Weidenbaum Center August Newsletter

August 2024

Table of Contents

About our Center

The Weidenbaum Center is a research institute at Washington University in St. Louis that supports social scientific research in the fields of public policy, economics, political science, and sociology. Led by Weidenbaum Center Director Andrew Reeves (pictured), the Center funds faculty research, provides administrative support for research activities, and sponsors a wide range of public affairs programs. In doing so, the Center serves as a bridge between scholars, policymakers, and the general public. Through unbiased empirical research and events, the Center addresses many of the pressing public policy issues facing America and the world today. 

The Weidenbaum Center provides significant research support for faculty in the departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. This support allows a wide array of faculty members to participate in a variety of impactful research, and is of particular importance to our younger faculty who are just starting their research careers. Research efforts contribute to work that addresses key social issues locally, nationally, and globally, and enhances the prominence of Washington University in the academic and policy world. Donations fund our grant programs which support this research. We could not support nearly as much research without this generosity. 

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Introducing our new Weidenbaum Center Research Development Associate

Welcome Kristin Foringer!

Please join us in welcoming Kristin Foringer to the Weidenbaum team as a Research Development Associate. Kristin will help expand and strengthen our external research grant portfolio. She will collaborate with faculty to facilitate large-scale grant proposals and especially to promote interdisciplinary research teams across Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. Some specific initiatives will include expanding access to grant opportunities and supporting faculty applicants with everything from "big picture" strategy to proposal editing support. Kristin comes to us from the University of Michigan where she completed her PhD in Sociology focused on human rights and transitional justice. Her personal grant experience includes awards from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Institute of Peace, among other sponsors. She is excited to join the dynamic and interdisciplinary team at the Weidenbaum Center!

Congrats to James Gibson on his forthcoming book!

Congratulations to James L. Gibson, Weidenbaum Center Public Policy Lunch Speaker, Grant Recipient, and Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government, on his newest book, "Democracy's Destruction? Changing Perceptions of the Supreme Court, the Presidency, and the Senate After the 2020 Election." The book is slated for publication in September from the Russell Sage Foundation. In the book, Professor Gibson uses surveys from representative samples of the American population to provide a more informed answer to the question, "Did denial of the election results and the subsequent insurrection inflict damage on American political institutions?"

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Internal Grant Awards

The Weidenbaum Center supports social science by funding research projects conducted by faculty at Washington University. Below we list our most recent internal grant awardees.

More information on our Internal Grant Awards

Ian Fillmore, Economics

Creating a Database of Foster Care System Policies, and Practices

Matt Gabel, Political Science

"I Am Guilty": The Political Effects of Dissidents' Confessions

Patrick Hill, Psychological and Brain Sciences

Purpose, Activism, and the 2024 Presidential Election

Margot Moinester, Sociology

Refugee Success: Developing Refugee-Grounded Definitions and Measurement

Lucia Motolinia Carballo, Political Science

Unity through Particularism

Michael Olson, Political Science

Stolen Representation: Legislative Politics and Black Disfranchisement in the American South

Jake Rosenfeld, Sociology

The Future of Public Sector Worker Power

Kiara Wyndham-Douds, Sociology

Book Workshop and Community Engagement Design

Congratulations to Joe Sutherland, Weidenbaum Center Fellow, and noted technology executive, public service leader and educator, who was recently named director of the Emory Center for AI Learning. The Center’s mission is to enable Emory students, faculty, and staff to take advantage of AI technologies through training, partnership and co-curricular opportunities, with the goal of catalyzing broad understanding and skill development in AI applications

Joseph Sutherland (if on computer, hover over pic for more info)

Weidenbaum Center Fellow and newly appointed Director of the Emory Center for AI Learning

Congratulations to Weidenbaum Center Survey Director Taylor Carlson and former Weidenbaum Center Graduate Fellow Benjamin Noble on the publishing of their new paper, "CueAnon: What QAnon Signals About Congressional Candidates and What it Costs Them." This paper, published in Political Behavior, is one of the first to highlight the potential costs of elite conspiracy theory support and complicates popular narratives about QAnon. The paper was supported by The American Social Survey (TASS).

Taylor Carlson (if on computer, hover over pic for more info)

Co-Author of new paper, Weidenbaum Center Survey Director, and Professor of Political Science

Exciting Upcoming Fall 2024 events!

We have a number of great events coming in September! We will be hosting a special Immigration forum with panelists from the fields of sociology, law, journalism, and local city government. A public policy lunch will feature Sean Trende, the founder of RealClearPolitics and nonresident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. A public policy breakfast will feature a fireside chat with Weidenbaum Center Director Andrew Reeves and James Bullard. Bullard is Dr. Samuel R. Allen Dean of the Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business at Purdue University, and former president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Annual Constitution Day event will feature a SCOTUS review by prominent WU law professors. And lastly, a book talk/brunch will feature Jeff Spinner-Haley, a UNC professor and co-author of a new book "Respect and Loathing in American Democracy: Polarization, Moralization and the Undermining of Equality."Polarization, Moralization and the Undermining of Equality."

Fall 2024 Events