Kurt Wolff
Papers
Robert D. Farber
University Archives and Special Collections Department, Brandeis
University Libraries
c. 2005 By Brandeis University Libraries, all rights reserved
Table of Contents
| Creator: |
Kurt Wolff |
| Title: |
Papers,
1952-2003?, n.d.
|
| Quantity: |
1 cu. ft. (1 record center box)
|
| Repository: |
Brandeis University Libraries |
| Identification: |
MWalB0214A |
| Language: |
English |
Administrative Information
Access:
Access to the collection is in accordance with the policies of
Brandeis University Libraries, Robert D. Farber University Archives
and Special Collections Department.
Copyright:
Requests to publish material from the collection should be
directed to the Robert D. Farber University Archives and Special
Collections Department.
Processed by:
University Archives Staff
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include
the following information: Kurt Wolff Papers, Robert D. Farber University Archives, Brandeis University
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Biography
Kurt Wolff was a member of the Brandeis Sociology faculty from 1959
until his retirement in 1982. Upon retirement, Professor Wolff
remained active as emeritus faculty until 1992, during which time
he continued to publish and teach undergraduate and graduate level
courses in sociology.
Professor Wolff studied under Karl Mannheim at the University of
Frankfurt in Germany during the early 1930s. His studies in Germany
were interrupted by the Nazis' rise to power, which compelled him
to move to Italy. He obtained his Ph.D. in the sociology of
knowledge from the University of Florence in 1935. Four years
later, anti-Semitic laws forced Professor Wolff to leave Italy. In
1939 he relocated to the United States where he began his lifelong
commitment to teaching and research in sociology.
Prior to his appointment at Brandeis, Professor Wolff was an
Associate Professor at Ohio State University for fourteen years. He
left Ohio State in 1959 to join the Brandeis sociology faculty as
professor and department chair. He was instrumental in organizing
the doctoral program in sociology which was established at Brandeis
in 1961. His areas of expertise include the sociology of knowledge
and phenomenological sociology. Professor Wolff taught numerous
courses while at Brandeis, including The Sociology of Knowledge,
Phenomenology and Sociology, Surrender and Catch: Experience and
Inquiry Today, and Themes in Sociological Theory.
During his tenure at Brandeis, Professor Wolff served on the
Faculty Senate and was appointed the Manuel Yellen Professor of
Social Relations in 1977. He was also elected as President of the
International Society for the Sociology of Knowledge in 1972 and
President of the American Sociological Association in 1977. He was
awarded two Fulbright Senior Lectureships to Italy and Australia in
1963 and 1980, respectively. He lectured at universities throughout
the United States and Europe, helping to make Brandeis better known
and appreciated by colleagues and students worldwide.
A prolific writer, Professor Wolff authored, edited and translated
numerous articles, books and reviews in professional publications.
Many of his works were published in French, German and Italian. His
publications include Survival and Sociology:Vindicating the Human
Subject (1991) (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers), Beyond
the Sociology of Knowledge: An Introduction and a Development
(1983) (Lanham: MD: University Press of America), Surrender and
Catch: Experience and Inquiry Today (1976) (Reidel Press), and O
Loma! Constituting a Self 1977-1984 (1989) (Northhampton, MA:
Hermes House Press) which includes pencil drawings by Professor
Wolff.
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Scope and Content
The files in this collection were created from 1959 through 1997.
They include correspondence, memos, newspaper clippings,
departmental newsletters, faculty biographies, course materials,
typescripts, bibliographies, and publication lists. There is
considerable amount of correspondence, including letters between
Professor Wolff and Professor Morrie Schwartz, Dean Peter
Diamandopoulos, Dean Lawrence Fuchs, and President Abram Sachar.
This correspondence provides some insight into the mission and
development of the Sociology Department from 1958 to 1997.
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Series Description
Sociology Department Files
Inclusive Dates: 1959-1997
Box 1
Arrangement: Alphabetical
The series contains correspondence, memos, departmental
newsletters, faculty biographies, teaching schedules, faculty
committee and other professional activity reports. The
correspondence give some indication of the mission and development
of the sociology department from 1959 through 1997. The series
contains a substantial number of correspondence about departmental
activities and university budgetary constraints that impacted the
department over the years. Correspondence also includes memos and
letters written by Professors Wolff, Herbert Marcuse, Lewis Coser,
Everett Hughs, Maurie Stein, Gordon Fellman and Irving Zola. A
substantial amount of material on Brandeis sociology Professor
Morrie Schwartz exists, including letters about early departmental
activities and newspaper clippings about Professor Schwartz and his
battle with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Other correspondence include
letters written by British sociologist Ralph Miliband, a Brandeis
sociology faculty member until 1986.
