John Drysdale joined the faculty in 2007 as Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department.  His areas of scholarship and teaching include sociological theory, both classical and contemporary, European and American, as well as the intellectual and institutional history of sociology.  He has published several articles on Max Weber and the early development of sociology in Germany.  He has also published on theoretical and methodological issues of concept formation and interpretation in the social sciences.  His current interests include public sociology and its relation to the tradition of critical social theory.

His most recent publications include: “Max Weber on Objectivity: Advocate or Critic?” in the book Max Weber’s ‘Objectivity’ Reconsidered, University of Toronto Press (2007), and, with Susan Hoecker-Drysdale, “The History of Sociology: The North American Perspective” in 21st Century Sociology: A Reference Handbook, Sage (2007).

Professor Drysdale has held previous faculty appointments at Concordia University, Montréal, Québec, Canada, where he was Professor of Sociology and Department Chair, and Max Weber Scholar in Residence at Lonergan University College, and as Visiting Professor of Sociology at the University of Iowa.  He has held sabbatical research appointments at Harvard University in the Center for European Studies and has conducted research at the Institut für Soziologie and the former Max-Weber-Institut of the Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität, Munich, Germany.