Political Science

Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, literary scholar and author Henry Louis Gates Jr. will present the 2026 Tresolini Lecture in Law at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Zoellner Arts Center. The lecture is free and open to the public. Gates, the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and director of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University, will present “Finding Your Roots: Genealogy, Genetics, and African-American History.” The talk shares its title with his groundbreaking PBS genealogy television series, now in its 12th season.

While headlines focus on social media toxicity and polarization, political scientist Marie Schenk is researching how apolitical online spaces—from asexual support groups to Reddit communities—foster belonging and civic engagement. By comparing supportive digital spaces with destructive ones like incel forums, Schenk's mixed-methods research examines how platform design and community dynamics help marginalized individuals build identity, find their political voice, and transition into active civic participants.

Rachel Scott, the award-winning senior political correspondent for ABC News, will deliver the annual Tresolini Lecture, Tuesday, Feb.17 at 7:00 p.m. in Neville Hall, Room 001. It will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Scott. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Political theorist Dean Caivano MA’13 argues the 2024 election revealed not just partisan divides but the collapse of institutional vitality itself

Inaugural event gathered researchers and community leaders at Lehigh’s Mountaintop campus.

Sophia Barro ‘25 interned at the White House and sets her sights on D.C. and a career in political journalism

Community Fellows Program contributes to regional vitality.

Julia Klayman ‘25 employs ethnographic research and community engagement to investigate the impact of landslides on women, uncovering the complex intersection of gender and health in Bududa

How forced philanthropy is failing to bridge corporate and NGO goals

Graduate student Heidi Kline assesses government policies as part of an affordable housing project.