Department of Government Professorial Inaugural Lectures

Newly appointed Professors from our Department of Government

Professor Reed Wood
‘Gender Stereotypes, Female Fighters, and Audience Attitudes toward Violent Armed Groups’.

Rebels often attempt to cultivate and disseminate a positive, sympathetic narrative regarding the movement and its political goals. Gender frames and efforts to highlight female combatants sometimes figure prominently in these efforts. I describe and analyze these efforts in order to understand the use of gendered imagery—and particularly imagery of female fighters—as explicit rebel strategy. I then present the results of an experiment showing that such imagery positively influences audience attitudes toward rebel groups by strengthening observers’ beliefs about their legitimacy and their decision to use armed tactics. 

Professor Paul Bou-Habib
‘Celebrating Evil’

Many people believe it is disrespectful to maintain iconography that celebrates persons who committed grave wrongs against others. Examples of such controversial iconography include statues of Cecil Rhodes at the University of Cape Town and the University of Oxford, or the naming of a college at Princeton University after Woodrow Wilson. It isn’t obvious, however, why maintaining such iconography is disrespectful if the authorities in charge no longer endorse the offensive message it was once used to convey. In this talk, I aim to provide an answer to that question.’ 

Professor Gina Yannitell Reinhardt
‘Social Science, Data, and You: How do we use social science and data analysis to create policy and public services?’

It can be difficult to understand how data and social science contribute to society and daily life. Yet people use social science insights and the analysis of information to make decisions every day. I will explain how we use social science to understand public service and policy performance, and answer questions such as: “Is this service achieving what we’d hoped?”; “Do we need a new policy to address this issue?”; and “How could we make this programme better, more efficient, or more able to reach underserved groups?” I will offer examples of these types of decisions that have been made that have helped people improve fire and rescue services, increase efficiency in providing social services, and make healthcare and health management more empowering for patients.”

Join us for a drinks reception in the Winter Garden after the event.

Please register to attend in-person or virtually on our Eventbrite page.