Author Archives: R. Kelly Garrett

Brian Weeks moving to U of Michigan

Congratulations to Brian Weeks, who has accepted a position in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Michigan.  He will also have an appointment in the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research. Brian earned his PhD from the School of Communication at Ohio State University last year, and has spent the past year working with Homero Gil de Zúñiga at the University of Vienna.  Brian will be joining a terrific community of scholars, and will be continuing his work on affect and misperceptions.

Dr. Carnahan

Congratulations to Dustin Carnahan on successfully defending his dissertation today. Dustin has done some important work exploring the influence of motivated reasoning on selective exposure and its consequences. I look forward to seeing the work reach a wider audience. Next, it’s off to Michigan State’s Department of Communication.

Collaboration with Nisbet, Cooper garners media attention

Our paper challenging claims that conservatives are uniquely anti-science has received a fair amount of press this month. We demonstrate that both conservatives and liberals tend to be more skeptical of scientific claims that challenge views commonly associated with their ideology. In our study, conservatives tended to resist accurate scientific claims about climate change and evolution, while liberals questioned equally accurate claims about fracking and nuclear energy. Both groups also became less trusting of the scientific community after reading the evidence-based information.

 

The article, and our blog posts on the topic, have been covered by numerous outlets. Here are a few examples:

New Republic:  http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121283/when-it-comes-science-conservatives-are-no-more-biased-libera

Science Magazine: http://news.sciencemag.org/social-sciences/2015/02/politics-science-and-public-attitudes-what-we-re-learning-and-why-it-matters

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/oliver-burkeman-column/2015/feb/24/nobody-immune-science-they-do-not-like-even-liberals

Pacific Standard: http://www.psmag.com/politics-and-law/ideology-often-trumps-science-especially-among-conservatives

Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/12/political-science-bias_n_6655670.html

National Journal: http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/liberals-doubt-science-too-20150213

Congratulations to Carnahan & Peifer

Two students that I have worked with over the past few years have secured tenure-track positions.  Jason Peifer will be an Assistant Professor of Journalism in the Media School at Indiana University, Bloomington starting in the Fall.  Jason has a professional background in journalism, and is particularly interested in political entertainment.  Dustin Carnahan will be an Assistant Professor of Communication in the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at Michigan State University. Dustin shares my interest in politically motivated selective exposure, with an emphasis on the factors that shape when and how this behavior is enacted, and what its consequences are.  Congratulations to both of them on reaching the next stage of their careers.

Best paper in Political Behavior

Dustin Carnahan, Emily Lynch, and I are honored to have been named inaugural recipients of the “Best Paper in Political Behavior” award at this year’s APSA.  The Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section gave the award for our 2013 paper, “A Turn Toward Avoidance? Selective Exposure to Online Political Information, 2004-2008.” An abstract can be found here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-011-9185-6.