Jim Thomas, Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus, is the recipient of the 2008 David R. Maines Narrative Research Award. Until recently, David Maines was Professor and Chair at Oakland University in Michigan. He is noted as one of the most influential promoters of symbolic interactionism in American sociology. In addition to his own extensive empirical work, Maines has contributed to the recognition of the classics within the symbolic interactionist tradition, including their collective macrosociological importance.
The Maines Award is presented to recognize works that interpret or address Maines's pragmatist approaches, apply Maines's narrative concepts, or develop aspects of Maines's scholarship in new directions. The award plaque resides at Oakland University (Michigan). Jim Thomas was recognized for his manuscript "A Valentine's Day Narrative: Confronting the Abyss," an earlier version of which was published in Social Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 71, No. 2 (June 2008), pp. 109-113.
The Maines Award is sponsored by the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research. Thomas will receive the Award at the 2009 annual meetings of the Midwest Sociological Society.