Vincent Hutchings is the Hanes Walton Jr. Collegiate Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and a Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research. He received his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of California,Los Angeles. His research examines the ways in which political campaigns and the media frame information about racial issues in order to activate and make politically relevant the voters’ sympathies and/or antipathies for particular racial groups.

Speaker’s Synopsis:  Professor Hutchings’ presentation will examine how race has become such a pivotal issue in American politics.  He will also explore how politicians in both parties use racial appeals in order to gain electoral advantage.