Frontiers of Democracy: Exploring the Past and Looking to the Future

All lectures are at 6:30 pm in Library 148

March 21, 2017

"Full of Variety and Disorder: The Birth and Death and Rebirth of Ancient Athenian Democracy"

Dr. Tom Rust, MSUB Associate Professor of History 

Description: This talk looks at the origins of Athenian democracy, its working as compared
to what we call democracy in the United States, and how Athens' initial experiment with democracy failed during the Peloponnesian War but was later reborn with greater moderation. 

Bio: Dr. Rust is a native of Montana with a BA in History and Classical Studies from the University of Minnesota, an MA in History from the University of Denver, and M.Ed. From MSUB and a Ph.D. in archaeology and ancient history from the University of Leicester.  He has taught at MSUB since 1999. 

March 28, 2017

"American Democracy and the Rise of the Alt-Right."

Dr. Paul Pope MSUB Assistant Professor of Political Science

Description: Dr. Pope asks the question “is the Alt-Right fascism by another name?” He will investigate the narratives of the Alt-Right, and their meaning, they voiced during the 2016 election as well as their own expressed worldview in social media. Dr. Pope will contrast the Alt-Right ideology and expressed beliefs with other historical studies of fascist ideology.

Bio: Dr. Paul Pope is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and has been with MSUB since 2012. He teaches courses in American government, public law, and public administration. His research areas include power, constitutional law, and political/policy narratives. He has previously published with Law and Society journal, Administration and Society journal, and Cengage Researcher. His current work focuses on political narratives of othering to construct the security state.

April 4, 2017

"The Global Spread of Democracy in the Post-WW II Era."

Dr. Nisha Bellinger, MSUB Assistant Professor of Political Science

Description: The talk traces the global spread of democracy since World War II and analyzes the quality of democracy across regions. 

Bio: Nisha Bellinger is an Assistant Professor of Political Science. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri in 2012. She teaches courses in Comparative Politics, International Relations, and American Government.  Her research focuses on political economic themes. Her research has been published in Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research, European Political Science Review, International Political Science Review, Journal of International Relations and Development, Journal of Politics, and Party Politics.

April 11, 2017

"Nasty Women: The Political Becomes Personal."

Dr. Joy Honea, MSUB Professor of Sociology

Description: The 2016 presidential election galvanized thousands of American women for a variety of reasons. This talk examines the factors contributing to current political activism among (mainly) progressive women and imagines the possible outcomes of this emerging movement.

Bio: Dr. Joy Crissey Honea is a professor of sociology at Montana State University Billings. She earned her Ph.D. from Colorado State University in 2004. Her dissertation work focused on the commodification of action sports. She teaches in the areas of the sociology of sport, the sociology of health and medicine, women's and gender studies and social theory. Her research focuses primarily on the sociology of mental illness and the sociology of gender. She is currently working on a co-authored paper on the medicalization of mental illness and serves on the social science research team for a National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant through MSU Bozeman focusing on the advancement of women faculty in the sciences.