By linking sociological research and playwriting, I offer an adaptation of Mills’ “sociological imagination” (1959). I have termed the process of consciously intertwining sociological research and creative playwriting sociological playwriting. My approach involves is to take on the roles of both a sociologist and a playwright. Mills calls on social researchers to reinforce dramatic sharpness with sociological imagination. Sociological playwriting can foster the influence of sociological imagination by creatively exploring the social processes and cultural tensions that could arise from the future application of heritable genome editing (HGE). I would like to emphasize that sociological playwriting is not an alternative to traditional sociology, but rather an extension of its epistemic and expressive repertoire. Sociological playwriting explores social scenarios that could emerge in the wake of new technologies such as heritable genome editing. The resulting plays not only interpret these scenarios but also help shape the cultural vocabulary through which society can ultimately understand them. Sociological playwriting reminds us that sociological knowledge is not just something we explain, but also something we feel, and that the future, especially a genetically modified one, must be imagined not only by scientists and stakeholders, but also by artists, storytellers, and readers or audiences willing to think differently.
 

Supervisor:Prof. Dr. Manfred Max Bergman
Co-Supervisor:Prof. Dr. Elisio Macamo

Corinne Othenin-Girard is a Swiss-Australian sociologist, writer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work bridges sociology, therapeutic arts, literature, and visual media. Born in Winterthur, Switzerland, she lived in Australia from 1987 to 2011 before returning to Switzerland, where she is currently based in Basel. She is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Basel, researching to the topic of Sociological Playwriting: Extending the Sociological Imagination in the Age of Genome Editing. 

Her academic and artistic background spans medicine, naturopathy, visual arts, film, psychotherapy, and creative arts therapy. She completed a Master in Therapeutic Arts Practice at the MIECAT Institute in Australia, focusing on experiences of post-stroke “otherness,” and previously studied visual arts at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne. Apart from her academic writing, she has published essays, poetry, and prose in literary journals, like Sinn und Form. Her writing often explores language, identity, and otherness. She has received awards for digital and visual art, including recognition at the SBS Federation Square Art Award in Melbourne. She participated at the Second Beijing International Art Biennale.

https://www.inclusive-deliberation.com (on the subject of HGE)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/corinne-othenin-girard-1777463a/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Corinne-Othenin-Girard/research