By Guy Spriggs

In his dissertation research, Tim Vatovec frequently calls upon his background in geography, sociology and political science. This interdisciplinary approach – what Vatovec calls “borrowing” – makes him a natural fit for UK’s social theory program.

“Social theory has been an interest since I was an undergrad,” he said. “I’ve taken a lot from sociology and political theory and political science. That’s what geographers do, we take stuff from all over the social sciences.”

And in turn, UK’s Committee on Social Theory has borrowed a lot from the Geography Department. This academic year Vatovec is stepping into the role of research assistant for social theory, furthering the presence of geography students in the program.

“There are a lot of geographers who get into this role. We’ve been very active in working on the journal [Disclosure] and pursuing the certificate,” he explained.

Vatovec has been a consistent presence in the Committee on Social Theory since he started at UK. While completing his coursework for the social theory certificate, Vatovec worked on the collective for the social theory journal “Disclosure” and served as co-editor for the 2012 issue.

“My time with social theory hasn’t just been a one-off experience, and that’s good. It’s ongoing, and I like that,” Vatovec said.

“When I was researching grad programs, social theory was one of the highlights,” he continued. “That’s one of the reasons why I came here. They have this program and give students the opportunity to work on the journal on top of that, which is quite unique and rare for most programs.”

In addition to working on the journal, Vatovec has had many other unique experiences through his relationship with the Committee on Social Theory. Social theory events and lectures in particular have provided great opportunities to meet and converse with renowned scholars.

“You can really get personal interaction with these amazing speakers from all over. It’s great to just pick their brains,” Vatovec explained.

The theme for the issue of “Disclosure” co-edited by Vatovec was “Self/Story,” focusing on auto-ethnography work Vatovec had little experience with before reading submissions in the editorial process.

This year’s “Disclosure,” however, deals with the concept of security, which fits nicely with Vatovec’s academic interests.

“In a way, my dissertation project is on security, which was also the theme for the 2012 speaker series,” he said. “My research interests are broadly based on homeland security issues in rural areas of the United States.”

“As a cultural geographer I’m interested in how people and social groups interact in spaces and how they impact their environments materially. I’m interested in viewing how the relations between formal power structures and on-the-ground material outcomes of those structures play out.”

In the wake of city-centered disasters like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, homeland security concerns focused almost entirely on metropolitan areas. Lately, however, rural areas have been receiving funds to deal with the threats of bioterrorism, agroterrorism and natural disasters.

According to Vatovec, this is problematic because of the “one size fits all” policy for disaster preparedness that has been in place since Bill Clinton’s first term as President.

“There was this idea that we can prepare for everything, but not separately. It was all under the same kind of rubric, from tornadoes and hurricanes to terrorism,” he explained.

In addition to the obvious complications with this policy, Vatovec points out that additional difficulties can arise as a result of the different realities and spatialities between rural places and cities.

“The focus should be on people, but there is a lot of wide open space that’s rather poor and doesn’t have a lot of resources,” he said. “How are they implementing a one size fits all policy? How is that working out for the people there?”

As Vatovec works on the complexities of homeland security in rural America, social theory has proven to be an invaluable tool in helping him explore concepts like the self-government and the role of the state in security.

“I’m very interested in the work of Foucault and Deleuze and Guattari, people who theorize space and power and government and how it all works together,” Vatovec said.

And in order to make it all work, Vatovec will continue to borrow any elements of social theory that can inform his analysis.

“One of the best parts is figuring out what exactly social theory is and how it can relate to my project. I want to make it fit – I think it fits – and figuring that out is always a crucial part of quality research.”