 From 1937 Goffman attended St. John 's Technical High School in Winnipeg , where his family had moved that year . In 1939 he enrolled at the University of Manitoba , <unk> in chemistry . He interrupted his studies and moved to Ottawa to work in the film industry for the National Film Board of Canada , established by John <unk> . Later he developed an interest in sociology . Also during this time , he met the renowned North American sociologist , Dennis Wrong . Their meeting motivated Goffman to leave the University of Manitoba and enroll at the University of Toronto , where he studied under C. W. M. Hart and Ray <unk> , graduating in 1945 with a <unk> in sociology and anthropology . Later he moved to the University of Chicago , where he received an <unk> ( 1949 ) and PhD ( 1953 ) in sociology . For his doctoral dissertation , from December 1949 to May 1951 he lived and collected ethnographic data on the island of <unk> in the Shetland Islands . 
