About

Michael D. Kennedy is a professor of sociology and international and public affairs at Brown University, where he investigates the relationship between knowledge practices and global transformations. His scholarly work has addressed East European social movements, national identifications, and systemic change. Over the past 15 years, Kennedy has focused on the sociology of public knowledge, global transformations, and cultural politics, with recent research concentrating on energy security, universities, and solidarity. He is the author of the book Globalizing Knowledge: Intellectuals, Universities and Publics in Transformation, which explores these themes. Looking ahead, Kennedy plans to research projections of identity and transformations of human and social capacity in the coming decade. Kennedy has held significant administrative roles, including serving as the University of Michigan's first vice provost for international affairs and directing an institute along with five centers and programs at the University of Michigan. He also served as the Howard R. Swearer Director of Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. He is recognized for his dedication to student engagement, having received the Barrett Hazeltine Citation for Excellence in Teaching, Guidance and Support in 2014. At Brown, he serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Sociology Department and Director of Graduate Studies for Master's of Public Affairs students in the Public Policy Program. Additionally, he is affiliated with the Contemplative Studies Initiative. Beyond his university roles, Kennedy has contributed to the broader academic community through nine years of service on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors at the Social Science Research Council. He recently joined the Open Society Foundations' Higher Education Support Program Advisory Board and the International Academic Advisers Panel for the School of Social Sciences at Singapore Management University. His scholarly contributions to education and scholarship about Poland were recognized by Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who awarded him the Gold Cross of Merit.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Social Science
• Sociology
• Civil engineering
• Engineering ethics
• Geology
• Law
• Mechanical engineering
• Engineering
• Engineering management
• Aerospace engineering

Selected publications

• Love, Law, and War in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine: Rearticulating Podgórecki’s Place in a Polish Become American Sociological Imagination

  Zeszyty Naukowe Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawła II · 2024-12-23

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Adam Podgórecki’s place in American sociology, and my own engagement with his work 30 years ago, begins my contribution to this collection. I turn next to consider how some subsequent scholars have explained his work and his potential, and do some of the same by inviting our translation of intuitive and formal law into an exploration of vernacular and professional articulations of justice and law. I then consider the place of love in the relationship before moving on to examine two epoch-ending crises of our time: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Israel/Palestine. I conclude with an observation that Podgórecki and other scholars invite us to rethink how the intuitive and the formal, the vernacular and the professional, senses of justice might be rearticulated. I recommend that South Africa’s intervention at the International Court of Justice might be a transformational moment.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Work in Progress: Reformulation of a Truss Competition Course Project to Improve Educational Outcomes

  2024 · 1 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Engineering management

  Abstract The sophomore-level Statics and Mechanics of Materials course provides the solid mechanics foundation for many undergraduate students. Since trusses are already a familiar sight to most students, this structure provides a good bridge between the abstract conceptual knowledge which has predominated their class to this point and a concrete practical application, while also tying many course concepts together. The design and physical construction of a truss lets students participate hands-on while providing the opportunity to self-assess and to evaluate their coursework against an objective standard: does it work in "real life"? Demonstrating the applicability of abstract theories in the real world to relatively inexperienced students is critical to their educational foundation. If project results can be predicted, then students receive a confidence boon and will be encouraged to delve deeper into their learning. Alternatively, if students cannot predict outcomes, they may conclude that what they've learned is not useful and lose motivation. The educational stakes of an in-depth course project like the design and construction of a truss merit a careful formulation of the project to definitively enhance students' educational formation rather than hindering it. As with any experimental work, many complexities may arise which are well beyond the scope of the course and the capabilities of the students at this stage. To ensure that students can observe their theory work out in practice, the project should be designed to eliminate, mitigate, or highlight these factors as much as possible. The truss competition project had several features which brought out these issues, including significant statistical variation in (craft sticks) material properties, geometric limitations due to the material dimensions, and subsequent deviations from truss theory. The variations and emerging discrepancy between the design model and the physical structure being constructed undermined students' confidence in the analysis taught in class, evidenced by a predominance of heuristic failure load predictions rather than predictions directly resulting from the analysis. The authors made some fundamental changes to the competition materials and rules, seeking to improve the educational impact of this project for the 2021-22 school year. First, a closer correspondence to theory should increase student self-efficacy in engineering analysis broadly at this early stage in their technical education. Second, a project outcome determined by correct application of course concepts rather than external aspects (e.g. craft skills or luck) should establish a deeper understanding of course content and cement longer-term retention. Finally, a sense of mastery over basic principles should empower students' creativity, leading to innovation rather than a reliance on traditionally successful approaches. The first year of project revisions achieved partial success. An overall increase in material repeatability and student confidence was achieved compared to the previous year. However, some new problems were also revealed, preventing the expected dramatic improvement across the board. As a work in progress, the next steps in this project involve addressing the remaining technical challenges and testing solutions, establishing assessment instruments, and streamlining the project with built-in year-to-year variations to make it more manageable for future instructors.

