Lisa Kort-Butler, professor in and chair of the Department of Sociology, will give the talk, "Haunted: Uncertainty, Insecurity, and Fear of Crime," at 5:00 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center's Ubuntu Room (Room 202).
The event is free and open to the public and will be livestreamed on Zoom. Register for the link. Her talk opens this academic year's CAS Inquire series, "Uncertainty."
Kort-Butler's lecture explores how social uncertainty shapes knowledge, decision-making, and the human condition, emphasizing how attitudes about crime and punishment are ways people translate the unknown into the “known.” Questions her talk will explore include: Why does the evidence-based reality not match public perception? How are preferences for punitive policy tied to expressive feelings and nostalgia? How do perceptions reflect insecurity?
Ross Dixon, earth and atmospheric sciences, opened the series on Sept. 9. Three additional talks scheduled throughout the academic year will come from faculty members in political science, modern languages, and classics and religious studies, culminating in a panel discussion with the speakers in March 2026.
Students in the CAS Inquire program connect with college thought leaders and other inquisitive students to discuss ideas, using a college-wide series of public lectures as a focal point. The series launched in September of 2019, and themes have included the rise of the machines, finding common ground, and pain and pleasure. During the three-year program, CAS Inquire students take specialized courses, help with facilitating the program, and enjoy additional benefits. They can apply, or be nominated by faculty, for the program as freshmen.
