Ithaca College

Brown Bag Lecture: Watching the Debates – The Emotional, Political and Persuasive Effects of the 2016 US Presidential Debates

Tuesday February 27

Park 332 –12-1 pm

Come hear Park Scholar-in-Residence, Peta Long, present on her doctoral thesis.

Presidential campaigns, as far as they seek to garner voters to support their candidates as against their opponent(s), are primarily located in the school of political communication. 

If we consider debates as part of the campaign process, they are just one of the many opportunities for the electorate to assess the candidates. The debates, too, are an opportunity for candidates to persuade voters to support themselves over their opponent. The candidates stand side by side and can be compared and contrasted on issues relevant to the viewer. Fundamentally, candidate statements in debates are meant as a means of accomplishing the overall goal/task of winning the elections. 

Long’s dissertation seeks to understand the effect of the 2016 US Presidential Candidate debates between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Focused on candidate statements, the research examines the perceived emotional and motivating effects that could or would result from viewing message frames.

More about public events by Peta Long: http://cropmag.co/peta-long/