Dear Staff, Scholars, and Researchers,

Please join me in welcoming Visiting Scholar Nathan Kelly for his seminar entitled, “American Politics and the Spiral of Economic Inequality.” The talk will be held in the library, this Wednesday, January 31st, at 11 AM.

Nathan Kelly is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee. He seeks to create new knowledge by conducting research that leads to new discoveries about the social world, helping students develop curiosity about the dynamics of power in social and political life, and sharing insights from the social sciences with policymakers and the public in ways that generate deeper understanding and more informed policy choices. His research is fundamentally motivated by a desire to understand connections between citizens and government – how public policies and government actions affect the lives of people and how the governed influence the state. He is particularly interested in how socially and economically marginalized groups are affected by and influence the state.

Much of Kelly’s research, as well as the projects he is currently pursuing, focus specifically on questions related to economic, social, and political inequality in democratic political systems. The geographic context of his research has most often been the United States, but he is increasingly utilizing cross-national comparisons with a focus on Latin America. Methodologically, he emphasizes quantitative methodologies supplemented by elite interviews, historical analysis, and other qualitative approaches as appropriate.

I hope everyone is looking forward as I am to an interesting and productive discussion.

Best regards,

Eric Bias
Program & Scholar Assistant
RSF