Contact: Ralph Derickson

Joan Tronto

Tronto received a doctorate in political science from Princeton University in 1981 and has taught courses at University of California, Berkeley; Yale University; and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 2, 2005) -- The University of Kentucky Women’s Studies Program, in conjunction with the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture and Distinguished Visiting Professor Series, will host Joan Tronto, professor of political science at Hunter College, at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21, in the William T. Young Library Auditorium. Tronto will speak on “Vicious Circles of Privatized Care.”

Tronto’s research focuses on how care-giving and care-receiving activities in everyday life reflect our cultural notions of gender, family and politics in addition to the political-economic value we place on those activities.

“Our society places little value on those that provide ‘caring work,’ such as childcare providers and nurses. Additionally, if you receive care, you are viewed as being dependent and in our culture dependency is devalued,” said Michele Rivkin-Fish, assistant professor in the UK Department of Anthropology. “Dr. Tronto criticizes these aspects of contemporary society. She studies how caring relationships are shot through with politics and how these relationships have political implications for society.”

Tronto received a doctorate in political science from Princeton University in 1981 and has taught courses at University of California, Berkeley; Yale University; and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

A prolific writer and researcher, her essays have appeared in “Signs,” “Hypatia,” “Feminist Studies,” “Feminist Theory” and numerous anthologies. Her groundbreaking book, “ Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care,” challenges the common assumption in American society that physical and emotional nurturing are private, domestic matters unrelated to politics. She is also the author of “Democratic Caring,” forthcoming from NYU Press.

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please visit the Web site.