Edward A. Tiryakian papers

Edward Ashod Tiryakian (1929- ) was born in Bronxville, New York, son of Keghinee Agathon Tiryakian and Ashod Haroutioun Tiryakian, a businessman. Educated in France and the United States, Edward Tiryakian graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University where he received a B.A. in sociology in 1952. In 1954 and 1956, respectively, he earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, where his mentors included sociologists Talcott Parsons and Pitirim Sorokin.

From 1956 to 1962 Edward Tiryakian taught at Princeton University and from 1962 to 1965 at Harvard University. In 1965 he was appointed Associate Professor at Duke University. In 1967 he became Professor of Sociology, and from 1969 to 1972 he served as Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. In 2004 Tiryakian retired as Professor Emeritus of Duke University. In subsequent years he continued to remain professionally active, and in 2008, he was the featured speaker for the Bruce Mayhew Memorial Lecture at the University of South Carolina.

During his tenure at Duke University, Edward Tiryakian helped internationalize the university. He served as Director of International Studies (1989 to 1991) and as Distinguished Leader of the Fulbright New Century Scholars Program (2002 to 2003). Tiryakian also developed extensive international connections through lecturing and participating in conferences and congresses in other countries, including Australia, China, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, and Lebanon. In visiting teaching appointments Tiryakian taught at Laval University, Queacute;bec (1978), the U. E. R. de Sciences Sociales at the Universiteacute; Reneacute; Descartes, Paris (1985), the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, Paris (1992), and at the Free University of Berlin (1996). Additionally, he served as Associate Director of Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, 6e Section, Universiteacute; de Paris (1971-1972) and taught as Adjunct Professor at Concordia University, Queacute;bec (1978). He also served on the editorial board of the journal of International Sociology. In 1987 Tiryakian received an honorary doctorate from the Sorbonne, the Universiteacute; Reneacute; Descartes-Paris.

Active in professional organizations, Edward Tiryakian attained many leadership positions. He served as President of the American Society for the Study of Religion (1981 to 1984) and as Vice-President and President of the Association Internationale des Sociologues de Langue Franccedil;aise (respectively, 1985 to 1988 and 1988 to 1992). In addition, Tiryakian chaired the Theory section of the American Sociological Association (1975 and 1986), and the History of Sociology section of the American Sociological Association (2005 to 2006).

Edward Tiryakian has published in areas of theory, religion, globalization, national identity, disasters, and the history of sociology and social thought. His books include For Durkheim: Essays in Historical and Cultural Sociology, Rethinking Classical Sociology (Ashgate, 2009); The Evaluation of Occupations in a Developing Country: The Philippines (Garland, 1990); and Sociologism and Existentialism: Two Perspectives on the Individual and Society (Prentice-Hall, 1962, reprinted by Arno, 1979).

Edward Tiryakian also brought together the work of notable scholars in many influential essay collections. These include: Robert K. Merton in Review Symposium,Contemporary Sociology (1991, editor); New Nationalisms of the Developed West (Allen & Unwin, 1985, co-editor); The Global Crisis: Sociological Analyses and Responses (E. J. Brill, 1984, editor); On the Margin of the Visible: Sociology, the Esoteric and the Occult (Wiley Interscience, 1974, editor); The Phenomenon of Sociology (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1971, editor); Theoretical Sociology: Perspectives and Developments (Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1970, co-editor); and Sociological Theory, Values and Sociocultural Change: Essays in Honor of Pitirim A. Sorokin (Free Press of Glencoe, 1963, editor).

As listed on his Duke University Web site, Edward Tiryakian's published articles are numerous. Modernity and the Second Return of Mechanical Solidarity (2009) is a recent example. Selected articles represented in the Edward A. Tiryakian Papers include: Gurvitch et Parsons: Maitre et Maitre d'Ecole (1990); Durkheim, Mathiez, and the French Revolution, (1988); The Sociological Import of a Metaphor: Tracking the Source of Max Weber's Iron Cage,(1981), Phenomenology and Positivism, (1974), and Le Premier Message: Emile Durkheim(1967).

Edward Tiryakian is married to Josefina Cintron, a research scholar, and has two sons, Edmund Carlos Agathon Tiryakian and Edwyn Ashod Tiryakian. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

References

An Interview with Edward Tiryakian,Words from Writers. International Sociology 21.3 (2006): 371-77. Web. 7 December 2009.Curriculum Vitae, Edward A Tiryakian, Sociology at Duke. Web. 24 July 2009.Edward A. Tiryakian,Contemporary Authors. Gale. Web. 13 July 2009.Edward A Tiryakian, Professor Emeritus,Sociology at Duke. Web. 21 July 2009.Tiryakian, Edward Ashod. Edited draft for Who's Who in America, 63rd ed. 2009.The Edward A. Tiryakian Papers, 1881-2010 (Bulk 1952-2010), Historical Collections and Labor Archives, Special Collections Library, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University. Box 1.16.Tiryakian, Edward A., Have Sociological Passport, Will Travel, in Sociologists in a Global Age. Ed. M. Deflem. Ashgate, 2007: 239-63. Web. 9 December 2009.