{"id":10788,"date":"2016-07-15T15:13:44","date_gmt":"2016-07-15T21:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/?page_id=10788"},"modified":"2023-09-14T09:31:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T15:31:16","slug":"celebrating-cc-people-professor-emeritus-of-sociology-jeff-livesay","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/people-of-impact\/celebrating-cc-people-professor-emeritus-of-sociology-jeff-livesay\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Jeff Livesay"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Laurie Laker ’12<\/strong><\/p>\n

When he joined Colorado College in 1978, James Jefferson Livesay \u2013 known to all as Jeff \u2013 would have had no idea that he\u2019d remain at the college for the next 37 years, until 2015. Legacies of learning, like Jeff\u2019s, are never planned \u2013 they are built, honed, and refined. It is the mark of a truly great educator, scholar, and character that Livesay\u2019s tenure at Colorado College remains as vital to the college\u2019s future as it ever has.<\/p>\n

\"Jeff <\/a>
Jeff Livesay <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jeff <\/a>
Jeff Livesay <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jeff <\/a>
Jeff Livesay <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
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John Fish – the first recipient of the Livesay Award, with President Tiefenthaler <\/div> <\/div>
\"Jeff <\/a>
Jeff with Gretchen Hammer, the most recent recipient of the Livesay Award <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Livesay\u2019s time in the Department of Sociology spanned some of the most tumultuous times in U.S. and global history, and his expertise and visionary teaching in sociological theory and social inequality remained at the forefront of CC\u2019s growth towards inclusivity, social justice, and community outreach. Arriving at CC with a B.A. from Harvard College (1970), an M.A. from Duke University (1972), and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1977), Livesay brought well over a decade of professional and voluntary experience in his field to our college\u2019s classrooms.<\/p>\n

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1948, Livesay grew up in a moderately liberal household, strongly influenced by the social gospel of the Methodist faith, which had a tremendous influence upon Livesay\u2019s upbringing in a racially segregated South. His youth aligned with the heyday of the civil rights movement, and when he chose to attend Harvard in 1966, Livesay chose to study social relations \u2014 directly informed by his upbringing and his desire to make positive social change.<\/p>\n

At Harvard, Livesay was heavily involved with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a student activist movement that sought to raise student voices nationally, leading protests and teach-ins, and holding marches against global conflicts, including the burgeoning war in Vietnam. Taking a year away from Harvard, Livesay returned to Mississippi to Millsaps College, taking classes in Southern history, politics, and literature \u2014 familiarizing himself with the social and cultural history of his home region.<\/p>\n

Following his graduation with magna cum laude from Harvard, Livesay attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where he earned his M.A. in Sociology \u2014 finishing in 1972. Finding a more traditional department at Duke, Livesay yearned for something more fresh, interdisciplinary. Seeking change following his M.A., he applied and was accepted to a program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, called the history of consciousness \u2014 an interdisciplinary program in the humanities and social sciences. At UCSC, he earned his Ph.D. from 1972-77, working with sociologists and economists and researching the interplay of status competition and social power.<\/p>\n

Following his Ph.D., Livesay taught at American University in Washington, D.C., for a year, and then arrived at Colorado College in 1978. Having fallen in love with Colorado on previous visits, Livesay\u2019s hiring by Colorado College was a perfect fit from day one. He brought with him an urgency of focus, keen to utilize the private, liberal arts environment of CC to explore issues of political-economic power and social inequality. Livesay rose from instructor to assistant professor in two years, then to associate and full professor positions over the following two decades.<\/p>\n

When Livesay arrived at Colorado College, the Department of Sociology had just five students majoring in the field. CC\u2019s most recent graduating class featured 21 sociology majors, and other classes have had up to 35 sociology graduates. That growth is due in no small part to Livesay\u2019s career as an educator and one of the pillars of the college. Over the course of his 37-year teaching career, Livesay taught generations of students. His iconic classes included Modernity and Postmodernity, Social Movements, and The Nonprofit Sector. Beyond the classroom, Livesay chaired and co-chaired his department for 13 years, with his research interests including narcissism; the social theories of Jurgen Habermas and Anthony Giddens; post-Marxist theories of civil society; and methodologies for combating inequality.<\/p>\n

Multiple development block awards in the 1982-83, 1983-84, and 1995-96 academic years allowed Livesay to continue this research unhindered, while still maintaining his rigorous teaching schedule. In 1991, he was a recipient of the Sears-Roebuck Foundation grant, awarded to faculty who \u201chave made a distinctive difference to the teaching climate of the college\u201d \u2013 if anything, an understatement where Livesay is concerned!<\/p>\n

Additionally, he served as an instrumental advisor in transforming KRCC into a Corporation for Public Broadcasting-affiliated station, expanding the programming and reach of the station greatly. He advised the ACM Urban Studies program for 18 years, sponsored the college\u2019s annual film series, and also chaired and served on multiple committees including the Faculty Executive Committee (as chair), and the Academic Program\/General Education and Social Science Executive committees.<\/p>\n

In 2003, Livesay founded the Colorado College Public Interest Fellowship Program. The PIFP has gone from strength to strength over the past 16 years, providing hundreds of opportunities for students and recent graduates to pursue meaningful work across the social sector of nonprofits. These paid placements, lasting for either 10 weeks over a summer or a full year, help increase the capacity of those organizations while simultaneously fostering a new generation of socially conscious nonprofit leaders. Part of PIFP’s programming, aside from the placements, is the\u00a0Livesay Award\u00a0–\u00a0presented each year to a Colorado College graduate who is living out the mission, spirit, and goals of PIFP in his or her life.<\/p>\n

Retiring from teaching in 2015, Livesay\u2019s legacy at Colorado College stretches far beyond the classroom and out into the global community of social change. His abundant research and publications have led generations of young scholars towards careers, and his work beyond the classroom for community engagement and social good continues to inspire and motivate.<\/p>\n

Special thanks to Emily Davis ’00 and Jeff Livesay, as well as Special Collections, for their help with source materials and photographs.<\/p>\n

Please leave your comments and memories for Jeff and the entire CC community to read \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laurie Laker ’12 When he joined Colorado College in 1978, James Jefferson Livesay \u2013 known to all as Jeff \u2013 would have had no idea that he\u2019d remain at the college for the next 37 years, until 2015. Legacies of learning, like Jeff\u2019s, are never planned \u2013 they are built, honed, and refined. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":13983,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width.php","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10788","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10788"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14011,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10788\/revisions\/14011"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/13983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}