  PublisherDOI

• Sociology as a Way of Life: Warsaw and Heidelberg University Students Engage Michael D. Kennedy

  Stan Rzeczy · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The Point of Public Intellectuals

  Contexts · 2024-02-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Michael D. Kennedy on contributing to a culture of critical discourse.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Articulations of StrongMen: A Knowledge Cultural Sociology of Recognizing Autocratic Practices in Russian, Turkish, and Global Regimes

  American Behavioral Scientist · 2024 · 4 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Sociology
  • Social Science

  Autocracies and their practices have figured prominently in modernity’s making and associated sociologies, but in the 21st century the discourse of StrongMen has surged, coming to dominate our “attention economy.” We consider its various expressions alongside its articulations referencing multiple spaces and consider it a “floating signifier” that appears to explain but in fact distracts from deeper causalities and possible effects of autocratic governance. In this knowledge cultural sociology, we explore how the concept of StrongMen works within nations, with antipodes, and in networks across global and historical conjunctures. We focus in the end on Erdoğan’s 2023 re-election and Putin’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, identifying not only the practices that make them StrongMen, but also how the very concept becomes part of the toolkit implicated in recognizing their autocratic practices.

  PublisherDOI

• Review of “Zygmunt Bauman and the West: A Sociology of Intellectual Exile”

  Social Forces · 2024-06-14

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Journal Article Review of "Zygmunt Bauman and the West: A Sociology of Intellectual Exile" Get access Review of "Zygmunt Bauman and the West: A Sociology of Intellectual Exile" By Jack Palmer McGill-Queens University Press, 2023, 272 pages, price: CAD$44.95 (paper) https://www.mqup.ca/zygmunt-bauman-and-the-west-products-9780228017691.php Michael D Kennedy Michael D Kennedy Brown University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Social Forces, soae087, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soae087 Published: 14 June 2024 Article history Received: 04 April 2024 Accepted: 29 May 2024 Published: 14 June 2024

  PublisherDOI

• Contemplative Studies, Martial Arts, and Solidarity: An Autobiographical Knowledge Cultural Sociology of Transformational Theory and Practice

  Stan Rzeczy · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  In this reflection on my sociological practice and academic leadership across four decades, I discover abiding themes otherwise hidden by the keywords featured most prominently: solidarity, martial arts, and contemplative practices. Articulations across knowledge cultures and leadership responsibilities distinguished by place, emphasis, spirit, and (non-)violence move me to conclude with an embrace of love as a force across what might appear, on the surface, incommensurate expressions. However, they are but different manifestations of a deeper unity to be realised in transformation moved by address of the following question: solidarity with whom?

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Experimental dynamic flow characterization of hydraulic bushings

  Noise Control Engineering Journal · 2023-09-01

  article

  The dynamic properties of hydraulic bushings are often modeled in the time and frequency domains with low-order, lumped-parameter models, typically assuming steady developed flow in their fluid passages, whereas in situ flow conditions are unlikely to meet such criteria. Hydraulic bushings exhibit tuned properties emerging from nonlinear interactions involving these flow characteristics, so higher resolution descriptions of the underlying physics are needed under realistic flow conditions. This paper discusses an approach to isolate the fluid passage features in production bushings to enable experimental characterization for steady, oscillatory, and transient flow. More robust models of dynamic responses in the time and frequency domains are expected to result from this more precise determination of each flow path's contribution to the nonlinear system response. An apparatus capable of generating steady and dynamic flow is proposed, and some validation data are given to demonstrate the functionality of the experiment. Some challenges with the approach are considered, including the system's hydraulic compliance and cavitation. The flow testing apparatus is used on an example two-passage production bushing adapted for controlled steady or dynamic flow through one or both flow paths. Finally, some nonlinear flow properties of a typical hydraulic bushing's flow passages are given.

  PublisherDOI

• Experimental dynamic flow characterization of hydraulic bushings

  NOISE-CON proceedings · 2023-05-25

  article

  The dynamic properties of hydraulic bushings are often modeled in the time and frequency domains with low-order, lumped-parameter models, typically assuming steady, developed flow in their fluid passages, whereas in situ flow conditions are unlikely to meet such criteria. Hydraulic bushings exhibit tuned properties emerging from nonlinear interactions involving these flow characteristics, so higher resolution descriptions of the underlying physics are needed under realistic flow conditions. This paper discusses an approach to isolate the fluid passage features in production bushings to enable experimental characterization for steady, oscillatory, and transient flow. More robust models of dynamic responses in the time and frequency domains are expected to result from this more precise determination of each flow path's contribution to the nonlinear system response. An apparatus capable of generating steady and dynamic flow is proposed, and some validation data is given to demonstrate the functionality of the experiment. Some challenges with the approach are considered, including the system's hydraulic compliance and cavitation. The flow testing apparatus is used on an example two-passage production bushing adapted for controlled steady or dynamic flow through one or both flow paths. Finally, some nonlinear flow properties of a typical hydraulic bushing's flow passages are given.

  PublisherDOI

• Globalizing Knowledge and Nationalisms’ Reactions in the Articulation of Universities

  Global Perspectives · 2023-01-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  I propose that we recast our concern over scales of reference—global versus national—in recognizing university distinctions and dangers to consider what theories, methods, and practices enable universities to join concerns for academic freedom and seeking justice in knowledge activism.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• David A. Smith

  8 shared

• Luke Fredette

  Cedarville University

  3 shared

• Jim Dingley

  3 shared

• David Dusseault

  3 shared

• Alan Smith

  3 shared

• Matthew A. Davies

  3 shared

• Markku Kivinen

  3 shared

• Kandi Stinson

  2 shared

Awards & honors

• Social Science Research Council service (2015)
• International Academic Advisors' Board of Singapore Manageme…
• Governing Board of European Humanities University (2019)
• Chair and co-chair of two education programs for the Open So…
• Chair of the Global and Transnational Sociology Section of t…