Current Topics

Politics 2024

Contact Stephen Fashoro at 214-768-7641 or email sfasoro@smu.edu to talk with these experts. 

Cal Jillson

Jillson is a political science professor at SMU in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

  • Texas politics, including the Red/Blue divide
  • Presidential and Congressional politics
  • Race and the American Dream
  • Immigration politics

Jeffrey Engel

Engel is the David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at SMU. He is co-author of Impeachment: An American History and The Last Card: Inside George W. Bush’s Decision to Surge in Iraq.

  • Presidential policy and politics
  • History of presidential impeachments
  • History of U.S. presidency and American diplomacy

Rita Kirk

Kirk is an SMU professor of communication studies and director of the Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility. Kirk has served as a debate analyst for many presidential debates.

  • Sound bite substance
  • Undecided voters
  • Presidential debates
  • Campaign strategy
  • Use of social media in politics
  • Political communications
  • Hate speech

Matthew Wilson

Wilson is an associate professor of political science at SMU in Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences.

  • Public opinion and voting behavior
  • Religion and politics
  • Abortion politics
  • Political parties and partisan realignment
  • Political psychology

James (Jim) Hollifield

Hollifield is the director of the Tower Center for Political Studies and an SMU political science professor.

  • Immigration
  • Refugee and asylum policy
  • Global migration
  • Assimilation into American society

Grant Hayden

Hayden is a professor in SMU’s Dedman School of Law.

  • Federal voting rights
  • Election issues
  • Election law/court decisions

Joe Kobylka

Kobylka is chair of the Political Science Department and Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor, SMU.

  • Politics of U.S. Supreme Court decisions
  • Constitutional law and politics
  • Judicial decision-making and politics