Dr. Robert Geyer, author and professor at the School of Politics and Communication Studies, University of Liverpool, will lecture on “Why Europe Works: The Hidden Power of Diversity and Complexity” on Monday, September 23, at 4:15 p.m. in the Hampton Room of the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Commons on the Scripps College campus. This talk, part of the European Union Center of California Fall 2002 Lecture Series, is free and open to the public.
A frequent conference participant in both the international and national scene, Dr. Geyer has written and lectured extensively on the emergence of “Social Europe,” the crisis of European social democracy, and the dynamics of Europeanization and globalization. While his expertise lies in European social policy, the development of West European and, in particular, Scandinavian social democracy, and the implications of complexity theory for the social sciences, Geyer has recently turned his research focus toward altering the boundaries of European integration theory by incorporating ideas and concepts from the study of complex and chaotic systems. Related to that research, Geyer is in the process of completing two texts for publication, The Europeanization of the British Welfare State, for which he received a grant for preliminary study from the Nuffield Foundation, and The Death of Order and Dawn of Complexity: The New Politics, Economics, and Society of the 21st Century.
Geyer earned both master’s and doctoral degrees in political science from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, as well as a master’s degree in political economy from the University of Essex in Colchester, England. He previously taught courses at Marquette University and University of Wisconsin-Madison and served as a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs.
The European Union Center of California, housed on the Scripps College campus, sponsors Dr. Geyer’s appearance. Part of a network of EU Centers nationwide, the EU Center of California seeks to promote education, scholarly research, and public understanding of European integration and its consequences.