Part of the "Blue Ribbon Paper Series", this book contains papers that cover theory and research presented at the Couch-Stone Spring Symposium, and the Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. It includes theoretical developments in the areas of everyday life, race, Native Americans, politics, and performance.

The inauguration of the “Blue-Ribbon Papers”. The 2007 Couch-Stone distinguished lecture: The pragmatists' theory of the self. George Herbert Mead: an early sociologist of scientific knowledge. The controversy of mind over matter: Mead's solution and applications from neuroscience. The passages of theory: a critical analysis of the Ortega–Mead connection. Considering violentization toward the societal scale. How I became a criminologist. Quilts and everyday life. Dialogics of discomfort: race, roles, and performance. Jesuits, indians, and the legend of ondessonk. Artistic performances and sociological research. Spartan superhunks and Persian monsters: Responding to truth and identity as determined by Hollywood. List of Contributors. Studies in symbolic interaction. Studies in symbolic interaction. Copyright page.