New event: Political and Policy Communication: Impact, Ethics and the Art of Persuasion

With the election around the corner, I’m gearing up to appear at a few public events to talk about political communication and my research. I’m particularly looking forward to an event entitled: “Political and Policy Communication: Impact, Ethics and the Art of Persuasion” hosted by George Mason University on October 25th from 9:30 a.m. – 12:45 …

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Not just blind, but blinkered

Last week, my husband and I had the opportunity to go see Alan Alda give a talk at the National Academies of Sciences called “Beyond a Blind Date With Science.” The talk was amazing (see a clip here). In short, Dr. Alda was making the point that the American public is on a “blind date” with …

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The value of collaborative retreats

In academia, everyone acknowledges the value of applying for and receiving grants. But while it is the large grants that fund expensive designs, labs, and data analysis that get the most attention for bringing money into the university and enabling research, the smaller grants to encourage collaboration can be just as powerful for research. Last …

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Issue-Specific Activism on Climate Issues on Facebook

Even as scholars discuss changes in the ways in which young adults approach politics – and particularly their focus on specific issues and social concerns rather than dutiful political participation – a lot of what we know about political engagement via social media focuses on politics proper: political candidates and campaigns. While this research is largely promising …

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Media Literacy and Perceptions of Biased Political Content

I’ve been saying for months that I want to try a new experiment in promoting new articles. Scholars are often encouraged to share their knowledge outside the “ivory tower” – something that academic publishing doesn’t always make easy. So I’m going to try to blog about – and maybe eventually do short videos about – my …

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