IJPM research fellows named for 2007-08

IJPM research fellows named for 2007-08January 24, 2007Sara Millersemortim@syr.edu

The Institute for the Study of Judiciary, Politics, and the Media at Syracuse University (IJPM) has announced its inaugural class of research fellows for the 2007-08 academic year. Composed of both University faculty members and graduate students, this group of 10 scholars will focus on interdisciplinary, law-oriented research supported by IJPM, which each year will distribute individual and collaborative research fellowships.

Launched in September 2006, IJPM is a first-of-its-kind academic institute devoted to the interdisciplinary study of issues at the intersection of law, politics and the media. A collaborative effort of SU’s College of Law, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, the institute provides research grants and seed money for scholars pursuing law-oriented projects that cut across traditional academic boundaries. Throughout the year, IJPM also sponsors lectures, conferences and symposia designed to foster discussion and debate among legal scholars, sitting judges and working journalists.

Applicants for the research fellows positions each submitted research proposals that examine issues at the intersection of law, politics and the media. Only full-time faculty and full-time graduate students at SU are eligible to apply for these research awards. Fellowship recipients are also required to present their work in an IJPM-sponsored colloquia series organized specifically for the research fellows.

“We are pleased to have attracted such a strong set of applications for our inaugural class of research fellows,” says Keith Bybee, director of IJPM and associate professor of political science and Michael O. Sawyer Chair of Constitutional Law and Politics at the Maxwell School. “The projects demonstrate that interdisciplinary law-oriented scholarship is being pursued by some of the best faculty and graduate students on campus. We are excited to support this group of faculty and students, and spur the production of innovative research on law, politics and the media.”

The 2007-08 IJPM research fellows are:

Collaborative

Hongying Wang and Honggang Tan — Wang, associate professor of political science and Tan, graduate student in political science, both in the Maxwell School, will examine how the Chinese media is shaping the Chinese judicial system even as both the media and the courts are in the process of being transformed. The project aims not only to shed light on the development of the Chinese judiciary, but also to compare the Chinese system with that of the United States, assessing the effects of legal reporting in both countries.

Individual

Danny Hayes — Hayes, assistant professor of political science at the Maxwell School, will assess the influence of specific conceptual “frames” in the mainstream news coverage of American debates over immigration. In particular, he will consider the extent to which law-related frames have made their way into the media and shaped the way in which the news about immigrants has been reported.

LaVonda Reed-Huff — Reed-Huff, assistant professor at the College of Law, will analyze the legality of negative political advertising by examining whether broadcasters may refuse to air negative political ads with a sexual component; whether negative ads can be found indecent or obscene; and whether broadcasters may channel the ads to the safe harbor viewing period of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Sarah Pralle — In a first-of-its-kind comprehensive study, Pralle, assistant professor of political science at the Maxwell School, will examine how state attorneys general have attempted to shape national environmental policy through the courts. Pralle will provide a detailed picture of litigation patterns, seek to understand what is driving the trends, and analyze the political and policy consequences of such lawsuits.

Matthew Cleary — As a result of recent legal reforms, sections of southern Mexico are now governed by “usos y costumres” or “customary rule.” Cleary, assistant professor of political science at the Maxwell School, will look at whether these reforms improved the protection and governance of indigenous peoples or if they have served as a cover for local strongmen trying to shield themselves from the vagaries of political competition. Cleary will explore this question by focusing on the judicial systems in the reformed regions.

Individual (Graduate Student)

Michelle Orihel — Orihel, a graduate student in history at the Maxwell School, will explore the connections between politics, newspapers and law in the context of the early American Republic. Specifically, she will examine the Democratic-Republican Societies that emerged in opposition to the Washington administration during the mid-1790s, focusing on how the rapidly growing ranks of newspapers provided an influential medium in which debates over the legal status of the societies unfolded.

Angela Fitzpatrick — Fitzpatrick, a graduate student in political science at the Maxwell School, will assess the genesis and impact of American-based rule-of-law promotion programs directed at emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. Using Romania as a test case, Fitzpatrick will consider how and whether independent judicial institutions can be established by transnational action.

Reecia Orzeck — Orzeck, a graduate student in geography at the Maxwell School, will critically appraise the theatrics of international criminal trials and tribunals, with the aim of understanding how the media representation of such theatrics is meant to influence the American public.

Jason Plume — Plume, a graduate student in political science at the Maxwell School, will undertake a comprehensive survey of the media attention dedicated to medical marijuana advocacy organizations and initiatives. He will identify and assess how the arguments advanced by those for and against legalizing medical marijuana are treated within governing media narratives, and he will consider whether media portrayals of the medical marijuana debate change in relation to the timing of elections.

For more information on the research fellows and IJPM, visit http://jpm.syr.edu.