Kathryn Brownell, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, History, Purdue University and author of 24/7Politics: Cable Television and the Fragmenting of American from Watergate to Fox News 

What is the connection between our divided media landscape and political polarization? How do campaigns navigate new media and ideological echo chambers? What do voters need to know to navigate this political and media terrain? Join us and be part of this eye-opening conversation on polarization, politics, and the media.

Featured Guests:
Jesse Crosson, Ph.D. – Assistant Professor, Political Science, Purdue University

The U.S. Constitution requires that legislative representation, at least the federal level, be based on geography. Unlike “proportional representation” in other countries, geographic districts generate a dizzying set of strategic opportunities for political parties to stack the political deck in their favor, maximizing their share of seats in Congress (and state legislatures). In this Pizza & Politics, Dr. Jesse Crosson will lead a discussion on the sorts of biases that are inherent to the system created in the U.S. Constitutions, the kinds of biases are introduced by politicians, and the types of reforms that states have pursued to address the challenges of these biases.

Featured Guests:
Jennifer Hoewe, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Communication, Purdue University, and founder and director of the Media and Politics (MaP) Research Group
Matthew Hannah, Ph.D. – Associate Professor, Digital Humanities, Purdue University and 2022 Fulbright Specialist to Morocco

Recent years have witnessed the rise of numerous information challenges, including the spread of fake news and conspiracy theories, and the weaponization of information for personal and political gain. Join us for this dynamic discussion on combatting misinformation and disinformation.

Matthew N. Hannah is an Associate Professor of Digital Humanities in the School of Information Studies at Purdue University, and he was a Fulbright Specialist to Morocco in 2022. His research focuses on the political economy and public impact of online information, especially pertaining to conspiracy theories and social media. He has published in Journal of Information Literacy, First Monday, Social Media + Society, The Journal of Magazine Media, and Collection Management, and he has a chapter forthcoming in the edited collection Extremism and Conspiracy Movements. He is also co-editing a special issue of Frontiers in Communication called “Paranoid Publics” which focuses on the public impact of online conspiracism. Last spring, Dr. Hannah secured an initial seed grant from the Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue to study the impact of information literacy on conspiracism, and he plans to continue that project this coming year. Before joining the faculty at Purdue, he was an Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Scholar in Public and Digital Humanities at University of Iowa’s Obermann Center for Advanced Studies.  

About Pizza & Politics

Join us for great discussion and free pizza. Talk to nationally known experts, get your questions answered, and enjoy a personal size pizza from Arni’s.

These events are approved for the Civics Literacy Proficiency.

Become a Presenter

If you would like to present at this event email: centerforcspan@purdue.edu

Civics Literacy Pathway

Pizza & Politics Hot Topics series is approved for the Civics Literacy Proficiency events pathway.

To learn more about the Civics Literacy Proficiency visit the Civics Literacy page.

Recent Topics

• Race for the Midterms: State, Local, and National Races
• Beyond the Ballot: Voting and Redistricting in the Midterms
• The Money Behind the Midterms

About the Speakers

• Keith Krach, former US Undersecretary of State

  • https://keithkrach.com/

• Jon Pelson, Author

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