Political Science

Students and the public are invited to attend this weekly nonpartisan discussion of recent political events, hosted by Professor Matthew Dickinson. Held virtually almost every Tuesday 12:30-1:30. Check the calendar for dates. No expertise assumed. All viewpoints welcome. Contact Professor Dickinson at dickinso@middlebury.edu to receive zoom link.

Many worry that uncivil discourse can undermine democratic processes. Yet, what exactly does it mean for discourse to be uncivil? In an experiment on white Americans, I randomly vary several features of uncivil discourse to see which features more strongly trigger people’s perceptions of incivility. I find that white Americans’ perceptions of incivility are extremely subject to societal and personal biases.

Public opinion on immigrants and immigration varies wildly and support for these vulnerable populations is subject to ideas of deservingness and threat. These ideas, I argue, are filtered through racial identities that are heightened when individuals believe terrorist threats may be possible in their immediate areas. These racial identities are complex and change the ideas of who is dangerous or worthy of support for entry to the United States.

Guest speaker Joshua Tucker from New York University and co-author of The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage will lead us in a discussion on how we speak to a general audience about our research. Whether the topic is data science, climate change, policy, history, or art, it can seem difficult for those of us steeped in the details of a subject to present our work in ways that are accessible to non-experts. In this workshop we will hear from an expert on bridging the expert-non-expert gap and will be reminded of resources at Middlebury that can assist us in broadening the audience for our work.

A Hamilton Forum Counterpoint Webinar

The AEI Executive Council is hosting an event on The Rise of China featuring AEI Scholar Michael Beckley and Middlebury Professor Jessica Teets. This event will cover the economic, political, and social rise of China and its implications on US policy

Online extremism and internet hate speech show no signs of abating, and have been linked with violent atrocities across the country and around the world. In this talk, two experts on internet speech issues address the following questions: What is the best way to deal with hate speech on the internet? What role should governments, social media companies, and others play in curbing internet hate speech? What other options are there for addressing online extremism?

There has been an international push to increase the number of women in UN peacekeeping missions around the world, in particular after the 2017 launch of the Elsie Initiative by Canada.  Women are thought to improve the overall quality of UN peacekeeping.  Yet, there are many barriers to women’s participation in the security sector.  What are these barriers and how can they be overcome?  Moreover, if there are more women in peacekeeping missions, does this mean that they will be more successful in promoting peace in post-conflict countries around the world?  

A Hamilton Forum Counterpoint Webinar with Suzanna Sherry ‘76, Herman O. Loewenstein Chair in Law at Vanderbilt University School of Law. Sherry’s work in the area of constitutional law has earned her national recognition as one of the most well-known scholars in the field. The author of more than 100 books and articles, she also writes extensively on federal courts and federal court procedures. After graduating from law school, Professor Sherry was a clerk for the Honorable John C.

In 2016, President Obama signed the law P.R.O.M.E.S.A., aggravating the socioeconomic and political situation of Puerto Rico. The University of Puerto Rico has always been a target of the neoliberal austerity policies of the US and Puerto Rico government. Activist Student, Ruth N. Figueroa-Couvertier, and Sociologist, César Pérez-Lizasuain, will reflect on those austerity measures and the impacts they have on the only public institution of higher education on the island.