Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary, studying cities and culture. https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/matt-pattersonhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3mh5fyzfnhc2rCheck out our new paper in American Sociological Review: "Living with Ghosts: How Physical Traces of the Past Shape Cultural Trauma in Chinatowns" The paper is based on research we've done on efforts to preserve and protect historic Chinatowns in Canada and the United States https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122426142241416 Mar 2026 02:29 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3mh5fyzfnhc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lzjy3d5cts24Getting a research grant is 10% coming up with a good idea, 20% writing a polished application, and 70% hitting reload on a web browser to see if the SSHRC website will appear.23 Sep 2025 22:32 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzjy3d5cts24https://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lyv73ipkvs2vOur department is hiring! [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Sep 2025 16:11 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyv73ipkvs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lo64hyzjkk2bThe average American has three friends [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 May 2025 05:42 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lo64hyzjkk2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lnjyos6w3c2iNGL it’s pretty crazy to hear Al Gore quote Adorno and reference Habermas (though he uses the past tense as if he’s dead) [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Apr 2025 05:40 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnjyos6w3c2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lneg4dnixk2yhttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/books/herbert-j-gans-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share22 Apr 2025 00:25 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lneg4dnixk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lepzpa4rmc2wWhile we look back nostalgically at the formal fashion of the 1920s, the people back then were dreaming of the day it would be socially acceptable to wear pajamas to work. [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Jan 2025 02:28 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lepzpa4rmc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3ldlykdtgpk2zCheck out this new tenure-track sociology job in Calgary: https://mtroyalca.hua.hrsmart.com/hr/ats/Posting/view/309418 Dec 2024 18:31 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldlykdtgpk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lc6xhygqc22cCity looked nice this week.30 Nov 2024 20:42 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lc6xhygqc22chttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lbgjyeyh3h27Former YMCA, Philadelphia Chinatown (closed since 2007)21 Nov 2024 03:37 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbgjyeyh3h27https://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lbcuifg22b2tNeil Postman, in 1985, predicting TV programs like the Daily Show intended to satirize television news but ultimately just further blurring the boundaries between entertainment and news.19 Nov 2024 16:34 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lbcuifg22b2thttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3lav56k5wbs2gComing out of social media hibernation to post my thoughts on the US election. Lots of debate over whether Harris was too centrist or not centrist enough. For me, this misses the mark. I think of this election in terms of Ronald Inglehart's concepts of materialism vs post-materialism... 1/814 Nov 2024 05:33 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3lav56k5wbs2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3jzpu2uhz6225For @ctownt2g.bsky.social, here’s some photos of Melbourne Chinatown04 Jul 2023 19:44 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3jzpu2uhz6225https://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3jzmtf5mi4g2mBack in Canada. Melbourne did not disappoint. It is a flaneur’s paradise.03 Jul 2023 14:54 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3jzmtf5mi4g2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/yyz2yyc.bsky.social/post/3jzmt3i2ddz2fDigital technologies are transforming the city into a "gamespace" in which we are constantly encouraged to score points. Check out my latest paper: "Scoreboard Urbanism: Theorizing Mental Life in the Digitally Mediated Metropolis" https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1535684123117364403 Jul 2023 14:48 +0000at://did:plc:fxqxy2fd2muo6ejqhexz2rt3/app.bsky.feed.post/3jzmt3i2ddz2f