Shanyang Zhao

Shanyang Zhao

  • College of Liberal Arts

    Sociology

    Professor

    Affiliated Faculty

    Programs
    • Asian Studies
Office Location

Gladfelter Hall, 759

Expertise

Sociology of Knowledge, Self & Self-Concept, New Media

Biography

My research interests cut across a number of subfields in social studies, including sociology of knowledge, self & self-concept, new media, mental health, and metatheory. Currently, I am doing research on the paradox of situated knowledge.

It is a basic tenet of sociology that all forms of human knowledge are created by humans situated in specific social and historical contexts, and it is also the aspiration of science to obtain objective knowledge about the world. However, how is it possible for situated knowers to attain objective knowledge free of the biases associated with the knowers’ particular situatedness?

If absolute objectivity is unattainable, how is the veracity of human knowledge to be assessed? If the criterion of truth is relative, does it mean that all knowledge is equally valid or invalid depending on one’s standpoint? If that is the case, what is the purpose of scientific research? In what way are scientific findings different from mere opinions?

What is the impact of society on knowledge acquisition? Does social influence contribute biases to human knowledge? Is there a fundamental difference between social research and natural science in the type of knowledge they generate? If biases and errors are unavoidable in research, where is the veracity of human knowledge ultimately grounded?

These are some of the questions I seek to address in my current research.

Curriculum Vitae

Selected Publications

  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2024. “The Paradox of Situated Knowledge: Toward an Existential Embedment Theory of Perceptual Truth.” Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior 00:1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12436
  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2022. Advanced Introduction to the Sociology of the Self. Cheltenham, UK: Elgar.
  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2022. “Human Self-Selection as a Mechanism of Human Societal Evolution: A Critique of the Cultural Selection Argument.” European Journal of Social Theory 25(3):386-402.
  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2022. “Human Agency and Social Structure: From the Evolutionary Perspective.” Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior52(3):473-493.
  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2018. “What Is Reflective Self-Awareness For? Role Expectation for Situational Collaboration in Alliance Animal Society.” Philosophical Psychology 31(2):187-209.
  • Zhao, Shanyang. 2017. “Self as a Second-order Object: Reinterpreting the Jamesian ‘Me’.” New Ideas in Psychology 46:8-16.

Courses Taught

  • Sociology of Truth
  • Sociology of the Self
  • Statistical Methods in Sociology
  • Data Analysis