James Donovan: 2026-27 University Research Professor Q&A

James Donovan, Ph.D., the Dorothy Salmon Professor at the J. David Rosenberg College of Law at the University of Kentucky, has been honored as a 2026-27 University Research Professor.

Drawing on expertise that spans law, library science and anthropology, Donovan’s research explores how legal systems, information institutions and human rights shape people’s lives. His work examines issues of gender, sexuality and human rights, while also addressing the evolving role of libraries, scholarly communication and the ways different cultures create and interpret legal institutions.

Donovan has authored three books — “Legal Anthropology: An Introduction” (2008), “Sexual Orientation and the Law: A Research Bibliography” (2006), and “Anthropology & Law” (2003) — 17 book chapters and 64 articles. His writings have received four awards from the American Association of Law Libraries, as well as a research grant. Extramural presentations have included instructional seminars for graduate students in Poland and Ukraine on methods of academic research and serving as panelist for a Lexis seminar on the future of law librarianship in the age of generative AI. 

Before completing his J.D. at Loyola University New Orleans and his Ph.D. in anthropology from Tulane University, he received degrees in philosophy and library science from Louisiana State University.  

He spoke with UKNow about his latest honor as a University Research Professor in this Q&A.

UKNow: What does it mean to you to be recognized as a University Research Professor?

Donovan: While the appointment comes with useful benefits, the more permanent significance for me concerns the reality that academic endeavors typically require a deep immersion in problems that are not always of ready interest to friends and colleagues. As a result, the process can sometimes feel a bit insulated from the wider world. Being recognized as a University Research Professor is a reassuring validation from peers that the effort does not go unnoticed. 

UKNow: How will the professorships program advance your research?

Donovan: The first project involves the question of the deep nature of the library as an emergent social institution. Too often libraries are thought of as mere information repositories, liable to being superseded by internet replacements. But that observation doesn’t explain other features of the library, such as how they are often primary targets during armed conflicts or even why, when those internet alternatives are easily available, we still see censorship of libraries dramatically increasing. Thinking of the library as a “warehouse of books” sheds no light on these questions; other influences are in play. My book project is designed to construct an exhaustive analysis of the social institution of the library, highlighting the underappreciated role that it plays in our society, one that we sometimes come dangerously close to eliminating.

The second research endeavor defends the thesis of strong cultural diversity. Just as biodiversity has an inherent value we should all preserve, cultural diversity serves much the same function in its realm of human adaptation to the universal challenges of group living. Culture change, while inevitable, works best when it flows from the preferences of the people that will be impacted, rather than when imposed from outside, as is often done by international organizations and other countries. The writings in process work to both highlight the role of culture in the formation of social and personal identify, and to describe accounts of how changes have been successful by minimizing the disruptive mental health repercussions of having one’s understanding of how the world works forcibly undermined.

UKNow: What inspired your focus on this area of research?

Donovan: My work has always been multidisciplinary, and thus I tend to approach problems that cannot be fully addressed when disciplinary boundaries are observed. The library project, for example, requires not only my background as a librarian, but also my expertise as anthropologist. Similarly, the significance of cultural diversity in policy relies upon my education in law and, again, my fieldwork in cultural and psychological anthropology. Throw in my graduate degree in philosophy and inevitably I tend to approach problems from a nontraditional perspective. This breadth allows me to recognize gaps in the literature that I believe I’m uniquely situated to help fill.

UKNow: What continues to motivate your work?

Donovan: Both of the research projects deal with live issues in today’s world. What is to be the future of the library? How can the world’s societies better approach their relations with others who may hold radically different values? How can we avoid the ethnocentrism we are all prone toward, and instead recognize what others have to offer? These are not questions of only academic interest but are going to be addressed one way or the other as time moves on. Better that it is done deliberately than accidentally. We are more likely to land on sustainable, even correct outcomes if we approach the problems thoughtfully and without preconceptions.

UKNow: How does your research impact Kentucky?

Donovan: Kentucky is not isolated from the events and trends of the broader country and world that my research projects aim to analyze. For example, Kentucky has seen books censored, meaning the role and value of the library is as much in play here as in more obvious battlegrounds such as Florida and Texas. National politics, which exert a great influence over Kentucky policies, likewise are shaped by our domestic understanding of those outside our borders. In both discussions, the extent to which we more fully understand and appreciate the forces in play, the more likely we’ll arrive at solid results. My research hopes to contribute to that goal.

About the University Research Professors

Each year, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approves a cohort of faculty as University Research Professors. The distinction recognizes excellence in work that addresses scientific, social, cultural and economic challenges in Kentucky and the world.

College leadership developed criteria for excellence within their area of expertise and then nominated faculty who excelled at these criteria. Each University Research Professor receives a one-year award of $10,000.