Professor Greg Smith

Current positions

Professor Emeritus (Sociology)

Biography

Greg has been teaching and researching sociology at the University of Salford since the 1970s, initially inspired by the work of Erving Goffman, the world-renowned sociologist who shed fresh light on how the ordinary actions of everyday life were socially organized. This led to the development of research interests and publications in the fields of social interaction, ethnography, and visual representation.

Greg’s authored or co-authored books include Analyzing Visual Data (1992), Introducing Cultural Studies (3e, 2017), Erving Goffman (2006), and Sociologies of Interaction (2013). Among his edited works are three books on Goffman’s legacy, most recently The Routledge International Handbook of Goffman Studies (2022). He enjoys collaborative research and has been a visiting researcher at the École Normale Supérieure—Lyon.

His current work includes a project (with Chris Birkbeck) examining the situated practices of restorative justice meetings and an intellectual biography of Goffman (with Yves Winkin).