From September 19 to October 18, 2024, prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer stayed at the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the Faculty of Law of the University of Białystok as a visiting professor. During his stay in Białystok, he gave several lectures at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bialystok, devoted to among others: crime in the countryside, crime among the Amish. In his speeches, he referred to the research and analyzes he had conducted over the years in the area of rural criminology.
Prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer is a professor emeritus at The Ohio State University, collaborating with the Center for Violence Research, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia. He is an expert in criminology, in particular rural criminology. He is also the author of numerous publications on the sense of security, fear of crime, social deviations, and crime - including in the countryside, among the Amish community. What's more, prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer is the editor of the Routledge Monograph Series in Rural Criminology and co-founder and co-editor of such journals as: International Journal of Rural Criminology, Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities. He is also the initiator of the creation of a section dealing with rural criminology at the American Society of Criminology - ASC Division of Rural Criminology (DRC) and supports a working group also devoted to rural areas of criminology at the European Society of Criminology - ESC Working group on Rural Criminology (ERC). Due to his numerous achievements, he is often called the "father" of rural criminology among criminologists.
During his stay in Białystok he gave several lectures at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bialystok. With his participation, a training on publishing in English-language magazines was also organized. Referring to his experience, the scientist characterized the most important aspects of cooperation between the scientist and the editorial office of the journal. During his speech, he cited numerous examples and discussed situations he encountered during the publication process as an author and editor of magazines.
Prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer also took part in the lecture led by prof. Ph.D. Ewa M. Guzik-Makaruk the first meeting of the Scientific Club of Criminal Law and Criminology in the current academic year. The visiting professor's lecture introduced the students to such issues as: Amish culture, crime faced by this religious community, challenges faced by scientists when conducting criminological research, among others in subcultures.
On October 11, 2024, a Polish - American scientific seminar was organized entitled “Rural Criminologists and Ecocriminologists: Stronger Partnerships, Better Scholarship.” The speakers were:
The seminar was led by dr Magdalena Perkowska. The event was organized by the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the Faculty of Law of the University of Białystok and the International Center for Criminological Research and Expertise.
Professor Joseph F. Donnermeyer was on duty for employees, students doctorants and students, and met with prof. Katarzyna Laskowska - Head of the Department of Criminal Law and Criminology at the Faculty of Law of the University of Białystok and the employees of this Department, as well as with her long-time colleague - prof. Emil W. Pływaczewski. The professor also took part in meetings with prof. Artur Olechno - Dean of the Faculty of Law UwB and prof. Agnieszka Z. Wilczewska – Vice-Rector of the University for Science and International Cooperation and prof. Marta Kowalczuk-Walędziak - Plenipotentiary of the Rector of UwB for internationalization. Prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer also participated in the 3rd edition of the Criminological Congress which took place in Białystok on September 23-24, 2024.
The visiting professor also had the opportunity to get to know the infrastructure of the University of Białystok better. He visited the Law Library of the University of Bialystok and the University Library of Jerzy Giedroyc in Białystok, as well as the University Nature Center of Professor Andrzej Myrcha and the Planetarium with the Astronomical Observatory of the University of Bialystok.
During his stay, prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer had the opportunity to get to know Podlasie better and notice the cultural diversity of the region, visiting, among others, Tykocin, Supraśl, Kruszyniany. He also enjoyed a walk around Silvarium - a forest garden, the bison show pen in Kopna Góra and the Śliwno-Waniewo footbridge. The guest from the USA liked Białystok very much and visited many interesting places in our city, including: Siberia Memorial Museum.
The visiting professor came at the invitation of Dr Emilia Jurgielewicz-Delegacz who is implementing the project entitled "Rural crime in Poland" thematically related to the research interests of prof. Joseph F. Donnermeyer. The scientist's stay was co-financed by the Minister of Science under the "Regional Excellence Initiative" Program.
