Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Service learning has a long tradition in political science. We can think of many lessons our best political theorists have experienced when they have stumbled, barged, or been pushed into the political realm. Given that most students entering an American Government classroom are NOT there to learn the deep intricacies of the community power debate or to parce definitions of federalism with Madison or de Tocqueville, the instructor struggles with the balance between active learning and disciplinary introductions. The challenge really is to engage students in their own practice of citizenship, in whatever communit(ies) they belong. Indeed in the small college setting, the premium may not be on strictly disciplinary applications but on the cultivation of an awareness of College mission. In this case, College mission is directly inspired by the spirit of civic engagement and focuses on dispositions linked to civic responsibility and ethical leadership. This presentation will examine the lessons of a decade of service learning both in and out of the classroom across courses in a small political science program, including anecdotes as well as assessment. McKinlay and Lopez will reflect on the pitfalls and possibilities of infusing broader college outcomes into the heart of undergraduate political science education.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: This research explores respondents’ media consumption patterns and the influence of media exposure on attitudes toward terrorism, military intervention in Iraq, and assessments of crime risk at home. Measures of violent crime risk and victimization by terrorist acts are presented for both personal and societal levels. Cultivation Theory predicts a causal relationship between media consumption and fear and beliefs about crime and violence in the world. Cultivation research further demonstrates respondents process assessments of individual risk differently than they do societal risk (the risk to “people in general”). Recent research in Cultivation shows that assessments of facts about crime and violence are more affected by media consumption than general attitudes and overall fear, and this dimension of Cultivation analysis is tested with a measure that allows respondents to provide crime rate estimates in an open-ended response format. This research controls for demographic variables and presents findings of the predictive power of these factors as well.

Publication Type: Proceeding
Abstract: Extra-curricular campus activities mirror the effects of associational life on political participation (Kuh, 1995; Pascarella, Ethington & Smart 1988; Verba, Schlozman & Brady, 1995). As encouraging student participation in such activities can be difficult (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, Andreas, Lyons, Strange, Krehbiel, & MacKay, 1991), this project describes an effort to promote peer enhancement of campus life. Students in a persuasion course developed a campaign to increase participation on campus. Pre and post semester questionnaires, as well as focus groups, reveal that students anticipated participating in more campus and community activities, and their attitudes toward the purpose of college expanded broadened. Self efficacy regarding several political tasks also improved. Students in a control group experienced no similar changes, suggesting that classroom activities can address current college students’ political apathy

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Because of the national debate occurring over the legalization of gay marriage, this study examined whether television viewing had a relationship with a person’s attitude toward gay marriage using cultivation theory. No such relationship was found, but this study revealed that attitude toward gay marriage was influenced by a person’s attitude toward gays, gender roles, and sexuality, and by his or her political ideology, authoritarianism, age, religiosity, and gay friends and family.

Publication Type: Extended Abstract
Abstract: Cultivation theory hypothesizes that media effects occur through increased accessibility of constructs activated in the media. We examined the effect of exposure to relationship-themed media on the accessibility of constructs related to relationships. Self-reported use of relationship-themed media predicted idealized expectations of marriage, relationship idealism, and chronic accessibility of relationship constructs. Short-term exposure to relationship-themed movies was associated with increased accessibility of relationship-themed constructs. Spreading activation was not evidenced: Relationship-related themes that were not specifically portrayed in the movies were not more accessible than in the control condition.