to contact CJ Churchill by email, cjchurchi@yahoo.com.

All Best,

Jerry Levy & CJ Churchill