Release date: April 3, 2008
Contact: Beverly Cox Clark at 404-712-8780 or beverly.clark@emory.edu

Presidential Election Panel Set for Emory April 15

"New Questions for an Historic Election," a panel discussion on the 2008 presidential campaign that will feature incisive perspectives from political science, psychology and the media, will take place at Emory University at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 15 in the Harland Cinema of the Dobbs Center, 605 Asbury Circle.

Panelists include: Emory political scientist Alan Abramowitz, a renowned expert on national elections and voter behavior; Emory political scientist Beth Reingold, a specialist on women and politics; Emory psychology professor Drew Westen, author of "The Political Brain"; and Andra Gillespie, current editor of the Southern Political Report and former longtime Atlanta Journal-Constitution political columnist and reporter.

• Abramowitz is the Alben W. Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory, and an expert on national politics and elections. His expertise includes election forecasting models, party realignment in the United States, congressional elections and the effects of political campaigns on the electorate. Abramowitz has authored or coauthored four books, including "Voice of the People: Elections and Voting Behavior in the United States."

• Baxter is editor of the Southern Political Report and senior vice president of its parent company, InsiderAdvantage, a media and polling company. For more than 40 years, he has worked for newspapers in Montgomery, Ala., Columbia, Md., Charleston, S.C. and Atlanta. At the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he was a reporter, editor of the Sunday Perspective section, national editor and, for 20 years, chief political correspondent.

• Gillespie is a political scientist whose research examines political mobilization and race, as well as competition between minority groups. Gillespie's experience as a pollster and consultant has helped shape her research into what works, and what doesn't, in minority politics today as new leadership emerges separate from the civil rights generation.

• Reingold is an associate professor of political science at Emory who also holds a joint appointment in women's studies. Her research and teaching interests include national and state-level American politics, especially issues of women's political representation, public opinion and issues political identity. Her current research is on the impact of diversity – especially in terms of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual identity – in American state legislatures.

• Westen is a clinical, personality, and political psychologist, and professor in the Emory departments of psychology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences. He is the author of "The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation," and a frequent commenter on political and psychological issues for radio, television and print media.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 404-712-8780.

Emory University (www.emory.edu) is one of the nation’s leading private research universities and a member of the Association of American Universities. Known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities, Emory is ranked as one of the country's top 20 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, the state's largest and most comprehensive health care system.

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