Political Science Speaker Series
2012-13

November 30, 2012: Noon, Lillis 185
"Parties and the Problem with Pluralism: How Parties Stifle Cross-Cutting Issues in Europe and the US," a talk with Craig Parson

Craig Parsons is Professor of Political Science, Director of European Studies, and a specialist in the politics of the European Union. His talk will discuss how political parties in both Europe and the US Congress face challenging trade-offs in representing multiple issues in their societies. In order to construct unity on certain issues, they
demonstrably suppress debate and representation on others---raising questions about how well electoral democracy is suited to represent pluralist societies with many cross-cutting concerns.

February 7, 2013: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Knight Library Browsing Room
"Boxing Out: Chicago and the Politics of Race, Labor and New City Trenches," a talk with Dorian T. Warren

You may recognize Dorian from his regular appearances as a commentator on television and radio networks including NBC Nightly News, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, BET, BBC, NPR, Bloomberg, Democracy Now!, GritTV & NY1, among other outlets.  Dr. Warren is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, the School of International and Public Affairs, and the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University. He specializes in the study of inequality and American politics, with a focus on labor organizing and politics, race and ethnic politics, and  urban politics and policy.   Warren has worked with several national and local organizations including the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Rights at Work/Jobs with Justice, AFL-CIO, UNITE-HERE, SEIU, UFCW, Steelworkers, and the NGLTF Policy Institute, among others.

April 8, 2013: Noon - 1:30 p.m., Walnut Room, EMU
"Imagining International Relations as a Pluralistic Social Science" featuring Patrick Thaddeus Jackson

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson is a Professor of International Relations and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the School of International Service at the American University in Washington, DC. His research interests include culture and agency, international relations theory (particularly the intersection of realism and constructivism), scientific methodology, the role of rhetoric in public life, civilization in world politics, the sociology of academic knowledge, science fiction, and the formation of subjectivity both in the classroom and in the broader social sphere. He is the author of Civilizing the Enemy: German Reconstruction and the Invention of the West (University of Michigan Press, 2006), The Conduct of Inquiry in International Relations (Routledge, 2011) and many journal articles.

For decades, IR scholars have labored under a delusion: that there is One True Scientific Method, and that strict adherence to that method will guarantee the scientific status of their empirical researches and pronouncements. Even a cursory examination of the literature in the philosophy of science shows us that this is simply not the case -- and yet the cultural valence of the notion of "science" remains, making it imperative that the field have some kind of answer to "the science question." I present a pluralistic solution, one that acknowledges the existence of significant differences between philosophical ontologies (ways of thinking about the mid-world hook-up) and the methodological perspectives to which they give rise, but organizes that diversity so as to promote internal consistency, public discussion, and worldly insight as the hallmark of a scientific study of world politics.

May 1, 2013: 4 - 6 p.m., Knight Library Browsing Room
Confronting Revolutions Abroad: US Involvement in Vietnam and Afghanistan, featuring Tuong Vu, UO Political Science.

May 10, 2013: 11 a.m., Clinical Services Building, Room 250
Brussels Bound: Candidate Selection in European Elections, featuring William Bernhard, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Political Science Speaker Series
2011-2012

October 5, 2011 - Wayne Morse Center Colloquia
"Mobilizing the Welfare State" featuring UO Political Science Doctoral Candidate, Jeremy Strickler
Presentation and discussion.
Noon - 1 p.m.
PLC 905

October 25, 2011 - Wayne Morse Center Colloquia
"Consensus Building in Legislative-Executive Relations" featuring UO Political Science Doctoral Candidate, Debasis Bhattacharya
Presentation and discussion.
3 - 4 p.m.
Knight Library Collaboration Center, Room 122

November 14, 2011 -Politics and Sexuality Williams Award Speaker, co-sponsored by Political Science, and The Center for the Study of Women in Society.
"The Mobile Family: Protecting the Children of Same-Sex Parents With-in and Across State Borders" Featuring Joan Heifetz Hollinger, Berkeley Law
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Knight Library Browsing Room

