On September 28 and 29, the College of Charleston hosted the Alliance’s inaugural Scholar Exchange, a program designed to increase knowledge sharing across Alliance institutions. During the Exchange, Northeastern University Presidential elections scholar Dr. William Mayer delivered a keynote address titled “Why Trump?” to a large audience at the College. The following morning, Dr. Mayer lectured Southern Politics and Strategic Communication Campaigns classes.Mayer is the author or co-author of 10 books, including The Front-Loading Problem in Presidential Nominations and The Swing Voter in American Politics. In every presidential election year since 1996, he has edited a set of original essays on the presidential nomination process, the most recent of which is The Making of the Presidential Candidates 2012. He has been called “the nation’s leading academic authority” on the presidential nomination process, and his research also includes the study of voting process, public opinion, and media and politics.

“We are thrilled to have William Mayer on campus to engage our students and faculty,” said Dr. Gibbs Knotts, chair of the Department of Political Science at College of Charleston. “His work on swing voters and the increasingly front-loaded primary calendar have made important contributions to both the discipline of political science and to larger debates about our democracy and electoral systems.”

Given strong feedback from faculty, staff, and students who attended the Scholar Exchange keynote and courses, the Alliance will explore future opportunities for the next Scholar Exchange.