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The Auburn Plainsman

Professor gives lecture on pragmatic interactionism theory

Auburn University’s Natalia Ruiz-Junco, assistant professor of sociology, has a fire that burns for theory. Under the umbrella term of sociology, her research interests include social theory, social psychology, sociology of emotions, identity, qualitative methodology and social movements. “I’m interested in the construction of meaning in social life and in the interpretive dynamics of social action,” Ruiz-Junco said. With over 10 publications dating back to 2003, Ruiz-Junco remained persistent in her pursuit of truth. During a lecture, Ruiz-Junco specifically broke down the theory of pragmatic interactionism. Ruiz-Junco defined pragmatic to mean dealing with things realistically, in a way based on practical versus theoretical and interactionism as the theory that there are two entities, the mind and body, each of which influence each other. Ruiz-Junco has had a long-standing interest in pragmatist and interactionist theories. Ruiz-Junco said age, sex and job title help to make up one’s identity.

The Auburn Plainsman

Auburn University faculty member warranted an asteroid naming due to his contributios to planetary science.  Masatoshi Hirabayashi, assistant professor of aerospace engineering, was honored with the asteroid naming at the “Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2017” conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, earlier this year.  Hirabayashi’s asteroid, 11471 Toshihirabayashi, was discovered on March 6, 1981, at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia by astronomer Schelte Bus. When an asteroid is discovered, it is given a temporary name and then a catalog number when its orbit is more accurately determined.

The Auburn Plainsman

KA, other fraternities team up against childhood cancer

For the fourth consecutive year, Kappa Alpha Order, demonstrated how precious the life of a child is. Hosting the annual ‘Stomp The Plains’ step-dance competition, 5 teams of 20 put together a comical routine that gave everyone a good laugh.