What is public scholarship?
Public scholarship is a broad mix of scholarly activities involving non academic audiences. In other words, it is research with a public-facing component.
Public scholarship includes: collaborating with community partners, political activism, contributing to public debates, and civic engagement.
Although they overlap, my public scholarship falls into three categories: expert analysis, media, and student research. I provide example of each below.
A longer list is available on my CV above.
Expert Analysis
Redistricting Litigation
I was retained by the ACLU in 2021 to analyze South Carolina’s redrawn state and federal congressional districts in a racial gerrymandering lawsuit (South Carolina NAACP v. Alexander). I authored three reports, provided deposition testimony, and testified at trial as a qualified expert. My analysis focused on the racial composition of the precincts moved between districts during redistricting. Plaintiffs secured a settlement prior to trial in the state phase, winning an agreement from lawmakers to redraw several districts. A summary is available here and here. In the federal phase, the court ruled for the plaintiffs, ordering the state to redraw the first district. A copy of the findings of fact and conclusions of law is here.
Needs Assessment
For two years, from 2018 to 2019, I helped conduct a needs assessment on behalf of the Alliance For Full Acceptance (AFFA) and the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Center for Livable Communities. Our focus in this analysis and report was on the demographic makeup, key attitudes, and unique challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester counties. Prior to this project, there was no existing scholarship on the unique needs of the LGBTQ+ community in the tricounty region. My contribution to the project included working on the sampling methodology, designing the survey instrument, performing the statistical analysis, and helping to develop the report. A copy of the AFFA report is here.
Media
South Carolina Primary Op/Ed
In December of 2022, I published an op/ed with Gibbs Knotts on a proposal by the Democratic National Committee to make South Carolina the first primary in the nation. Informed by our book, we make the case that South Carolina deserves the top spot and has several positive qualities. Specifically, we argue that South Carolina has a strong track record when it comes to correctly selecting the eventual nominee, has a highly diverse and politically moderate Democratic electorate, and has the right geographic makeup for vetting candidates. Our op/ed was published in the Post & Courier.
This Week in South Carolina
In the lead up to the 2020 Democratic primary, Gibbs Knotts and I joined Gavin Jackson on This Week in South Carolina. We discussed our book “First in the South: Why South Carolina’s Presidential Primary Matters.” During the 30 minute interview we touched on a range of topics: from the history of the South Carolina primary and how the state became the first southern contest to the keys to winning South Carolina and which candidates we expected to do well. SCETV is the state’s public education network and is a PBS-affiliate. An archive of the interview is available on the PBS website.
Student Research
Exit Polling in Charleston
At the College of Charleston, I supervise the American Politics Research Team, a collaborative research program between faculty and students. One of our activities is to conduct exit polling in the Charleston area during key elections. For example, in 2019 a team of about a dozen students collected exit polls from a representative group of voters during Charleston’s mayoral election. Before heading into the field, we spent considerable time reviewing our sampling methodology and survey design. Ultimately, we correctly predicted the results of the election to within two percentage points and identified key issues in the minds of voters. A copy of our op/ed with the key findings is available here.
Donald Trump’s GOP Support
I have worked on several projects with students over the years, publishing about a half dozen articles. One recent article (with Lauren Johnson and Deon McCray) examined Donald Trump’s support among his Republican copartisans in Congress. First, we examine data since the 1960s to put Trump’s Republiacn support in Congress in context. Second, we conduct a statistical analysis to identify the factors that explain why Republican lawmakers supported or opposed Donald Trump’s legislative agenda. We conclude the paper with a discussion of Trump’s role in reshaping the Republican Party. Our paper was published in the journal Perspectives on Politics.