Media and the Moving Image

Visual sociologist, Tracy Xavia Karner, is an expert in how people use visual media to understand themselves and their worlds. An award-winning teacher and a nationally-known expert in the field of qualitative sociology, she explores the social contexts of image creation and dissemination as well as their role in everyday visual sociability. Dr. Karner’s recent writings investigate photography in both fine art venues and everyday uses such as Facebook, and have been published for both popular and academic audiences.

Professor Karner has coauthored a popular textbook with Carol Warren, Discovering Qualitative Research: Ethnography, Interviews, Documents, and Images, 3rd Edition, (Oxford University Press, 2014). She is the author and online presenter of a 21-segment video series used internationally in Introduction to Sociology courses, Sociology on the Job, for Pearson Publishing (2013). Additionally, in her research Professor Karner has explored visual and cultural perspectives with regard to gender, popular culture, mental health, social policy, art aesthetics, ethnicity, and nationalist movements which have been published in several academic journals, including Visual Studies, Symbolic Interactionism, Qualitative Health Research, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Communication and Cognition, American Studies Journal, The Clinical Sociology Review, Journal of Aging Studies, Journal of Aging and Mental Health, The American Sociologist and Journal of Aging and Social Policy.

Active in the Houston photography community since 2007, Professor Karner serves on the Advisory Board of Houston Center for Photography, is a supporter and past officer of Photo Forum at Museum of Fine Arts Houston, and served as a reviewer for Fotofest's 2010 Meeting Place. Her most recent book, Making a Scene! How Visionary Individuals Created an International Photography Scene in Houston, Texas, chronicles forty years of the Houston photography community, from its inception to its recognition as an internationally significant destination for photography.