The Library Unbound: Milne Library News

Alden Scholar Series Spring 2024 Lecture by Dr. Elizabeth Seale

Please join us on Tuesday April 16, at 4 pm for the Spring 2024 Alden Scholar Series lecture where Dr. Elizabeth (Lizzy) Seale from SUNY Oneonta’s Sociology Department will discuss her newly published book, Understanding Poverty: A Relational Approach (Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2023, Amazon link). Following the lecture there will be a Q&A period, an opportunity to purchase Understanding Poverty, and a reception with light refreshments in Milne 318. 

This hybrid event is eligible for a LEAD Credit and is accessible via Microsoft Teams through the Campus Connection link, or in-person in the Alden Room (Milne 300), SUNY Oneonta’s University Archives and Special Collections, which is located on the third floor of the Milne Library. In-person attendees who are not associated with SUNY Oneonta can obtain a visitor parking pass from University Police for the day of the event. The event is open to the whole community, all are welcome!

Dr. Elizabeth Seale has been a faculty member in the Department of Sociology since 2010. She has been a full Professor since 2022. In addition to publishing Understanding Poverty, she has co-edited Rural Voices: Language, Identity, and Social Change across Place (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018, Amazon link), as well authoring or co-authoring 17 articles and 3 book chapters. She has written on a range of topics including welfare, poverty, gender and sexuality and the local impact of COVID.

The Alden Scholar Series began as a collaborative effort between SUNY Oneonta’s History Department and Milne Library in 2012. Held in the Alden Room, SUNY Oneonta’s University Archives and Special Collections, the Alden Scholar Series celebrates SUNY Oneonta faculty members who have published scholarly books or produced book-length projects within the last five years. Each lecture will focus on the featured publication of the faculty member and will be followed by a Q&A period from the audience. 

The Alden Scholar Series has seen many successes since it began in 2012, to check out our past talks, or get more information about the Alden Scholar Series, please see our LibGuide. The Alden Scholar Series Coordinating Committee looks forward to continued success of this program with this and future Alden Scholar Series lectures. We look forward to seeing you on April 16 at 4pm!

Dr. Matthew Hendley

Chair of the Alden Scholar Series Coordinating Committee, and Professor of History at SUNY Oneonta

Understanding Poverty by Elizabeth Seale

ISBN: 9781509553327

Publication Date: 2023-10-23

People in poverty suffer daily under misconceptions about economic hardship and its causes. Providing the most comprehensive consideration to date of poverty in the United States, Elizabeth Seale tackles how we think about issues of culture, behavior, and poverty, cutting straight to the heart of debates about social class. The book addresses tough questions, including how being poor affects individual behavior, and how we can make sense of that in a larger social and political context. The central premise is that to understand the behavior and lives of people in poverty, one must consider their relational context, especially relations of vulnerability and the human need for dignity. Poverty is a social problem we should address as a society by changing social relations that, as a matter of course, cause unnecessary and immense suffering. To do so, we must directly confront our lack of regard for people in poverty by recognizing that they are in fact worthy of an effort to induce major social change. This critical introduction to poverty will be an important read for undergraduate students and above in sociology wanting to learn more about the growing social problems of poverty, inequality, and stratification.