January 12, 2012 - Politics and Sexuality Williams Award Speaker, co-sponsored by Political Science, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies, and The Center for the Study of Women in Society.
"Revisiting the Stranger Next Door: Reflections on Sexual Politics and Human Dignity in the New Millennium"
Featuring Arlene Stein, Department of Sociology, Rutgers University.
7 p.m.
Knight Law Center, Room 110

February 8, 2012 - Political Science Speaker Series
"How Historical Analysis can Inform Contemporary Policy"
presented by Amanda Kempa, Historian in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, US Department of Defense
Noon
PLC 905

February 9, 2012 - Political Science Speaker Series
Shep Melnick, Department of Political Science, Boston College
"From Enlightened Aministration to Adversarial Legalism: The Creation and Development of the Civil Rights State."
4 p.m.
Knight Library Browsing Room

 February 24, 2012 - Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics
"Prospects for Restoring Worker Power" featuring
Janice Fine, School of Labor and Management Relations, Rutgers University
12:30 p.m.
110 Knight Law Center

March 2, 2012 - Political Science Speaker Series
"Perpetuating Authoritarianism in the PRC" featuring
Teresa Wright, Department of Political Science, California State University, Long Beach
Noon
McKenzie 240c

April 27, 2012 - Political Science Speaker Series
"Colonialism and the Rule of Law" featuring Keally McBride, University of San Francisco.
Noon
McKenzie Hall 240c

May 4, 2012 - Political Science Speaker Series
"Lessons in Obamamania" featuring Adolph Reed Jr., University of Pennsylvania
Noon
McKenzie Hall 240c

May 14, 2012 - Politics and Sexuality Williams Award Speaker, co-sponsored by Political Science, Sociology, Women and Gender Studies, and The Center for the Study of Women in Society.
4:00 p.m.
Knight Library Browsing Room, 106

Political Science Speaker Series
2010-2011

Friday, October 8, 2010, 1:00 pm, 605 PLC
Political Science Colloquium
Clayton Cleveland
University of Oregon Ph.D. Candidate
"International Organizations and the Use of International Force Since 1945"

Tuesday, October 12, 2010, 3:30 pm, 175 Knight Law Center
In conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center Public Affairs Speaker Series
Thad Russell
Occidental College
"A Renegade History of the United States"

Wednesday, October 20, 2010, 3:30 pm, 175 Knight Law Center
In conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center Public Affairs Speaker Series
Rick Perlstein
Journalist and Historian
"The Tea Parties Today"

Tuesday, November 9, 2010, 4:00 pm, 175 Knight Law Center
In conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center Public Affairs Speaker Series
2010 Election Post-Mortem Roundtable
Bill Lunch (Oregon State University)
Jeff Mapes (the Oregonian)
Daniel HoSang (University of Oregon)
Priscilla Southwell (University of Oregon)

Thursday, November 18, 2010, 4:00 pm, 175 Knight Law Center
In conjunction with the Wayne Morse Center Public Affairs Speaker Series
Ray Marshall
University of Texas at Austin
"Immigration for Shared Prosperity"

Friday, December 3, 2010, 1:00 pm, 605 PLC
Political Science Colloquium
Dennis Galvan
Associate Professor, University of Oregon
"Everyday Nation Building"

Wednesday, January 12, 2011, 4:00 pm, Knight Library Browsing Room
Lisa García Bedolla
University of California, Berkeley
"Mobilizing Inclusion: Getting Out the Vote among Low Income Communities of Color"

Friday, January 21, 2011, 12:00 pm, Knight Library Collaboration Center
Chris Parker
University of Washington
"Real Conservatives or Real Cuckoos?: The Tea Party, Right-Wing  Extremism, and Ideological Confusion" Description: The Tea Party has taken American politics by storm. Until  recently, it  was best known for its tax-day tea parties across the country, and the  now infamous protest preceding the passage of the health care bill. Many on the left dismissed them as kooks. But the midterm election proved  the  Tea Party a force to be reckoned with. The movement lays claim to conservatism, but are claims that President Obama isn't a citizen, is a  socialist, or that he's actually an agent of a foreign government  commensurate with conservatism? Likewise, are preferences for increased  governmental surveillance on American citizens consistent with small  government, something on which true conservatives insist? The analysis  conducted in this paper suggests that Tea Partiers are no more  conservative than were members of the John Birch Society or the Ku Klux Klan, their extremist predecessors. 

