Biography/History
James J. Lang received his B.A. degree from Canisius College in 1966. His doctoral work in sociology and demography was completed at the University of Michigan. He served as a Vista Volunteer at Southside Settlement House in Columbus, Ohio and worked as a Project Director for Crossroads Africa in Gambia, West Africa.
Professor Lang held a position in Sociology and Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt University from 1974 to 2008. His research and field work has been supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the Kellogg Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Potato Center, and Vanderbilt's Faculty Research Council.
Between
1988 and 1998, he visited nine countries for his book Notes of a Potato Watcher,
College Station: Texas A & M University Press, 2001. The field notes are
from the following countries: Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Tunisia, Egypt, Kenya
and Uganda, India, and Indonesia.
Between 1981 and 1984, he visited thirty-four development projects in six countries: Costa Rica, Brazil, The Dominican Republic, Colombia, Paraguay, and Argentina. The field notes from the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Colombia provided the raw materials for Inside Development in Latin America, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. These materials were received in Special Collections in 2002.
In 1989 Professor Lang took a trip to Brazil, and in 1990 to Asia to meet with people from the IRRI (International Rice Research Institute). Topics discussed include research testing of rice, salt and iron tolerance in rice, weed control, and production. His field notes are contained in two bound volumes titled, Feeding a Hungry Planet.
Professor Lang provided a biographical sketch and a bibliography, which is included with the finding aid.
Scope and Contents
This collection, measuring .66 linear feet, contains three series of field notes:
Series I, housed in 12 acid-free file folders, relates to Notes of a Potato Watcher, covers potato crops, viruses that effect the potato, research into ways to prevent the viruses, genetic engineering of the potato, production, pests, and breeders. File folders follow the format from the table of contents. Note: An abstract written by Professor Lang is included with the finding aid.
Series II, housed in six acid-free file folders, relates to Inside Development in Latin America, covers the principle problems in each country, outlining some programs that may improve conditions in education, health care, and agriculture. File folders are in alphabetical order. The following field notes are included in the collection:
Series III contains two bound volumes
of field notes Chapter One: Asia- Feeding a Hungry Planet, and Chapter Two:
Brazil-Feeding a Hungry Planet.
Scope and Content | Biography
| Box Listing | Complete
Finding Aid (pdf)
Special Collections | Heard Library | Vanderbilt University
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Last modified: April 10, 2008
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