Daniel H. Krymkowski, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Sociology

In his classic book, The Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills coined the phrase “abstracted empiricism” to describe research in the social sciences that failed to address important theoretical issues. Although it has been more than half a century since this book was published, far too much current research remains in this category. Professor Krymkowski critiques modern examples of “abstracted empiricism.” discusses how social scientific investigations should be conducted, and provides an illustration of such research from his current work on ethnic and racial differences in outdoor recreation.

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A mathematical sociologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Professor Krymkowski’s current research focuses on class, ethnic, gender, and racial inequality in the contemporary United States. Recently published articles feature collaborative work with Professor Beth Mintz in the Department of Sociology and Professor Robert Manning in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. These papers have appeared in Evaluation Review, International Journal of Sociology, Leisure Sciences, Race and Social Problems, Research on Social Stratification and Mobility, and The Sociological Quarterly.

The College of Arts and Sciences Full Professor Lecture Series was designed to give newly promoted faculty an opportunity to share with the university community a single piece of research or overview of research trajectory meant to capture the spark of intellectual excitement that has resulted in their achieving full professor rank. The next lecture in this series will be presented by Dona Brown (Department of History).

Dona Brown, Professor of History

For many of us today, the phrase “going back to the land” may bring to mind a vision of the 1960s: yurts and domes, communes and co-ops. But Americans have been dreaming of returning to the land for over a hundred years, and earlier back-to-the-landers were often motivated by dramatically different beliefs, hopes, and fears. What sorts of people dreamed of “returning to the land” in 1900, and why? Who left the city, and who helped other people to leave? Professor Brown discusses the cultural politics of the first back-to-the-land movement and considers the legacy it bequeathed to movements in the 1930s, 1970s, and beyond.

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Dona Brown has been on the faculty in the History Department at the University of Vermont since 1994. Her first book, Inventing New England: Regional Tourism in the Nineteenth Century (Smithsonian Press, 1995), explored the significance of the tourist trade in shaping New England’s regional identity. She has published widely on both tourism and American regionalism, and she was director of the Center for Research on Vermont from 2003 to 2006. Her new book, Back to the Land: The Enduring Dream of Self-Sufficiency in Modern America (University of Wisconsin Press, 2011), explores the long history of back-to-the-land movements in the United States.

The College of Arts and Sciences Full Professor Lecture Series was designed to give newly promoted faculty an opportunity to share with the university community a single piece of research or overview of research trajectory meant to capture the spark of intellectual excitement that has resulted in their achieving full professor rank.

John Jing-hua Yin, Chair and Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Literatures

Chinese characters, unlike the writing system of any Indo-European language, are formed with no letters or combination of letters to represent the sounds of the Chinese language. Chinese characters have been a highly developed writing system for at least 3,300 years. How were the Chinese characters formed? What changes have Chinese characters undergone? How can native English speakers effectively learn and appreciate Chinese characters? Professor Yin addresses these questions, drawing on his studies and research.

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Professor Yin has been a faculty member at the University of Vermont since 1997. His research interests are in the area of teaching and learning Chinese as a foreign language, focusing on the Chinese writing and tonal system. He has published Fundamentals of Chinese Characters and Practical Rhythmic Chinese as well as a co-edited book, Chinese as a Foreign Language Teaching Practice and Reflections. He has also published over 20 book chapters and journal articles. He is currently chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures.

The College of Arts and Sciences Full Professor Lecture Series was designed to give newly promoted faculty an opportunity to share with the university community a single piece of research or overview of research trajectory meant to capture the spark of intellectual excitement that has resulted in their achieving full professor rank.

Jan Feldman, Professor of Political Science

Tunisia, the original site of the Arab Spring uprisings, was regarded by many as having the best chance of bringing its democratic aspirations to fruition. But as the Jasmine Revolution enters its second year, there are signs that have produced dismay in the camp that views Islam as inimical to democracy. Particularly concerned are those who fear that Tunisian women’s rights may be reversed by the legal and cultural entrenchment of Islamist law in the next round of democratic elections. The striking irony is that Tunisia and several other Muslim countries, women have had dictators, emirs, and monarchs to thank for their legal, social, and economic rights. Will women be betrayed by democracy?

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Jan Feldman  has been a member of the Political Science Department at the University of Vermont since 1982. Her research projects have taken her to Russia, Kuwait, Israel, Tunisia, and Morocco.  She has held fellowships at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government: Women and Public Policy program and the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute for the Study of Gender, Religion, Law, and Culture. Profesor Feldman’s publications include numerous articles as wel as two books, Lubavitchers as Citizens: A Paradox of Liberal Democracy and Citizenship, Faith and Feminism: Jewish and Muslim Women Regain Their Rights.

The College of Arts and Sciences Full Professor Lecture Series was designed to give newly promoted faculty an opportunity to share with the university community a single piece of research or overview of research trajectory meant to capture the spark of intellectual excitement that has resulted in their achieving full professor rank.

Jack (Anthony) Gierzynski, Professor of Political Science

Elections in the U.S. are in an unhealthy state. But, what, exactly, is wrong with elections and why?  And what can we do to restore to health both elections and the democracy that relies on them?  Professor Gierzynski addresses these questions by discussing the diagnosis and prescriptions outlined in his 2011 book, Saving American Elections: A Diagnosis and Prescription for a Healthier Democracy.

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Jack (Anthony) Gierzynski, Professor of Political Science   has published three books: Saving American Elections (Cambria Press 2011); Money Rules (Westview Press 2000); and Legislative Party Campaign Committees in the American States (University of Kentucky, 1992).  He has written over a dozen articles and book chapters on campaign finance, political parties, and elections.  He is the Director of the James M. Jeffords Center’s Vermont Legislative Research Service. His current project is a book on the effects of the Harry Potter series on the Millennial Generation (due out early 2013, Johns Hopkins University Press).

The College of Arts and Sciences Full Professor Lecture Series was designed to give newly promoted faculty an opportunity to share with the university community a single piece of research or overview of research trajectory meant to capture the spark of intellectual excitement that has resulted in their achieving full professor rank.

Valerie Rohy, Professor of English

We have all heard the charge that gay men and lesbians seek to “recruit children to their lifestyle”–a claim based on the old belief that homosexuality can be caused, like other bad habits, by dangerous influences. In response, queer communities increasingly cite theories of biological determinism to argue that homosexuality is physiological and innate: we are “born gay.”

But why should etiology–the science of causes–dominate the question of gay and lesbian rights? Rohy will address these questions through a rhetorical analysis of anti-gay and ostensibly pro-gay arguments, showing how both sides deploy the vocabulary of evolutionary theory: fertility and sterility, survival and extinction.

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Valerie Rohy is the author of Impossible Women: Lesbian Figures and American Literature (Cornell, 2000) and Anachronism and Its Others: Sexuality, Race, Temporality (SUNY, 2009), and the co-editor (with Elizabeth Ammons) of American Local Color Writing, 1880-1920 (Penguin, 1998). She has published essays on sexuality, race, and American literature in such journals as GLQ, Genders, and Modern Fiction Studies. In 2006 she won UVM’s Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Award.