Dear Colleagues:

Politics is conducted by groups of people, uniting with each other in conflict with or to cooperate with others. Individuals become and act as groups through processes of communication. From the agoras of classical Greece to the newspapers of William Randolph Hearst to Pravda, CNN and Fox News, communication methods have shaped or enabled political behavior.

And now there is “Social Media.”

In principle or concept, social media might be comparable to the conversations that people have with each other, in families or other relationships. One key question then would be how increased scale could change the effects of unstructured communication. For instance, are panics and mob reactions more likely, or less? Another would be whether the informal groups created through social media shape attitudes and willingness to become involved in politics: does use of snapchat increase or decrease civic engagement among college students? Are users of political social media more likely to vote?

But, as we have learned recently, social media also may be manipulated with rather more intent. Parties have social media strategies; messages are targeted through data mining; “bots” send messages that are hardly person-to-person and so not exactly “social”; perhaps more positively, some governments have even hoped to use social media for “citizen deliberation.” The uses and abuses of social media therefore are one of the leading edges of current political science. Join us as Professor Copeland discusses questions and findings.

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Dr. Lauren Copeland is a self-described “politics and data science nerd,” with research activities that lie at the intersection of political communication, political behavior and public opinion, and a current focus on the relationship between digital media use and political participation. She earned both a doctorate and Master of Arts in political science from University of California, Santa Barbara and a Bachelor of Arts from DePaul University in Chicago.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. Our programs are open to all and no registration is required. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library.

* Kelvin Smith Library requires all entrants to show identification when entering the building, unless they have a university i.d. that they can magnetically scan. We are sorry if that seems like a hassle, but it has been Library policy for a while in response to security concerns. Please do not complain to the library staff at the entrance, who are just doing their jobs.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Schedule of Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

October 4: Hidden Costs of Waiting for Treatment: The Case of Orthopedic Surgery in Norway. With Mark Votruba, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Economics and Research Associate, Statistics Norway. ***Alternate Room: Room LL06, Lower Level, Kelvin Smith Library***

October 11: Small Steps and Giant Leaps: How Apollo 11 Shaped Understandings of Earth and Beyond. With Steven A. Hauck II, Professor and Chair, Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences. ***Alternate Room: Room LL06, Lower Level, Kelvin Smith Library***

October 18: Roe v. Wade in 2019. With B. Jessie Hill, Judge Ben C. Green Professor of Law. 

October 25: Brexit Trick or Treat. With Luke Reader, Full-Time Lecturer in English.

October 25: Brexit Trick or Treat. With Luke Reader, Full-Time Lecturer in English.

November 1: Local News: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. With Joseph Frolik, Executive Editor, Ideastream.

November 8: TBA. With Peter Shulman, Associate Professor of History.

November 15: Will We Ever Have Paris? The U.S. and the International Politics of Climate Change. With Matthew Hodgetts, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science.

November 22: The (New?) Israeli Government. With Peter J. Haas, Abba Hillel Silver Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies.

November 29: Thanksgiving break

December 6: Papers Please: Challenging Citizenship in the United States. With Cassandra Burke Robertson, John Deaver Drinko – Baker Hostetler Professor of Law and Director, Center for Professional Ethics.