Elihu Katz
Encyclopedia
Elihu Katz (born 1926 in New York
) is an American and Israeli sociologist.
, University of Pennsylvania
, Emeritus Professor of Sociology
and Communication
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Scientific Director of the Guttman Institute of Applied Social Research.
His first book, co-authored in 1955 with his Columbia University
mentor, Paul Lazarsfeld
, was an attempt to observe the flow of influence at the intersections of mass and interpersonal communication. His subsequent work in this tradition includes studies on the diffusion
of medical innovation (with James Coleman
and Herbert Menzel), and on the diffusion of fluoridation to American cities (with Robert L. Crain and Donald Rosenthal). He follows the writings of the French social psychologist, Gabriel Tarde
, in conceptualizing the public sphere as an arena of interaction among media, conversation, opinion and action.
In the 1960s, Katz began to commute between his initial post at the University of Chicago
and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
. He also began his affiliation with the Israel Institute of Applied Social Research, founded by Louis Guttman. His major focus during this period was on the acculturation of new immigrants to Israel as reflected in the reasons that accompanied their interactions with bureaucratic agencies. Work with Brenda Danet, Michael Gurevitch, Tsiyona Peled and others, this NSF-sponsored project led to the development of a generic scheme for the study of persuasive appeals in a variety of institutional frameworks, including prayers addressed to God.
Taking time out from his academic positions in Chicago and Jerusalem where he had founded the Hebrew University’s Communications Institute. Katz accepted the invitation of the Government of Israel to head the task force charged with the introduction of television broadcasting in the late 60s. This experience found expression in his subsequent academic work. It led, in the 1970s, to joint work with Eberhard George Wedell of Manchester University on the introduction of broadcasting in third world
countries, and together with Michael Gurevitch, Hanna Adoni, Hadassah Haas and others to assess the impact of twenty years of television (1970-1990) in leisure, culture and communication in Israel. The United States-Israel Bi-National Science Foundation and the Israel National Council on the Arts underwrote these studies. During this period, he also served as consultant on broadcasting research to the BBC.
In the mid-70s, inspired by Anwar Sadat
’s peace-making initiative, Katz and Daniel Dayan
began assembling a library of those live broadcasts of historic occasions that enthralled a whole nation, or the world. Their 1992 book, Media Events, representing some 15 years of collaboration, is now in print in seven languages. Support for this research came from the Markle Foundation
and the [Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania] where Dayan and Katz spent part of each year. Katz subsequently joined the faculty of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania as Trustee Professor in 1992, and also directed its experimental Scholars program for post-doctoral study. In Jerusalem, he is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Communication, and former director of the Institute of Applied Social Research.
Overlapping the work on Media Events, Katz joined Tamar Liebes in a study of another genre of broadcasting, the nighttime soap. Their book on cross-cultural differences in the reception of Dallas is entitled The Export of Meaning (1990). An outgrowth of this collaboration is the collection of essays debating the usefulness of Canonic Texts in Media Research (2002). Co-edited by Katz, Liebes, John Durham Peters
and Avril Orloff, each of its 13 essays argues for (and against) the canonic status of a well-known text.
He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1989, he was awarded the presigious Israel Prize
, for social sciences.
In 2005, he received the Marshall Sklare Award, given annually by the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry to a senior scholar who has made a significant scholarly contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry.
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is an American and Israeli sociologist.
Biography
Katz has spent most of a lifetime in research on communication, his main focus being the interplay between media, conversation, opinion, and action in the public sphere. Katz is Trustee Professor at the Annenberg School for CommunicationAnnenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania
The Annenberg School for Communication is the communications school at the University of Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1958 by Wharton School's alum Walter Annenberg as "The Annenberg School of Communications." The name was changed to its current title in the late 1980's.Walter...
, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, Emeritus Professor of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and Communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Scientific Director of the Guttman Institute of Applied Social Research.
His first book, co-authored in 1955 with his Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
mentor, Paul Lazarsfeld
Paul Lazarsfeld
Paul Felix Lazarsfeld was one of the major figures in 20th-century American sociology. The founder of Columbia University's Bureau of Applied Social Research, he exerted a tremendous influence over the techniques and the organization of social research...
