Voter re-engagement topic for ESU’s next Pflaum lecture
Emporia State University
Friday, February 13, 2009
Between 1996 and 2008, the United States witnessed a dramatic turnaround in voter participation and overall interest in public affairs. In this year’s George R.R. Pflaum Lecture at Emporia State University, the speaker will offer thoughts on how the nation has recovered from widespread apathy and cynicism about politics and public policy.
Diana Carlin of the University of Kansas’ department of communication studies will present the 25th annual Pflaum Lecture, “Creating a Healthy Public Sphere: Lessons From the 1996-2008 U.S. Elections” at 7 p.m. March 2 in Visser Hall room 330 on the ESU campus. A reception will follow.
Carlin has taught rhetoric and political communication courses at KU since 1987. From 2000-2007 she served as Dean of the Graduate School and International Programs and she recently completed a one-year residency at the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C.
Carlin’s research centers on political campaigns and debates, women in politics, and speechwriting. She served for 13 years as an advisor to the Commission on Presidential Debates and created the DebateWatch program for the Commission through a Ford Foundation grant. Carlin has also served as an advisor to the U.S. State Department, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, the National Democratic Institute and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in developing debate and voter-education projects in new democracies.
In her ESU address, Carlin will propose that a unique combination of approaches is responsible for the recent increase in public engagement. She will also explore why it is important for citizens to be involved in the public sphere and what they can do on local, state and national levels to increase public understanding and participation in a variety of civic engagement opportunities.
The Pflaum Lecture series is sponsored by ESU’s Department of Communication, Lambda Pi Eta, and ESU Special Events. The series is named after George Pflaum, a speech professor who taught for more than 40 years, developing many of ESU’s premiere programsr.
The lecture is free and open to the public.