Terence E. McDonnell

Terence E. McDonnell studies the role of objects and media in everyday life. He seeks to explain why some objects have the power to shape belief and behavior, while others fail to have the intended effect by tracing the production, circulation, and reception of objects over time. Once objects leave the design firm, the ad agency, and the publisher they leave unexpected lives, travel unanticipated pathways, and face unintended interpretations and practices. Sometimes these disruptions are happy accidents of creativity and enhance the power of objects. More often than not, though, this instability undermines the effectiveness of objects to do the work they were designed to do. His works make important contributions to theories of materiality, meaning-making, and cultural power. He has written on AIDS media campaigns, art exhibits and institutions, protest art and theatre, awareness ribbons, internet cafes in West Africa, material culture, and resonance.

McDonnell is Henkels Family College Professor of Sociology, University of Notre Dame, with concurrent appointments with the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Department of American Studies. McDonnell received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University, and a B.A. in Sociology and Modern Studies from the University of Virginia.