George Mason University has just released a press release listing all the professors who are available to comment on the Presidential Election. The list is sorted by the professors area of expertise and lists names, contact information, and their areas of experience.<\/p>\n
TIP SHEET: GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS AVAILABLE TO COMMENT ON PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ISSUES
\nSeptember 4, 2008
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, jgreif@gmu.edu 703-993-9118<\/p>\n
Following are George Mason University faculty experts with knowledge in areas of the presidency and political campaigning.<\/p>\n
CHARACTER, MORALITY AND APPEARANCE OF THE PRESIDENT<\/p>\n
James Pfiffner<\/strong> Peter Pober<\/strong> PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS<\/p>\n Jon Gould<\/strong> Allison Hayward<\/strong> Janette Muir<\/strong> Solon Simmons<\/strong> PRESIDENTIAL HISTORY<\/p>\n Richard Norton Smith<\/strong> RACE AND THE PRESIDENCY<\/p>\n Michael Fauntroy<\/strong> Jeremy Mayer<\/strong> Toni-Michelle Travis<\/strong> RELIGION AND POLITICS<\/p>\n Mark Rozell<\/strong> John Farina<\/strong> Hugh Heclo<\/strong> VOTERS AND VOTING<\/p>\n Bryan Caplan<\/strong> Michael McDonald<\/strong> Susan J. Tolchin<\/strong> About George Mason University ###<\/p>\n
\nProfessor in the School of Public Policy
\nExpertise: the U.S. presidency, American national government, public management
\nIn addition to lecturing at the State, Justice and Defense Departments, Pfiffner has lectured at universities throughout the United States and Europe. He has written or edited 10 books on the presidency and American government and served in the director\u2019s office of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Pfiffner is a decorated war veteran and has been listed in \u201cWho\u2019s Who in America\u201d in 2000.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nDirector, Forensics Team, and Associate Professor of Communication
\nExpertise: Public speaking, communication
\nPober is the director of the nationally ranked forensics team and an expert in public speaking and presidential debates. He can discuss the importance of public speaking and communication in campaigning, and how public speaking can affect one\u2019s image. He can also give tips on effective public speaking for someone in a leadership role.
\nMedia Contact: Tara Laskowski, 703-993-8815, tlaskows@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor and Director, Center for Justice, Law & Society
\nExpertise: presidential campaigns, campaign finance reform, international legal and electoral development
\nGould served as counselor to the campaign manager of the Clinton\/Gore 1996 presidential campaign, and on the legal staff of the 1988 Dukakis\/Bentsen presidential campaign. He can provide details on political marketing and campaign strategy.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssistant Professor of Law
\nExpertise: Election law, campaign finance law, constitutional law, ethics
\nHayward has written broadly on campaign finance and election regulation, in both the academic and popular press. Previously Hayward practiced election law in California and in the District of Columbia. She is a member of the State Bar of California, the District of Columbia Bar, United States Supreme Court Bar and the Eastern District of California Bar.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor, New Century College
\nExpertise: Political campaigns, political advertising, first ladies
\nMuir can discuss the role of political communication in campaigns. She can also talk about political advertising and presidential ads, political debates, gender differences in communication and problems with media coverage. She is very interested in engaging citizens in critical thinking about political campaigns and helping them to become better informed voters. In January 2008, she will be taking a group of younger voters to the New Hampshire primaries to study youth engagement in politics.
\nMedia Contact: Tara Laskowski, 703-993-8815, tlaskows@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssistant Professor, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
\nExpertise: Presidential and congressional elections, class and culture politics, third-party candidates, political views of college professors
\nSimmons has published widely regarding American elections, the role of outsider presidential candidates and the role of class and culture in politics. His academic interests include the discussion of values and political narratives in the television era as well as examination of the fault lines in American politics over the past half-century. He has also conducted a study of political views and political correctness of faculty members in U.S. colleges and universities. His research has been widely covered in national media including The New York Times, The Washington Post, “The Today Show”, NPR and “Meet the Press”.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nScholar-in-Residence of History and Public Policy
\nExpertise: Presidential history
\nSmith is a presidential historian and former head of six presidential libraries. He can discuss presidential trivia, trends and movements in presidential history, past elections, and most anything and everything related to the presidency.
