January 7, 2021
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Stephen L. Klineberg, Ph.D.
Founding Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research
Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Rice University
Dr. Stephen Klineberg has been shaping local thought on the ongoing trends in Houston for almost forty years. As the director of the annual “Kinder Houston Area Survey” (1982-2020), he has tracked the economic outlooks, demographic patterns, life experiences, and beliefs of area residents through 39 years of remarkable change. His book exploring the national implications of the first 38 years of this research, entitled Prophetic City: Houston on the Cusp of a Changing America, was published in June 2020 by Simon & Schuster. Klineberg is the recipient of twelve major teaching awards at Rice and a much sought-after speaker in the Houston community and beyond. He is a graduate of Haverford College, with an MA from the University of Paris, and a PhD from Harvard. He and his wife Margaret have lived in Houston since the early 1970s; they have two children and five grandchildren.
About the Presentation:
Making Sense of Our Times – Tracking Responses to the Economic and Demographic Transformations through 39 Years of Houston Surveys.
Few cities more clearly exemplify the trends that are refashioning the social and political landscape across America as a whole – the growing inequalities in a global, knowledge-based economy, the epic demographic transformations, and the new importance of quality-of-place attributes in determining the fates of cities. We review the findings from 39 years of systematic surveys to explore the way the new realities are unfolding, to assess the public’s changing attitudes and beliefs, and to consider the implications of these trends for the way area residents are responding to the central challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of Houston and America in the years ahead.
