Putnam pulls in Midd community

Author: Andrea LaRocca

On Monday afternoon, Robert D. Putnam, author of the renowned book "Bowling Alone" and the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University, addressed an overflowing crowd in Dana Auditorium with his talk "Community Engagement in a Changing America." So many students, faculty, staff and Middlebury residents attended Putnam's lecture that he invited members of the standing-room-only audience to sit on the stage with him, jokingly adding that "talking alone isn't my idea of fun," while he presented his theories on social connectedness from "Bowling Alone." Putnam has written a dozen books in total and is also the founder of the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard.

The Dean of Student Affairs Office sponsored the well-attended lecture. "I read 'Bowling Alone' last spring when I was working on a special assignment for the Provost," said Dean of Students Ann Hanson, who organized the talk. "I was very excited about his work and I wrote to him to ask if he could come. I was thrilled that he was able to come." Hanson mentioned during her introduction of Putnam that he is connected to the College in several significant ways - many of his books are read in Middlebury Political Science and Sociology classes, several current College professors studied under Putnam at Harvard and his wife recently attended the summer Russian Language School. Putnam said that he was as grateful to be here as the College was to have him.

Putnam presented his work to Monday's audience through four central questions: What has been happening to social connectedness over the last century? Why did the decrease in social connection occur? What does the decrease mean? What do we do about it? A question and answer session and reception followed the talk, during which the audience was eager to interact with the affable Putnam.

Erik Bleich, assistant professor of Political Science and former student of Putnam, described Putnam and the atmosphere of the event. "The talk reflected the man: dynamic, engaging, humorous and insightful. He has a bit of the preacher in him, and it wouldn't surprise me if many in the audience count themselves among the converted [to Putnam's theories of social connectedness]."

Hanson is certainly one who has been inspired by Putnam. "His work really has influenced my thinking about building communities in the commons," she said. "Professor Putnam documents national statistics to demonstrate the decline in community living. Some of the trends we have seen on campus are explained through his work. In thinking about building communities, I have to acknowledge, that if ever there was an argument for not having cable television in individual rooms but rather in lounges, his work would support that decision."

Putnam also motivated many in the Middlebury audience on Monday with his demeanor as much as with his words. "I was most impressed with Putnam's ability to discuss the issues, the ramifications of which extend far beyond any political boundary, with glibness while maintaining a degree of seriousness," said JS Woodward '06. "He possesses the rare ability to convince an audience that while the sky is indeed falling, it is within our ability to reverse its decline. Without being melodramatic, I can say that he was among the most energizing and inspiring speakers I've seen come to Middlebury."

"Bob Putnam is an inspiration," agreed Allison Stanger, director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs and professor of political science, who also studied under Putnam during graduate school at Harvard. "His ideas are always clearly expressed, and he shows you why what he cares about matters. He genuinely believes that it is possible to express something important in a way that intelligent non-specialists can understand. Far too few social scientists these days embrace that position. I admire him enormously."

Bleich summed up the overall opinion of Putnam simply saying, "Putnam was the single most energetic and inspiring professor I have ever had."