Mark Rudoff, Associate Professor of Cello in the School of Music, performs with the Janus String Quartet, the Galileo Trio, and Chiarina Piano Quartet. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss how professors of music bring a different kind of research and scholarship to their roles. He also explains why the double-faced god Janus represents his interest in music, which draws from the past while creating the future.
Richard Petty, Distinguished University Professor of Social Psychology, researches the situational and individual difference factors responsible for changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors. He joins host David Staley on this week’s Voices of Excellence to discuss his recent work on how political partisans (those who strongly identify as liberal or conservative) differ from independent voters in the overall strength of their attitudes. He’s found that independent voters often have greater animosity toward one candidate than they have liking toward the candidate that they were going to vote for, and this negativity is growing.
Lanier Holt, Associate Professor in Communication, researches journalism, media effects, and social psychology, with a focus on the impact media messages have on audience perceptions of African Americans, women, and other traditionally marginalized groups. He shares with host David Staley how he prepares students in his crisis communication class by having them represent contentious clients at mock press conference, such as Donald Trump after the Capital Insurrection.
Maria Miriti, Associate Professor of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology, uses experimental and demographic methods to address factors that regulate plant populations and communities. She joins David Staley to discuss her research, which has stretched from desserts in the Joshua Tree National Park to the Amazonian tropics to grasslands.