{"id":2126,"date":"2026-09-23T12:15:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T12:15:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/?p=2126"},"modified":"2026-09-25T12:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T12:21:29","slug":"author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/09\/23\/author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Author to speak at UTC about connection, social infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Chattanooga Times Free Press spotlighted UTC\u2019s new Common Ground civic communication series and its first speaker, New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg. Hosted by UTC\u2019s Department of Communication, the event explores how social infrastructure\u2014parks, libraries and gathering spaces\u2014can counter isolation and strengthen civic life. Dr. Brandon Bouchillon explained that the series grew from conversations about political division and aims to help people build connections across differences through shared interests and public spaces.\u00a0&gt;&gt;&gt;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesfreepress.com\/news\/2026\/sep\/23\/author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social\/\" id=\"https:\/\/www.timesfreepress.com\/news\/2026\/sep\/23\/author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social\/\">Read More<\/a>&gt;&gt;&gt;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chattanooga Times Free Press spotlighted UTC\u2019s new Common Ground civic communication series and its first speaker, New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg. Hosted by UTC\u2019s Department of Communication, the event explores how social infrastructure\u2014parks, libraries and gathering spaces\u2014can counter isolation and strengthen civic life. Dr. Brandon Bouchillon explained that the series grew from conversations&hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/09\/23\/author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social-infrastructure\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2031,"featured_media":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,76,23,24,28,22],"tags":[346,582,1155,253],"class_list":{"0":"post-2126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-college-of-arts-sciences-topic","8":"category-community","9":"category-events","10":"category-media","11":"category-times-free-press","12":"category-topic","13":"tag-department-of-communication","14":"tag-dr-brandon-bouchillon","15":"tag-eric-klinenberg","16":"tag-utc-fine-arts-center","17":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Author to speak at UTC about connection, social infrastructure - UTC in the Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/in-the-media\/2026\/09\/23\/author-to-speak-at-utc-about-connection-social-infrastructure\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Author to speak at UTC about connection, social infrastructure - UTC in the Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chattanooga Times Free Press spotlighted UTC\u2019s new Common Ground civic communication series and its first speaker, New York University sociologist Eric Klinenberg. Hosted by UTC\u2019s Department of Communication, the event explores how social infrastructure\u2014parks, libraries and gathering spaces\u2014can counter isolation and strengthen civic life. 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