On September 25th the TRC, with the UVM Global and Regional Studies Program, hosted Dr.
Catherine Lutz, the Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Family Professor of Anthropology and International
Studies at Brown University presented on her new research interest in automobile cultures,
in a lecture entitled Inequality, Myth and the American Automobile System. The discussion at
UVM followed the research and arguments published in her book Carjacked: The Culture of the
Automobile and its Effects on Our Lives as well as her regular commentary series in the Huffington
Post.

Preceding the lecture, Professor Lutz visited with students in ENVS295: Cars, Culture and the
Media and then joined Transportation Research Center (TRC) associated faculty, staff, and students
for a roundtable discussion. She spoke briefly about her work as an anthropologist attempting to
bring research of social problems to light for the greater public. The work of Dr. Lutz goes to the
very roots of our what we as a society take for granted, such as the safety of the automobile and its
necessity in our lives. With a broad range of experiences in the group, Dr. Lutz eagerly fielded
questions based on participants own projects and research.

The lecture, part of the University of Vermont’s Dan and Carole Burack President’s Distinguished
Lecture Series, was addressed to a crowd of about 120 faculty, students, and community
members. After an introduction from Global Studies program director and anthropology professor
Dr. Luis Vivanco, Dr. Lutz proceeded to share the many ways that cars encourage inequality in
our society. From taking the largest portion of earnings from the lowest income Americans to the
various auto-related business schemes that take advantage of those with lower incomes seeking
to buy cars, Dr. Lutz revealed the many ways that the automobile has in fact made strides against
equality in American society. She argued that it is a misperception that a car is not required in
American society, citing research demonstrating car ownership as being the most likely factor in
predicting employment. Dr. Lutz finished by driving home the point that the automobile is not an
equalizer in society, but rather a major contributor to inequality.