The American political scientist Robert Putnam of the Harvard University School of Government has been named distinguished visiting professor for 2013 and 2014.

2012.02.15 | AU Kommunkation

Dr Putnam is regarded as one of the world's most influential social researchers and the leading authority on social capital. According to Professor Gert Tinggard Svendsen, Department of Political Science and Government, Dr Putnam's affiliation with Aarhus University 'will strengthen Aarhus University's academic reputation and position worldwide. He will be involved in current and future research projects, where having him on board will be utterly extraordinary.' 

Dr Putnam himself emphasises that this collaboration will not only benefit researchers at AU:

'My scientific work has centered on the importance of “social capital” or community bonds and on the challenges to those bonds in the contemporary world.  Denmark is an ideal laboratory for studying the power of community and the challenges to it today.  I look forward to working in this laboratory with students and colleagues in Aarhus, and I am honored to be associated with Aarhus University, one of the most distinguished centers of social scientific research in Europe.' 

Dr Putnam's international reputation is primarily based on his theories of social capital and social trust. His most famous and controversial work is Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000), a ground-breaking work on the decline of social capital and social trust in American society. His most recent research has focussed on the relationship between trust and ethnic diversity in American society, as well as on the power of religion to divide and unite. He is now working on growing class inequality in America. Dr Putnam has also advised governments in many countries over the last decade.

In the context of his tenure as distinguished visiting professor at AU, Dr Putnam will participate in the May 2013 MatchPoints Seminar at Aarhus University, which will focus on 'social capital and contemporary challenges in relation to social trust and cohesion'.

• Read more about MatchPoints
• Read more about the Distinguished Visiting Professor 2012: Alistair Thomson, professor of history, Monash University, Australia

For more information: Associate Professor Michael Böss, engmb@hum.au.dk or +45  2093 4818