Eagleton's Fall Speakers Look at Election Day and More

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – From advocacy groups and immigrants to SuperPACS and polling, fall speakers at Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics have the study and practice of politics covered, some concentrating specifically on the 2012 presidential sweepstakes, others looking at evergreen issues. The lecture series will include such notables as NBC’s Chuck Todd and New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz.

All programs are free and open to the public, but online or phone registration is required. Call 732-932-9384, ext. 331, or click here.

The fall lineup kicks off Wednesday, Sept. 19, with Professor David Karpf, whose research explores the internet’s impact on new and traditional political associations. An assistant professor at George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs, Karpf will discuss and sign his new book, The MoveOn Effect: The Unexpected Transformation of American Political Advocacy (Oxford University Press 2012), which presents fresh insights into 21st-century political organizing. The 4 p.m. program is scheduled at Eagleton, 191 Ryders Lane, on the university’s Douglass Campus.

The ins-and-outs of PACs, SuperPACs and campaign finance will be explained Tuesday, Oct. 2, by expert panelists during “2012 and Money: The Real Deal.” Eagleton adjunct faculty members Maggie Moran, president and CEO of M Public Affairs and senior election adviser to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2010, and Michael DuHaime, partner in Mercury Public Affairs and Republican National Committee political adviser, will be joined by Collegio Public Affairs founder and president Jonathan Collegio, among others, to shed light on the often contentious issues of fundraising and campaign expenditures. The 6 p.m. panel will be held at the Busch Campus Center, 604 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway.

Politics will mix with culture when Rutgers faculty present, “Presidents, Politics and Poems: Inaugural Poetry and the American Presidency,” Thursday, Oct. 4, at Eagleton Institute. Mia Bay, director, Center for Race and Ethnicity; Eagleton Director Ruth Mandel; Delia Pitts, assistant vice president for Student Affairs; and Barry Qualls, vice president for undergraduate education, will read and discuss works by Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander and Miller Williams at the 3:30 p.m. event.

One of 2012’s most visible faces on TV, NBC News Political Director and Chief White House Correspondent Chuck Todd, will provide an election update Monday, Oct. 15, as part of the “It’s All Politics” lecture series generously funded by the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation. Todd, who also hosts MSNBC’s The Daily Rundown, will appear at 7 p.m. in Trayes Hall at the Douglass Campus Center, 100 George Street, New Brunswick. Todd’s book, How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election (Knopf, 2009) will be available for purchase and signing.

Andy Borowitz, creator of “The Borowitz Report” – now part of The New Yorker – and a New York Times best-selling author and comedian, will offer his humorous take on the political scene with “The Borowitz Report: Election 2012” Monday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m., at the Rutgers Student Center, 126 College Avenue, New Brunswick. The appearance is part of the Laurie Foundation series. His book, Borowitz: The 50 Funniest American Writers* *According to Andy Borowitz: An Anthology of Humor from Mark Twain to The Onion (Library of America, 2011), will be available for purchase and signing.                

Shankar K. Prasad, clinical professor at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, will present “Red, Brown and Blue: The Political Behavior of Asian Indian Americans,” the subject of his doctoral dissertation at Brown University, Monday, Nov. 5, at the institute. The 4 p.m. lecture, presented by the Eagleton Program on Immigration and Democracy, analyzes the politicization of the Indian American community and suggests religion is the primary factor in explaining the disproportionate association of this group with the Democratic Party.

Political pundits and journalists (to be announced) will delve into the whys and wherefores of the previous day’s elections at the popular “The Morning After” breakfast panel Wednesday, Nov. 7, starting at 9 a.m., also at Eagleton.

The Honorable Mickey Edwards will round out the series on Tuesday, Nov. 13 with a discussion of his new book, The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans (Yale University Press, 2012). The former eight-term Republican congressman from Oklahoma, former faculty member at Harvard and Princeton, and vice president of the Aspen Institute, will speak at 11:30 a.m. in Room 135 of Scott Hall, 43 College Avenue, New Brunswick.