Colloquium Series

a lecturer speaks to a classroom full of students

The Department of Political Science hosts an active colloquium series that features research from our own faculty and students, as well as that of innovative scholars from around the country. The series typically hosts six to eight lectures per academic year.

Current Events

Research Lab

The Political Science Department’s Research Lab consists of presentations by our faculty and graduate students. Discussions evolve around projects at any stage in the research process, including research outlines and funding proposals, manuscripts for journal articles, book chapters, and published work.

Using Cross-National Data: V-Dem

Departmental Seminar

Amanda Edgell, Assistant Professor, UA Political Science

Cultural Politics of International Recognition: UNESO’s World Heritage Regime

Elif Kalaycioglu, Assistant Professor, UA Political Science

Catholic Organization and State Social Protection Spending Across Latin America

Departmental Seminar

Christopher Hale, Associate Professor, UA Political Science

Speaker Series

The Speaker Series provides a forum for invited guests in the Political Science Department. Presentations include work-in-progress and published works. They cover areas in all subfields of Political Science.

Tuscaloosa Takes on the World

  • History, Memory, Catastrophe- 01/31/23 We’ll be considering the question of moral responsibility and memory in the wake of war and mass violence; future events will take this up from other perspectives as well.
  • The Memorial for Peace and Justice: an interview with Bryan Stephenson The Legacy of Lynching: The Memorial for Peace and Justice (Denise Schrier Cotta, USA; 15 mins).  02/15/23  An account of the creation of the Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery AL, undertaken by the Equal Justice Initiative, centered around an interview with Bryan Stevenson.   First aired on 60 Minutes.  6:00-7:30pm, Camellia Room, Gorgas Library
  • Stolpersteine (Dörte Frank, Germany; 45 mins). 03/08/23 A documentary about Gunter Demnig, a German artist who has laid over 8500 brass plated bricks into sidewalks. Each plate is engraved with the name of a victim of National Socialism.  The project has served as a basis for a number of ‘counter-memorial’ commemorative projects (including the EJI memorial). 6-7:30 pm, Camellia Room.
  • Roundtable ‘The content of their Character?’ College Admissions & Affirmative action before the Supreme Court 04/11/23
  • Felony Disenfranchisement and the politics of voting rights Felony Disenfranchisement and the Politics of Voting Rights: Past, Present and Future.  04/20/23  Prof. Richard Fording will be leading this event, along w/student groups engaged on this topic. 6:00-7:30 pm, Camellia Room.

Economic Growth, Incumbent Party Vote Shares, and Dynamics of Electoral Authoritarianism

Matthew Wilson, Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of South Carolina