David Karp

professor, sociology, Boston College

David Karp grew up in the Boston area where he attended Boston Latin School and then Harvard College. After receiving a Ph.D. from New York University in 1971, he returned to Boston and Boston College where he is currently a Professor of Sociology. His earlier books on cities, everyday life and aging reflect an enduring interest in how people invest their daily worlds with meaning. These same themes are reflected in his 1996 book on clinical depression entitled *Speaking of Sadness: Depression, Disconnection, and the Meanings of Illness*. *Speaking of Sadness* was the 1996 winner of the Charles Horton Cooley Award from the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction. In 2001, his book entitled *The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness *was published. This work examines how family caregivers to emotional ill people construct and negotiate moral boundaries of caring. Professor Karps most recent book on mental illness appeared in 2006. Like the previous two books,* Is It Me or My Meds? Living with Antidepressants* is based on in-depth interviews. This book explores the particularly powerful relationship between psychiatric medications and personal identity; the link between pills and personhood.