Stephen Perz ’92 always knew that he wanted to study the social and behavioral sciences. To get there, Perz wanted to attend a liberal arts college that knew “what it was about.” He states, “Southwestern had the academic expectations without being pretentious. It was a sincere place. This place let me follow my nose.” Perz’s path led him to in-depth study of several research topics, including animal behavior, social demography and environmental change in the Amazon.

As an undergraduate student, Perz participated in the Southwestern London Semester Abroad, in which he learned a great deal about himself and his interests. “During the fall break, I had the opportunity to travel around by myself. On a given night, I was not sure where I was going to sleep. The combination of freedom and responsibility, of having to make lots of my own decisions and to live with them, was a formative experience for me.” While in London, Perz took a demography course by Professor of Sociology and Anthropology Ed Kain. Kain’s class provided professional socialization for Perz. “He set high expectations for himself, and for me. Later on, he helped me submit articles and apply for graduate schools. I even wrote my honors thesis with Ed.”

When discussing his current career as associate professor of sociology at the University of Florida, Perz cannot separate what he loves most about it from his experience in academia beginning with his time at Southwestern. “Academia is not an ivory tower; it is very competitive and requires multidimensional contributions from professors. Teaching is important, but it is only one part of the job. And I love not doing one thing all of the time. I could not just teach or just do research.” Perz believes that the strong interdisciplinary approach at Florida allows for the creation of new ideas. He emphasizes that “The synthesis is more than the parts. All disciplines have major blind spots when it comes to addressing complex problems, like environmental problems. But it is exciting that interdisciplinary studies, something that liberal arts education cultivates, is receiving serious attention at a time when it is needed to address very difficult problems. For scholars, this requires not only moving beyond disciplinary boundaries, but also beyond traditional definitions of science, toward a more politically engaged approach that links science to political transparency in democratic decision-making. There are high stakes, like the Amazon.”

Perz started learning about the Amazon while at Southwestern. He completed his honors thesis titled “Modeling Migration Patterns in Brazilian Amazonia, 1970-1980,” studying why people move to different places in the region. Perz’s first time to the Amazon was while in graduate school at The University of Texas. He describes, “It was a riveting experience. I went to the most violent part of the Amazon, where hired gunmen are part of the social landscape. There were very intelligent people living in the most remote of areas, living by their wits in very uncertain circumstances. It was complex and fascinating and motivated me to conduct more fieldwork. I’ve been to Brazil many times since then.”

Perz now studies road building in the Southwest Amazon. “The Inter-Oceanic Highway is being paved through the southwestern Amazon, the most biologically diverse place on the planet. The southwestern Amazon is also highly socially diverse, because it is a tri-national frontier, but it is remote from the political centers of Brazil, Peru and Bolivia.” Perz is trying to work through the “MAP” social movement, named after the three states that comprise the tri-national frontier. Perz adds, “The role of an outside academic like me begins with research and training. I am looking at what happens to social and ecological systems when you build or pave a road. But this is of great interest to local stakeholders, and so by collaborating with faculty in regional universities, I am helping to build capacity for research to help the tri-national movement put forth a model of participatory environmental planning. Ultimately, the goal is to realize a future in the southwestern Amazon that will be more sustainable for people and the forest than it has been in other parts of the Amazon. By formulating partnerships, we are generating new knowledge and developing relationships with government and non-government agencies. We want to empower the people of the region.”

Perz shares with current Southwestern students. “Get as broad of a skills base as you possibly can such as information technology or another language. Travel to another country and get lost – you’ll learn a lot. Expose yourself to other disciplines. Respond to your opportunities. The ability to seize one opportunity often leads to another.”