With a crucial US election looming, faculty from several Arts & Sciences departments will be sharing their expertise and insights in the coming weeks through lectures and panels on election-related topics ranging from climate change to protests to the media. All events are free and online, with registration required. Clear your calendar! It’s going to be a busy month.
Election 2020: A Turning Point?
This presidential election is crucial for what direction the country will take. In this lecture series, Department of Political Science faculty will cover the campaign, the issues at stake, and the implications for how the government will function in the upcoming years. Register for one lecture or all three. All lectures at 6 pm.
October 1: Hot Topics – Climate Change & China Relations
Professor Aseem Prakash: Will Climate Concerns Affect the 2020 Elections?
Professor Susan Whiting: US-China Relations and the 2020 Elections
October 14: Will Your Vote Matter?
Professor James Long: Domestic and Foreign Manipulation of Voting in 2020
Professor Mark Alan Smith: Polls, Campaign Messages, and the Electoral College
October 29: Impacts for Our Democracy
Professor Rebecca Thorpe: The Implications of the 2020 Election for Executive Power
Lecturer Scott Lemieux: The Supreme Court and the 2020 Election
Learn more about the Election 2020 lecture series.
WISIR Lecture Series
The Washington Institute for the Study of Inequality and Race (WISIR), based in the Department of Political Science, will cover the election and more in its upcoming lecture series. All lectures at 11 am.
October 7: Social Movements & Racial Justice
Moderator: Christopher Sebastian Parker (University of Washington)
Panelists: Daniel Gillion (University of Pennsylvania); Juliet Hooker (Brown University); Chris Zepeda-Millán (UCLA)
November 6: Race & the 2020 Election
Moderator: Sophia Jordán Wallace (University of Washington)
Panelists: Bernard Fraga (Emory University); Christina Greer (Fordham University); Jane Junn (University of Southern California); Christopher Parker (UW)
Learn more about the WISIR Series, including additional lectures in 2021
Protests for the Soul of a Nation: COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and Election 2020
October 21, 6:30 pm
Megan Ming Francis, associate professor of political sciences, will discuss how we got to this urgent moment, the role organized protest can play in the upcoming election, and the future of a fair and robust democracy. Presented by the UW Office of Public Lectures.
Learn more about the Protests for the Soul of America lecture.
Why Race Matters: The 2020 Election
October 22, 4 pm
Presented by the UW Department of History Diversity Committee, this panel will be an interdisciplinary conversation that will bring together distinguished scholars from Arts & Sciences departments including history, political science, and American ethnic studies to discuss the presidential election through the lens of historical and present-day dynamics of race in American politics.
Learn more about Why Race Matters: Election 2020.
Media and Politics in the US Presidential Election
October 28, noon
The Department of Communication's new Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy will host a virtual roundtable featuring Professors Lance Bennett, Matthew Powers, and Adrienne Russell. Topics will include the link between eroding trust in institutions and our increasingly dysfunctional media landscape, the role journalism plays among polarized electorates, and the ways current mediated activism works to strengthen and to undermine democracy.
Learn more about the Media and Politics in the US Presidential Election roundtable.
Post-US Elections: A Global Perspective on US Democracy and Foreign Policy
November 5, 6:30 pm
A panel discussion with Jackson School of International Studies faculty on what the elections mean for global engagement and what a global perspective can teach us about the elections and American democracy. The faculty panel will include professors Daniel Bessner and Angelina Godoy, Jackson School director Leela Fernandes, and additional speakers.
Learn more about the Post-US Elections panel.
Debate Previews presented by KUOW & UW Alumni Association
Join KUOW and the University of Washington Alumni Association for a virtual conversation with KUOW journalists and local experts — including Arts & Sciences faculty — ahead of each presidential debate. They will guide you through what to expect, discuss how issues might impact Washington voters, offer local and national political analysis, and invite you — the audience — to share your perspective. All events at 4 pm.
October 7: Vice Presidential Debate Preview
October 15: Presidential Debate Preview
October 22: Presidential Debate Preview
Political Economy Forum Podcasts
Ongoing
With a special podcast on election security, Department of Political Science professor and Political Economy Forum co-founder James Long and other experts from the UW and elsewhere discuss lessons from around the world to understand threats to the U.S. elections on "Neither Free Nor Fair?" The Forum also hosts a second eponymous podcast series that addresses current issues at the intersection of political science, economics, contemporary events, history, and public policy.
Listen to the Political Economy Forum's podcasts.
