VANDERBILT POLITICAL
INTERNATIONAL
REVIEW
FEATURE
Meet the Professors
A look into the political science department at Vanderbilt
A
s of Fall 2015, the Vanderbilt Political Science department boasts 200 majors and 12
minors. It is one of the most popular majors at Vanderbilt. In an effort to provide
insight into the department, VPR asked several professors about their current research projects. These are their stories:
DAVID LEWIS
Chair of the Political Science department
The chair of the department says, “members of the faculty are doing exciting work on a variety of topics!” These include American and international politics, political theory, and politics of other countries.
Some interesting research topics include political polarization in American politics, immigration, political attitudes towards minority groups, causes of war, foreign attitudes towards America, human rights,
politcal memory, and economic inequality.
MITCHELL SELIGSON
While citizens in many countries live better and better, with longer life expectancies, amazing electronic gadgets for entertainment and communication (like tables, smartphones, streaming video), there
is a growing sense of disillusionment. Citizens are frustrated and angry with the very governments that
have help create these better living conditions. Why? I am trying to find that out with a study of public
opinion carried out by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) in Costa Rica in partnership
with the Programa Estado de la Nación.
EFREN PEREZ
Can the language we speak affect what we think about politics? In three current research projects, my
collaborators and I use novel survey experiments to reveal how language can affect people’s thinking
about gender inequality; pro-environment policies; and even their knowledge about politics.
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