SESP professors Jeannette Colyvas and James Spillane recently teamed up with faculty across Northwestern University to found Social Interaction and Organizing at Northwestern (SION). This multidisciplinary group aims to foster inquiry into how organizations shape and are shaped by the interactions of people, communities and markets. To highlight current knowledge and stimulate discourse, a symposium on October 16 will present prominent scholars on organizations from across the country.

Along with Colyvas and Spillane of SESP, colleagues in other schools at Northwestern collaborated to develop SION. Paul Leonardi of the School of Communication and Engineering and Klaus Weber, Brayden King and William Ocasio of Kellogg School of Management are co-founders.

SION provides a community for sharing ideas and resources and a forum for discussion. The SION speaker series brings prominent and emergent scholars to campus and offers innovative formats for debate. "An added value is that SION provides a community for students in different programs who are interested in organizations and social interaction," notes Colyvas.

The inaugural symposium on October 16, called "How Do Organizations Matter?," will feature an interactive panel of prominent organizational scholars. They will discuss how organizations matter in different academic fields, what organizational theory and research have to offer, and the critical issues facing the field. The symposium will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in 345 Annenberg Hall.

The following speakers will offer varied perspectives:

• Stephen R. Barley - Charles M. Pigott Professor of Management Science and Engineering, Stanford University
• Elisabeth S. Clemens - Professor of Sociology and Master of the Social Science Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago
• Jerry Davis - Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Management at the Ross School of Business and Professor of Sociology, the University of Michigan
• Janet Fulk - Professor of Communication, Annenberg School for Communication, Professor of Management & Organization, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
• Walter W. Powell - Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Sociology, Organizational Behavior, Management Science and Engineering, and Communication at Stanford University

Jeannette Colyvas is assistant professor in the Human Development and Social Policy program and the Learning Sciences program at the School of Education and Social Policy. Her research centers on organizations and entrepreneurship, as well as institutions and networks. Her work investigates public, private and nonprofit forms of organizing; university-industry interfaces; and public and private science.

James Spillane, the Spencer T. and Ann W. Olin Professor in Learning and Organizational Change, is a professor of Human Development and Social Policy and of Learning Sciences. His work explores the policy implementation process at the state, school district, school and classroom levels, focusing on intergovernmental relations and the school organization. He is a faculty associate at the Institute for Policy Research and (by courtesy) a professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School of Management.

SION welcomes as new affiliates all Northwestern University faculty members, postdoctoral researchers and graduate students who have an interest in organizations or organizing processes. Anyone who would like to become an affiliate may contact Paul Leonardi by e-mail at leonardi@northwestern.edu.