Monday, April 18, 2011, 12:00 pm, PLC 905
Gordon Lafer, Associate Professor, Labor Education and Research Center
University of Oregon
"Congress Up Close: Trying and Failing to Build a Left Wing of  the Democratic Party"
In 2009-10, political scientist Gordon Lafer, an associate professor at LERC, served as Senior Labor Policy Advisor to the U.S. House of Representatives' Education and Labor Committee. Serving as senior staff during the height of the most hopeful time of the Obama administration, Lafer worked on some of the most central issues for economic progressives, including healthcare, labor law reform, job creation and free trade treaties. Along the way, he brought a political scientist's eye to looking at the challenges to building an effective progressive force within the U.S. Congress, In this talk, he will give a granular account of those challenges, and try to fit it within some of the useful frames of political science analysis.

Friday, May 13, 2011, 12:00 pm, McKenzie 229
Kathleen McNamara
Georgetown University
"The EU as an Imagined Community? Symbols and Practice in the Cultural Construction of Europe"

Friday, May 20, 2011, 12:00 pm, McKenzie 229
Cindy Williams and Barry Posen
"US Budgets for National Security" - Williams
"US Grand Strategy: A Critique" - Posen

 

2009-2010

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 12:00 pm, 905 PLC
Anthony Gill
University of Washington
"Septics, Sewers and Secularization:  How Government Regulation Flushes Religiosity Down the Drain"

Friday, May 14, 2010
Kathleen McNamara
Georgetown University
**Cancelled**

Friday, May 28, 2010, 1:00 pm, 112 Lillis
Taeku Lee
University of California, Berkeley
"Voting Rights, Asian Americans, and the Identity-to-Politics Link"

Great Expectations: Obama and the Politics of Reform Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 7:00 pm, 110 Knight Law Center Sidney Milkis University of Virginia "Barack Obama, the Presidency, and the Enduring Quest for Reform" Monday, February 15, 2010, 7:00 pm, 110 Knight Law Center Robin Jacobson University of Puget Sound "The Politics of Immigration Reform" Thursday, March 4, 2010, 7:00 pm, 110 Knight Law Center Leslie McCall University of Wisconsin "The Undeserving Rich? American Perceptions of Inequality, Opportunity, and Redistribution" Friday, April 9, 2010, 3:30 pm, 110 Knight Law Center David Cole Georgetown University "Civil Liberties, Military Detainees and Guantanamo" Wednesday, April 14, 2010, 3:30 pm, 175 Knight Law Center Ted Kulongoski Oregon Governor "Addressing Climate Change: The Right Policy is also the Smart Policy" Thursday, April 29, 2010, 7:00 pm, 110 Knight Law Center Mark Peterson University of California, Los Angeles "A Century in the Making: Obama and the Era of Health Care Reform"

 

2008-09

Friday, October 3, 2008, 12:00 pm, 221 McKenzie
Stephen Skowronek
Yale University
“The Many Meanings of Change: Prospects for the Next President"

Thursday October 16, 2008, 7:00 pm, 110 Knight Law Center
Bill Fletcher
Institute for Policy Studies and BlackCommentator.com
“Can the Elections Really Shift Power for Working People?"