\nMedia Contact: Tara Laskowski, 703-993-8815, tlaskows@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssistant Professor of Public Policy
\nExpertise: Race and politics, black voting patterns, Republicans and the black vote, race and public policy, redistricting, Congress
\nFauntroy is the author of the recently released book \u201cRepublicans and the Black Vote.\u201d He teaches courses in urban policy and American government and specializes in race and American politics. Prior to joining the faculty at Mason, he was an analyst in American national government at the Congressional Research Service, where he provided research and consultations for members and committees of Congress. He was also a civil rights analyst at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, where he conducted research on major civil rights issues.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor in the School of Public Policy
\nDirector, Masters of Public Policy Program Expertise: presidential elections, media, racial politics, foreign policy, public opinion
\nMayer published a groundbreaking study, \u201cRacial Politics in Presidential Campaigns 1960-2000,\u201d as well as articles and chapters on presidents and elections. Mayer has extensive media experience, appearing on national and international programs including \u201cWorld News Tonight,\u201d \u201cThe Newshour,\u201d \u201cHeadline News\u201d and CNBC. He has also given multiple lectures on behalf of the U.S. government on American politics in countries around the globe including Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands and Portugal.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor of Government and Politics
\nExpertise: Race and gender issues in politics, Virginia and urban politics
\nTravis is the author of the annual “The Almanac of Virginia Politics. As a former Fellow at Oxford University’s Rothermere American Institute, she conducted research on “The Evolving Color Line” which explores how the old black\/white racial division has been changed by the arrival of non-European immigrants who are called “people of color.” She also co-authored “The Meaning of Difference,” which examines race, gender, social class, sexual orientation and disability. Travis has
\nserved as a political analyst on Virginia and national politics on BBC World Service, C-SPAN, CNN, Fox Morning News and the Washington, D.C. affiliates of NBC, CBS and ABC.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nProfessor of Public Policy
\nExpertise: Virginia politics, executive privilege, Christian right politics, interest groups and the role of the media in politics
\nRozell is the author of nine books and editor of 16 books on various aspects of American government. He has testified before Congress on several occasions on executive privilege issues and has lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor, Religious Studies Department
\nExpertise: Religion as relates to contemporary society, politics, law, public affairs and history
\nAs an attorney, Farina has practiced corporate and church-state law and published articles on current topics on law and religion. He is the author of “Beauty for Ashes: Spiritual Reflections on the Attack on America” and “Great Spiritual Masters: Their Answers to Six of Life’s Questions.” He is currently writing “The Intelligible Sphere: Theory of Religion in Civil Society.”
\nMedia Contact: Catherine Ferraro 703-993-8813, cferraro@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nRobinson Professor of Public Affairs
\nExpertise: Religion and politics, American democratic institutions, social welfare policy
\nHeclo is the author of \u201cIs America a Christian Nation\u201d and \u201cChristianity and American Democracy.\u201d He has received national awards for his books including \u201cComparative Public Policy\u201d and \u201cA Government of Strangers\u201d He specializes in social welfare and can provide specific assessments of past and present presidential terms, specifically those of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssociate Professor of Economics
\nExpertise: voter irrationality, public choice and public finance
\nBryan Caplan is author of \u201cThe Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies\u201d and an adjunct scholar of the Cato Institute. Caplan’s articles have appeared in the American Economic Review, the Economic Journal, the Journal of Law and Economics, Social Science Quarterly and numerous other outlets.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nAssistant Professor, Government and Politics
\nExpertise: voting behavior, redistricting, Congress, American political development and political methodology
\nMcDonald is a senior non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. His research shows that voter turnout is not declining, the ineligible population is rising. His research on redistricting warns of the uncompetitive nature of elections as a result of redistricting. McDonald has worked as a redistricting consultant for several states and has authored several articles and op-eds on voting and elections.
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nProfessor of Public Policy
\nExpertise: voting trends, American electorate, Congressional ethics, the American presidency and women in Congress
\nTolchin is the author of \u201cThe Angry American \u2013 How Voter Rage is Changing the Nation\u201d and co-author of \u201cGlass Houses: Congressional Ethics and the Politics of Venom.\u201d She has appeared on many television and radio news programs including the \u201cToday Show\u201d and \u201cNewshour with Jim Lehrer.\u201d Her latest co-authored book is \u201cA World Ignited – How Apostles of Ethnic, Religious and Racial Hatred Torch the Globe.\u201d
\nMedia Contact: James Greif, 703-993-9118, jgreif@gmu.edu<\/p>\n
\nGeorge Mason University, located in the heart of Northern Virginia\u2019s technology corridor near Washington, D.C., is an innovative, entrepreneurial institution with national distinction in a range of academic fields. With strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs in engineering, information technology, biotechnology and health care, Mason prepares its students to succeed in the work force and meet the needs of the region and the world. Mason professors conduct groundbreaking research in areas such as cancer, climate change, information technology and the biosciences, and Mason\u2019s Center for the Arts brings world-renowned artists, musicians and actors to its stage. Its School of Law is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 35 law schools in the United States.<\/p>\n