Fording to present AUM Poverty & Policy Talk

AUM’s Department of Political Science and Public Administration will host a talk exploring polices designed to reduce poverty in the U.S. on Wednesday, Oct. 25, from 6-7 p.m. in Goodwyn Hall 110.

The event, Poverty & Policy Talk, will feature guest speaker Richard Fording, the Marilyn Williams Elmore and John Durr Elmore endowed professor of political science at The University of Alabama. Fording will present his current research on the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and discuss how the SNAP program has been expanded through the years despite Americans’ negative perceptions towards “welfare.”

“We hope the audience will leave this event with a better understanding of policies designed to reduce poverty in general and how public opinion impacts these policies,” said Pia Knigge, assistant professor of political science and the event’s organizer.

Fording is co-author of the book “Disciplining the Poor: Neoliberalism and the Persistent Power of Race” and the recent winner of the Aaron Wildavsky Enduring Contribution Award from the Public Policy Section of the American Political Science Association. The award recognizes scholarship that continues to influence the field many years after its publication. His research interests include public policy, race, ethnicity and politics, state politics, and social movements.