Winter 2024

Friday, February 16th, 2024. 10:30AM–12:00PM

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Jeannine Bell | Loyola University Chicago, Curt and Linda Rodin Professor of Law and Social Justice

“Protest, Police and Interaction: Sorting out Americans Complicated Views Police Behavior”

The Olson Room (Gowen 1A)

Friday, March 8th, 2023. 12:00PM–1:30PM

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Dara Strolovitch | Yale University, Professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and Political Science

“When Bad Things Happen to Privileged People: Race, Gender, and What Makes a Crisis in America”

The Olson Room (Gowen 1A)

Spring 2024

Tuesday March 26th, 2024. 1:30–3:00PM

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Juliet Hooker | Brown University, Royce Family Professor of Political Science

“Black Grief/White Grievance: Democracy and the Problem of Political Loss”

The Olson Room (Gowen 1A)

Postponed to later day in 2024-2025 AY

Book Launch: Margaret Perez Brower | UW Political Science

“Intersectional Advocacy: Redrawing Boundaries Around Race, Gender, and Class”

The Olson Room (Gowen 1A)

Winter 2023

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Abbye Atkinson, Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law.

Friday, March 31st, 2023, 12:00 – 1:30 PM. The Olson Room (Gowen 1A).

Title TBD. 

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Dara Strolovitch, Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies, Princeton University.

Friday, May 12, 2023, 12:00 – 1:30 PM. The Olson Room (Gowen 1A).

Title TBD.

Fall 2022

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Michael Rodríguez Muñiz, Professor of Sociology and Latino/Latina Studies, Northwestern University.

Friday, October 21st, 2022. 12:00-1:30 pm, The Olson Room (Gowen 1A).

“A Few Bad Apples or a Rotten Tree? Racial State Frames in Times of Political Distrust”

Spring 2022

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Destin Jenkins, Professor of History, Stanford University.

This talk, titled “The Bonds of Racial Inequality in Postwar America,” was held on May 20th, 2022.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Adom Getachew, Professor Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago.

This talk, titled “A History of Self-Determination before Decolonization,” was held on May 27th, 2022.

Spring 2021

Friday, February 26, 1:00-2:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Marisa Abrajano, Professor of Political Science, UC San Diego. “(Mis)Informed: What Americans Know About Social Groups and Why it Matters for Politics.”

Winter 2020

Thursday, January 30 5:30-7:00 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Melanye Price, Endowed Professor of Political Science, Prairie View A&M University. “Mountaintop Removal: MLK, Trump, and the Racial Mountain”, Gowen Hall 301

Fall 2019

Friday, December 13th 1:00-2:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Shatema Threadcraft, Associate Professor of Government, Dartmouth University. “Redistributing Narrative Capital: Lynching, Rape, and Stories of Black Peoplehood”. Gowen Hall, Olson Room

Monday, April 3, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group
Our text will be Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., Between Homeland and Motherland: Africa, U.S. Foreign Policy, and Black Leadership in America (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2011), Introduction and Chapter 1. Refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.

Monday, April 10, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University. “Immigration in the African American Mind: Reverse Racial Triangulation and Proxy Representation, 1830-1945.” Refreshments served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485.

Monday, April 10, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Tillery. Refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A.

Friday, April 21st 10:00-11:30 a.m.

Distinguished Lecture: Efrén Pérez,  Associate Professor of Political Science, UT Austin. “E Pluribus Unum: Clarifying When and How Elites (Dis)Incline Immigrants Towards a Political Ideal.” Gowen Hall, Olson Room

Monday, January 23, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group
Our text will be Phillip Ayoub, When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility, Chapters 1 and 2. Refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.

Monday, January 30, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Phillip Ayoub, Assistant Professor of Politics, Drexel University. “When States Come Out: Europe’s Sexual Minorities and the Politics of Visibility.” Refreshments served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485.

Monday, January 30, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Ayoub. Refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A.

Monday, April 11, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group
Our text will be Michael Dawson, “Katrina and the Nadir of Black Politics,” in Not In Our Lifetimes: The Future of Black Politics (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011), Chapter 2 (pp. 21-62). Drinks and refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.

Monday, April 18, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Michael C. Dawson, John D. MacArthur Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago. “Support for Reparations in the Early 21st Century.” Light lunch served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485.

Monday, April 18, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Dawson. Drinks and refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A.

Wednesday, May 18, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Postdoctoral Prize Lecture: Kirstine S. Taylor, Postdoctoral Lecturer in Political Science and WISIR Postdoctoral Prize Fellow, University of Washington. “The Alchemy of Racial Innocence.” Light lunch served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485.

Wednesday, May 18, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Year-End Reception. Drinks and refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A.

Monday, January 25, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group
Our text will be Natalie Matsuoka and Jane Junn, The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion, and Immigration (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013), Introduction, Chapter 1, and Chapter 5 (pp. 1-35, 122-155). Drinks and refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.

Monday, February 1, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Jane Junn, Professor of Political Science, University of Southern California. “A Spatial Theory of Racial Identity in U.S. Politics: Two Applications of the Racial Prism of Group Identity Model.” Light lunch served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485.

Monday, February 1, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Junn. Drinks and refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A.

Monday, October 10, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group
Our text will be Cristina Beltrán, The Trouble with Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), Introduction and Chapter 4 (pp. 3-19, 99-128). Refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A. Co-sponsored by the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE).

Monday, October 17, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Cristina Beltrán, Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and Director of Latino Studies, New York University. “When Passion Trumps: The Latino Vote in 2016 and the Republican Melodrama of Loss.” Refreshments served. The Petersen Room, Allen Library, Room 485. Co-sponsored by the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE).

Monday, October 17, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Beltrán. Refreshments served. The Olson Room, Gowen 1A. Co-sponsored by the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE).

Friday, November 18, 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Distinguished Lecture: Juliet Hooker,  Associate Professor of Government and Africa and African Diaspora Studies, UT Austin. “Black Protest beyond Democratic Sacrifice: BLM and the Memory of the Civil Rights Movement.” Savory Hall 260

Monday, October 26, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

WISIR Reading Group.
Our text will be Christopher J. Lebron, “The Problem of Social Value,” Chapter 2 of The Color of Our Shame: Race and Justice in Our Time (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 43-71. Drinks and refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.

Monday, November 2, 12:00-1:30 p.m.

WISIR Distinguished Lecture: Christopher J. Lebron, Assistant Professor of Philosophy and African American Studies, Yale University. “Black Love and Black Rage in America: The Burden of Hope.” Light Lunch Served. The Smith Room, Suzzallo Library, Room 324.

Monday, November 2, 4:30-6:00 p.m.

Discussion Group with Professor Lebron. Drinks and refreshments served. Smith Hall 40A.