The Sophian

Issue date: 4/13/06 Section: Features

Sociology Professor Kim Lyons, who will not be returning to Smith next year, poses in her office.

As she has been subject of much discussion around campus lately, chances are you have probably heard something about Sociology Professor Kim Lyons. If what you've heard is something about her unique teaching tactics, her passion for Smith and sociology, her four-year stint as a cab driver or the fact that she will not be returning next year, what you've heard so far is true.

Lyons herself attended Smith as an undergraduate, originally pursuing a major in philosophy while also taking a few psychology courses. Upon discovering sociology she states, "Sociology provided me with the most reasonable answers to the questions that were driving my education. Sociology and I have continued our love affair ever since." As for the cab, yes, she worked her way through school by driving a cab while not in class. Even then she used the job as a way to further her education, often interviewing her "pick-ups."

After graduating from Smith, Lyons took a year off and taught special education at a middle school. She then attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook to pursue a doctorate in sociology. She is currently ABD-all but dissertation-for her doctorate, finding it challenging to balance teaching and writing. But she assures us that "teaching sociology is my true passion and I will be completing my thesis soon."

Coming back to Smith to teach after her attendance as an undergraduate is not an uncommon thing to aspire to, and Lyons explains her motives to be loving Smith and the dedication of the students. Being offered a job by one of her favorite professors while she attended, Rick Fantasia, left her both "thrilled and honored." When comparing her experiences here as a student and then as a professor she says she "find[s] the intellectual aptitude, the discipline and the passion of Smith students to be as strong and, at times, awe inspiring."

Lyons takes her role as a professor extremely seriously, considering her job "as something akin to social activism." She hopes that the scholars she produces will one day promote positive societal change. She also describes one of her most important roles as a professor to be "developing in [her] students a passion for ideas, for the pursuit of knowledge, for the value of education for the sake of education."

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