University Files
Inclusive Dates: 1952-1993
Box 1
Arrangement: Alphabetical
The series contains Brandeis Administration correspondence, memos,
academic/instructional activity reports, faculty senate reports,
newsletters and newspaper clippings about Brandeis. Administration
correspondence include employment package and salary negotiation
letters, sabbatical leave requests, requests for travel and
research funds, faculty budget and salary adjustment memos,
Brandeis newsletters, commencement ceremony programs and minutes. A
substantial amount of correspondence exists between Professor Wolff
and Dean Peter Diamandopoulos, Dean Lawrence Fuchs and President
Abram Sachar regarding salary and employment matters. Other
material pertains to his move from Ohio State University to
Brandeis. The series also contains newspaper clippings on the
student occupation of Ford Hall in 1969 and correspondence,
newspaper clippings, faculty senate reports and recommendations on
Brandeis anthropology Professor Kathleen Gough Aberle who resigned
in 1963 over academic freedom issues.
Professional Activities
Inclusive Dates: 1959-1992, n.d.
Box 1
Arrangement: Chronological
The series contains correspondence, memos, publication lists,
biographical sketches, bibliographies, acknowledgment letters for
contributions to scholarship funds, charity and memorial funds.
Substantial correspondence include professional activity
submissions to the Brandeis public affairs office. Other materials
include copies of journal articles and typescripts.
Personal Files
Inclusive Dates: 1972-1988, 2003?
Box 1
Arrangement: Alphabetical
The series contains personal correspondence, thank-you cards, and
two color photographs of Wolff as an older man. Some correspondence is
written in German.
Course Materials
Inclusive Dates: 1959-1993, n.d.
Box 2
Arrangement: By course number
The series contains materials relating to Brandeis courses that
Professor Wolff taught on topics such as the sociology of
knowledge, phenomenological sociology, and the history of ideas.
Materials include correspondence with publishing companies,
handwritten course outlines, bibliographies, and course exam
questions. This series also includes correspondence with Talcott
Parsons, a noted Harvard sociology professor.
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Container List
| Sociology Department Files |
| box 1 |
General files, 1959-1997 [5 folders] |
| box 1 |
General files, 1960-1997 [R] |
| box 1 |
Miliband, Ralph, 1981-1995 |
| box 1 |
Schwartz, Morrie, 1962-1996 |
| box 1 |
Schwartz, Morrie, 1962-1996 [R] |
| box 1 |
Student correspondence, 1971-1991 [R] |
| box 1 |
Student materials, 1976, 1979 |
| University Files |
| box 1 |
Brandeis Center for the Humanities, 1987 |
| box 1 |
Colleague File, 1959-1991 |
| box 1 |
Coming to Brandeis, 1952-1959 |
| box 1 |
Coming to Brandeis, 1952-1959 [R] |
| box 1 |
General files, 1959-1979 [3 folders] |
| box 1 |
General files, 1960-1979 [R] |
| box 1 |
General files, 1980-1993 [2 folders] |
| box 1 |
General files, 1980-1993 [R] |
| box 1 |
Gough, Kathleen, 1963 |
| box 1 |
History of Ideas Department, 1971-1981 |
| box 1 |
News clippings about Brandeis, 1974-1983 |
| box 1 |
Parents Weekend Speech, 1960 |
| Professional Activities |
| box 1 |
Brandeis Public Affairs Office Submissions, 1959-1992 |
| box 1 |
Publication Lists, Biographical Sketches, Abstract Titles, 1959-1990 |
| box 1 |
Surrender As A Response to Our Crisis, 1962 |
| box 1 |
Contributions, 1965-1990 |
| box 1 |
Contributions, 1965-1990 [R] |
| box 1 |
Correspondence to the Justice (Brandeis Student Newspaper), 1962, 1979 |
| box 1 |
A Reading of Karl Mannheim, n.d. |
| box 1 |
Surrender and Catch, Hermeneutics, Phenomenology, Critical Theory, n.d. |
| Personal |
| box 1 |
General Correspondence, 1968 |
| box 1 |
Personal Correspondence, 1972-1988 |
| box 1 |
Photographs of Kurt Wolff, 2003? [2 color photos] |
| Course Materials |
| box 1 |
Sociology 228a, 1966-1991[6 folders] |
| box 1 |
Sociology 228b, materials and minutes 1966 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 212a, n.d. |
| box 1 |
Sociology 2a, 1961, 1973 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 202a, n.d. |
| box 1 |
Sociology 109b, n.d. |
| box 1 |
Sociology 216b, 1983 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 110a, 1993 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 133a, 1992 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 218a, 1986 |
| box 1 |
Sociology 110b, 1959-1990 [2 folders] |
| box 1 |
Sociology 204, 1969-1976 [2 folders] |
| box 1 |
Sociology 218b, 1970-1978 |
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