Nourishing Our Roots: Voices from AHS's First Five Years

Abstract

Drawing from email interviews of 15 individuals who had been Association for Humanist Sociology (AHS) members during the first five years of its existence, supplementary interviews and research, this keynote address presents three themes in three performative acts. The first is a long forgotten story of AHS's founding. The second act chronicles issues that occupied AHSer's during its early years, and the final theme draws from the past to project to the future. Following in the footsteps of Dwight Conquergood, the author crafted the data into a performance that was delivered at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the association. The author played most roles, with audience members participating at various points to create a social drama blurring the distinction between audience and performer. This work challenges the reader to question the role of the objective researcher, the nature of memory and history, and the ways history can help us shape a future.