In 1950, most Americans had completed the transition from adolescence to adulthood by about age 21. Today, maturity is more likely to come at about age 30.

Sociologist Michael Kimmel will speak about this phenomenon, especially as it relates to men, and the reasons behind it at a free public lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 4 p.m. in the Sugar Maple Ballroom in the UVM Davis Center.

Kimmel’s lecture will draw on his best-selling book, Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. Based on interviews with more than 400 young people across the country, the book offers a glimpse of why so many young men are adrift through their 20s and offers a road map towards a more conscious adulthood.

Kimmel, Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Stony Brook University, is considered a pioneer and leading figure in the academic subfield of men's studies. He is the founder and editor of the academic journal Men and Masculinities and is a spokesperson for The National Organization For Men Against Sexism.
 

In addition to Guyland, Kimmel has written numerous books on gender and masculinities, including Men's Lives, and The Gendered Society, Manhood: a Cultural History. He also co-edited The Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities and Men and Masculinities: a Social, Cultural and Historical Encyclopedia, which was named “Best of Reference 2004” by the New York Public Library.

The lecture is sponsored by the Office of the President, Office of  the Provost, the Center for Cultural Pluralism, the Center for Health and Wellbeing/Counseling and Psychiatry Services, Marsh Professor-at-Large Governor Madeleine Kunin, the Department of Political Science, the Department of Sociology, the Student Government Association, UVM College Undergraduates Not Tolerating Sexism and Women’s and Gender Studies.