Edward Albert Shils was a Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and in Sociology at the University of Chicago and an influential sociologist.
23 Facts About Edward Shils
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Edward Shils was known for his research on the role of intellectuals and their relations to power and public policy.
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Edward Shils's work was honored in 1983 when he was awarded the Balzan Prize.
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Edward Shils came to the attention of Louis Wirth, a distinguished sociologist at the University of Chicago, who hired Shils as a research assistant.
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Thereafter, Edward Shils became recognized as an outstanding teacher in the field of sociology.
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Edward Shils taught sociology, social philosophy, English literature, history of Chinese science and other subjects.
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For many years, Edward Shils held joint appointments at Chicago and other universities.
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Edward Shils was: reader in sociology at the London School of Economics from 1946 to 1950; a fellow of King's College, Cambridge, from 1961 to 1970; a fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge, from 1970 to 1978; and an honorary professor in social anthropology at the University of London from 1971 to 1977.
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Edward Shils was named an honorary fellow at the London School of Economics in 1972 and an honorary fellow at Peterhouse in 1979.
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Edward Shils was a professor at the University of Leiden from 1976 to 1977.
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Edward Shils attempted to bridge the research traditions of German and American sociology.
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Professor Edward Shils was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.
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Edward Shils studied how sacred and ritual elements exist in modern, secular societies.
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Edward Shils was influenced by the ideas of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber.
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Edward Shils argued that every society has a "sacred center" that represents its main values and collective identity.
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Edward Shils developed a broader idea of charisma, suggesting that it can be linked not only to revolutionary leaders but to established political authority.
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Edward Shils' work is known for combining Weberian and Durkheimian ideas in a unique way.
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Edward Shils married the historian Irene Coltman in England towards the end of 1951.
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Edward Shils was survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Adam and Carrie Shils of Chicago; a grandson, Sam Shils; and a nephew, Edward Benjamin Shils, professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania A large photo of Shils hangs in the Shils Reading Room at the University of Chicago's Social Science Research Building.
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Edward Shils had a fraught relationship with Saul Bellow, a colleague at the University of Chicago who served on the Committee on Social Thought.
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Edward Shils served as his "mentor, character model and editor" and figures prominently in many of Bellow's novels, including Mr Sammler's Planet, Humboldt's Gift, and Ravelstein.
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Artur Sammler and Professor Durnwald are both described glowingly, but in Ravelstein the Edward Shils character is treated with "animosity [that] reaches lethal proportions" following a falling out between the two.
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Edward Shils had a poor relationship with Alfred Kazin, with Joseph Epstein describing how he refused to have anything written by Kazin in his home and saying "I don't want that Jew in my house".