McDermott’s research has found a significant link between polygamy and various types of violence against women, as highlighted by recent actions taken against sects in Texas and British Columbia. McDermott earned master’s and doctorate degrees at Stanford University and joined the Brown University faculty in 2009 from UC Santa Barbara. Established in 2009 with an anonymous donation, the biannual David & Sylvia Easton Lecture Series honors UCI Distinguished Research Professor David Easton’s passion for interdisciplinary work in political science and the couple’s commitment to ethics. David Easton is past president of the American Political Science Association and past vice president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of Toronto, where he met his wife, Sylvia. Easton earned a doctorate at Harvard University and taught at the University of Chicago before coming to UCI in 1983. He’s known for his research on the operational structure of political systems. Sylvia Easton was an avid supporter of human rights and devoted her time to the homeless, the mentally disabled and victims of abuse, earning her Orange County Human Relations’ Community Leader Award in 1989. She died in 1990.

01/19/2012

Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517 (bldg. 214, grid F10 on campus map)

07:00 p.m.