Monday, October 20, 2008, 7:00 pm, 180 PLC
Jim Walsh
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Obama vs. McCain: Which Way for US Foreign Policy? [Hint: It's Not What You Think]"

Thursday, November 6, 2008, 12:00 pm, 905 PLC
Stefaan Walgrave
University of Antwerp
"When Media Matter for Politics: The Political Agenda-Setting Power of Mass Media Coverage"

Friday, November 7, 2008, 3:00 pm, 112 Lillis
Janice Fine
Rutgers University
"Solidarity and Exclusion: Immigration Politics and the American Labor Movement"

Wednesday, January 21, 2009, 12:00 pm, 128 Chiles
Benoit Rihoux
Universite Catholique de Louvain
“Latest Developments in Configurational Comparative Methods”

Friday, March 13, 2009, 3:00 pm, 221 McKenzie
James Thurber
American University
“Is President Obama Changing the Way Washington Works? An Analysis of Lobbying and Congressional Relations”

Monday, March 16, 2009, 12:00 pm, 117 Fenton
Lien Warmenbol
University of Antwerp
“The Embedding of Radical Right Parties in Local Networks: The Belgian Case of the Flemish Bloc”

Friday, April 17, 2009, 3:00 pm, 180 PLC
Peter Evans
University of California, Berkeley
"Amalgamating Trees, Rhizomes, and Campaigns: the Emerging Structure of the Global Labor Movement"

Monday, April 20, 2009, 12:00 pm, 129 McKenzie
Mia Bloom
University of Georgia
"The Evolution and Innovation of Suicide Terrorism: The Increasing Role of Women"

Thursday, April 30, 2009, 3:30 pm, EMU River Rooms
Melvin Hinich
University of Texas at Austin
“The Changing Political Space of Turkey from 2001 to 2004”

 

2007-08

Friday, November 2, 2007, 3:00 pm, 221 McKenzie
Jim Johnson
University of Rochester
“The Arithmetic of Compassion: Rethinking the Politics of Photography”

Friday, November 30, 2007, 3:00 pm, 221 McKenzie
Christopher Ansell
University of California, Berkeley
“How to Reform a Reform Coalition: Network Brokerage in Urban School Reform”

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 7:00 pm, Knight Library Browsing Room
John Teton
International Food Security Treaty Campaign
“Conquering Paradigm Paralysis: Human Rights Law and the End of World Hunger”

Monday, March 3, 2008, 3:30 pm, 240A McKenzie
Anna Sampaio
University of Colorado, Denver
“(Terror)izing Latina/o Immigrants: Race, Gender and Immigration Policy Post 9/11”

Friday, April 4, 2008, 12:00 pm, 905 PLC
Melissa Bass
University of Puget Sound
“What Can You Do for Your Country? Understanding the Answers from the 1930s, 1960s, and Present Day America”

Friday, April 18, 2008, 12:00 pm, 125 McKenzie
Ruth O’Brien
CUNY Graduate Center
“The Frontier State & Society”

Wednesday, May 14, 2008, 7:00 pm, 180 PLC
Joseph Cirincione
Ploughshares Fund
“The Collapse of the Bush Doctrine: The Next Nuclear Strategy”

Friday, May 16, 2008, 3:00 pm, 221 McKenzie
Michael Tomz
Stanford University
“The Credibility of International Commitments”

Thursday, May 29, 2008, 4:00 pm, 185 Lillis
Cas Mudde
University of Antwerp
“The Populist Radical Right: A Pathological Normalcy”

 

2006-07

Friday, February 16, 2007, 3:00 pm, 125 McKenzie Hall
Morris Fiorina
Stanford University
“The Present Disconnect in American Politics”

Friday, February 23, 2007, 11:00 am, Knight Library Browsing Room
George Shulman
New York University
“This is Not a Story to Pass On – Toni Morrison on Race, Prophecy, and Politics”

Thursday, March 15, 2007, 12:00 noon, 185 Lillis
Gretchen Ritter
University of Texas at Austin
“Gender, Equity and Work-Family Conflict Across Classes”

Friday, April 6, 2007, 3:00 pm, 214 McKenzie Hall
Giovanni Capoccia
Oxford University
“Democratic Militancy and Democratic Rule:  Limits to Political Pluralism in Europe”

Monday, April 9, 2007, 12:00 noon, 276 Education
Eric Oliver
University of Chicago
“Democracy in Suburbia”