AI Campaigning in the 2024 US and UK Elections
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As part of the Leverhulme Trust’s Visiting Professorships, the Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy (REPRESENT) is delighted to welcome Professor Barbara Trish (Grinnell College, Iowa, USA) to the University of Nottingham for the 2024-25 academic year, under the coordination of Dr William Daniel.
Professor Trish is a noted teacher-scholar in American politics, with particular expertise on US political parties and the use of digital technology in campaigning. Her most recent book, Inside the Bubble: Campaigns, Caucuses, and the Future of the Presidential Nomination Process (2022), interrogates the role of local campaign staff in supporting President Trump's many would-be challengers to secure the US Democratic Party nomination during the famed 2020 Iowa Caucuses. She has paired her research with frequent commentary in renowned media outlets, such as the Washington Post, National Public Radio, Salon, and Fortune magazine, signifying her ability to connect scholarship with practice.
During her visit to the School of Politics and International Relations, Professor Trish will conduct research on a new project on the comparative importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the upcoming US and UK elections. She will conduct fieldwork and interview legislators and legislative staffers in Westminster and in the devolved governments. She will also provide guest lectures and research seminars to University of Nottingham students, academic staff, and the public – as part of the Leverhulme Lecture series – discussing her substantive expertise in US politics and methodological ability to source publicly-available, yet obscure sources of data. She will also provide a masterclass for students and researchers who are interested in providing political commentary to media outlets.
Her presence in the school during the 2024 US (and presumably UK) campaigns will also provide colleagues and the broader University with a key source of first-hand knowledge and expertise during an important moment of transition for both countries.