, was an attempt to observe the flow of influence at the intersections of mass and interpersonal communication. His subsequent work in this tradition includes studies on the diffusion
Diffusion
Molecular diffusion, often called simply diffusion, is the thermal motion of all particles at temperatures above absolute zero. The rate of this movement is a function of temperature, viscosity of the fluid and the size of the particles...
of medical innovation (with James Coleman
James Coleman
James Coleman may refer to:*James P. Coleman , Governor of Mississippi*James Smoot Coleman , American political scientist*James Samuel Coleman , American sociologist*James Coleman , Irish artist...
and Herbert Menzel), and on the diffusion of fluoridation to American cities (with Robert L. Crain and Donald Rosenthal). He follows the writings of the French social psychologist, Gabriel Tarde
Gabriel Tarde
Jean-Gabriel De Tarde or Gabriel Tarde in short French sociologist, criminologist and social psychologist who conceived sociology as based on small psychological interactions among individuals , the fundamental forces being imitation and innovation.- Theory :Among the concepts...
, in conceptualizing the public sphere as an arena of interaction among media, conversation, opinion and action.
In the 1960s, Katz began to commute between his initial post at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. He also began his affiliation with the Israel Institute of Applied Social Research, founded by Louis Guttman. His major focus during this period was on the acculturation of new immigrants to Israel as reflected in the reasons that accompanied their interactions with bureaucratic agencies. Work with Brenda Danet, Michael Gurevitch, Tsiyona Peled and others, this NSF-sponsored project led to the development of a generic scheme for the study of persuasive appeals in a variety of institutional frameworks, including prayers addressed to God.
Taking time out from his academic positions in Chicago and Jerusalem where he had founded the Hebrew University’s Communications Institute. Katz accepted the invitation of the Government of Israel to head the task force charged with the introduction of television broadcasting in the late 60s. This experience found expression in his subsequent academic work. It led, in the 1970s, to joint work with Eberhard George Wedell of Manchester University on the introduction of broadcasting in third world
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
countries, and together with Michael Gurevitch, Hanna Adoni, Hadassah Haas and others to assess the impact of twenty years of television (1970-1990) in leisure, culture and communication in Israel. The United States-Israel Bi-National Science Foundation and the Israel National Council on the Arts underwrote these studies. During this period, he also served as consultant on broadcasting research to the BBC.
In the mid-70s, inspired by Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
’s peace-making initiative, Katz and Daniel Dayan
Daniel Dayan
Daniel Dayan is a social scientist born in Casablanca. He is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris and a fellow of the Marcel Mauss Institute . Dayan studied at the Sorbonne, Stanford University, and Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales...
began assembling a library of those live broadcasts of historic occasions that enthralled a whole nation, or the world. Their 1992 book, Media Events, representing some 15 years of collaboration, is now in print in seven languages. Support for this research came from the Markle Foundation
Markle Foundation
The Markle Foundation is an organization concerned with technology, health care, and national security.Emerging communications media and information technology create unprecedented opportunity to improve people's lives. The Markle Foundation works to realize this potential and promotes the use of...
and the [Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania] where Dayan and Katz spent part of each year. Katz subsequently joined the faculty of the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania as Trustee Professor in 1992, and also directed its experimental Scholars program for post-doctoral study. In Jerusalem, he is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Communication, and former director of the Institute of Applied Social Research.
Overlapping the work on Media Events, Katz joined Tamar Liebes in a study of another genre of broadcasting, the nighttime soap. Their book on cross-cultural differences in the reception of Dallas is entitled The Export of Meaning (1990). An outgrowth of this collaboration is the collection of essays debating the usefulness of Canonic Texts in Media Research (2002). Co-edited by Katz, Liebes, John Durham Peters
John Durham Peters
John Durham Peters is an American academic and the A. Craig Baird professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa. A media historian and social theorist, he is probably best known for his first book Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication which traces out broad...
and Avril Orloff, each of its 13 essays argues for (and against) the canonic status of a well-known text.
Awards and honors
Katz is winner of the UNESCO-Canada McLuhan Prize, the Burda Prize (in media research), and other distinctions, including honorary degrees from the Universities of Ghent, Quebec in Montreal, Paris and Haifa.He is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1989, he was awarded the presigious Israel Prize
Israel Prize
The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for social sciences.
In 2005, he received the Marshall Sklare Award, given annually by the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry to a senior scholar who has made a significant scholarly contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry.
External links
- Annenberg at the University of Pennsylvania - biography, plus publications
See also
- List of Israel Prize recipients