Felicia Wu Song, Ph.D.
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Deane Hall 211
Wednesday 1:00-3:00 PM and Friday 8:15-10:15 AM and by appointment.
Social media and digital technology, sociology of culture.
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Digital Technology and Family
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Social Media and Consumer Culture
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Sociology of Culture
Felicia Song is a cultural sociologist who studies the place of digital technologies in contemporary life. Having trained in History, Communication Studies and Sociology from Yale, Northwestern, and University of Virginia, and taught at Louisiana State University’s Manship School for Mass Communication, her research is oriented around the rapidly evolving digital technology industry and how the adoption of social media and digital devices fundamentally alters the landscapes of family, community, and organizational life.
Her latest book Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence and Place in the Digital Age (Intervarsity Press Academic, published in 2021) explores how our contemporary digital habits fundamentally form us in ways that shape loves and imaginations of what it means to be human. This book binds sociology and theology together, arguing that both are needed for understanding how to live wisely in a digitally saturated society. Early research projects included studies of expectant women’s online information-seeking habits and the evolution of “mommy bloggers” as social media professionals. Her first book, Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together (Peter Lang 2009), examined the impact of online communities on democratic skills and dispositions. When she is not working, she enjoys tending the garden, learning to bake bread, and daydreaming about becoming proficient with the bass guitar. For further information, please visit: http:// feliciawusong.com.
Felicia Song received the 2017 Bruce and Adaline Bare Outstanding Teaching Award for the Social Sciences. In announcing the award, Provost Mark Sargent said, “She writes with discernment about the capacity of social media to give voice to those who might otherwise be unheard—and to create community among those who might otherwise be alone. At the same time, she can diagnose the dangers of our digitally saturated world, and offers both practical wisdom and scholarly expertise to help us envision sustainable digital practices consistent with Christian values. I admire Felicia for her leadership as a department chair, as an engaging teacher, and as a mentor for many student research projects. She has the intellectual spark to inspire curiosity, the courage to name what needs remedy, and the charity to seek the best for others.”