CIRCLE (The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)
conducts research on the civic and political engagement of young Americans.
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CIRCLE’s MISSION Expert Guide

Expert Guide

This guide contains contact information for experts on youth civic engagement.

CIRCLE Staff Bios

Peter Levine, Director of CIRCLE

Already this presidential election cycle, Levine has been quoted in numerous national, top-tier publications and is viewed as an expert by political press covering the 2012 presidential campaign. Levine has authored several op-eds on the engagement of young voters this election cycle that has received significant attention, including at Politico and Fox News. Levine has been quoted in many major media outlets including the Washington Post, USA Today, NY Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has appeared on MSNBC, NPR, CNN, and others.

Levine graduated from Yale in 1989 with a degree in philosophy and continued to study philosophy at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, receiving his doctorate in 1992. Levine is the author of six books including We are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For: The Philosophy and Practice of Civic Renewal, which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2012, and The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens (2007). He has been a board member or trustee of the Newspaper Association of America, the American Bar Association’s Division of Public Education, Street Law, Inc., the Charles Kettering Foundation, Everyday Democracy, AmericaSPEAKS, and other organizations devoted to nonpartisan civic renewal.

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg

Kei is CIRCLE’s Lead Researcher and spearheads its advanced statistical analysis. Kei has recently been quoted in McClatchy, the Miami Herald and CBS News. Kei earned her doctorate degree in 2008 from Loyola University Chicago in Clinical Psychology and has extensive experience in working with youth of diverse backgrounds both as a researcher and a practitioner.

Abby Kiesa

Abby has recently been quoted in: ABC News, SF Chronicle, The American Independent, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. As Youth Coordinator & Researcher at CIRCLE, Abby serves as liaison to practitioner organizations across the country.  She communicates research findings and tracks recommendations from young people, youth-serving organizations, and educators for future research. Abby also works on CIRCLE’s qualitative research and selected evaluation projects. Previous to CIRCLE, Abby organized students around the country and has contributed to several publications and co-edited ‘Raise Your Voice: A Student Guide to Making Positive Social Change’.

Surbhi Godsay

Surbhi conducts quantitative analyses and co-produces reports for various public audiences. Surbhi is interested in providing research to increase civic and political engagement among disengaged youths, ethnic minority and immigrant populations. Surbhi has recently been quoted in the National Journal and Washington Times.

Felicia Sullivan

Felicia worked for nearly 20 years in a range of community-based settings as a media advocate, educator, consultant and researcher supporting diverse individuals in multi-ethnic urban settings. She has been quoted in and written for several publications on community media and technology.

Additionally, these experts are current and past members of CIRCLE’s Advisory Board.   Feel free to contact them directly or by calling CIRCLE at 617-627-4781.

Political Participation and Voting


Ivan Frishberg
Political Director,
Environment America
(202) 683-1250

Fredrick C. Harris
Professor,
Department of Political Science
Columbia University
7th Floor, IAB
420 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10027
212-854-6593
fh2170@columbia.edu

Jane Junn
Department of Political Science & Eagleton Institute of Politics
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
junn@rci.rutgers.edu
732-932-9384, x250

Ruth B. Mandel
Board of Governors
Professor of Politics
Director, Eagleton Institute of Politics
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
732-932-9384, ext. 228
rmandel@rci.rutgers.edu

Kent Portney,
Professor,
Political Science Department,
Tufts University
(617) 627-5131
kent.portney@tufts.edu

Kay L. Schlozman
J. Joseph Moakley Professor,
Department of Political Science
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA
617-552-4174
kay.schlozman@bc.edu

John Transue
Assistant Professor of Political Science and Psychology: Social and Health Sciences
Duke University
Durham, NC
919-660-4336
transue@duke.edu

See also: Biko Baker, Lisa Garcia Bedolla, Scott Keeter

Community Participation

Maya Enista,
Chief Executive Officer,
Washington DC Office
1133 19th St NW, Floor 9
Washington, DC 20036
202.736.5703
maya@mobilize.org

Deb Jospin
sagawa/jospin consulting firm
(ex officio, as chair of Tisch Board of Advocates)
6 Primrose St.
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
301.718.1864
djospin@sagawajospin.com

Richard M. Lerner,
Bergstrom Chair,
Director of Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development
Eliot Pearson Department of Child Development
105 College Avenue
Tufts University,
Medford, MA 02155
(617) 627-5558
richard.lerner@tufts.edu

Susan Ostrander,
Professor,
Sociology Department,
Tufts University
617-627-2468
susan.ostrander@tufts.edu

Michael Sherraden
Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development
Washington University
St. Louis, MO
314-935-6691
sherrad@wustl.edu

Wendy Wheeler
President,
Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development
Takoma Park, MD
301- 270-1700 x 106
wwheeler@theinnovationcenter.org

See also: Barry Checkoway, Carmen Sirianni

Civic Knowledge

William A. Galston
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies
The Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies
Brookings Institution
202.797.6105
communications@brookings.edu

Scott Keeter
Director of Survey Research
Pew Research Center
Washington, DC
202-419-4362
skeeter@pewresearch.org

Judith Torney-Purta
Professor of Human Development,
College of Education
University of Maryland College Park, MD
301-405-2806
jtpurta@umd.edu

See also: Benjamin Barber

Youth Attitudes and Beliefs

Constance A. Flanagan
Professor, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies
University of Wisconsin-Madison
475 N. Charter St.
2418 Sterling Hall
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 263-2291
caflanagan@wisc.edu

See also: Scott Keeter, Judith Torney-Purta

News and Entertainment Media


Lance Bennett
Professor of Political Science, Ruddick C. Lawrence Professor of Communication
University of Washington
Seattle, WA
206-534-4946
lbennett@uw.edu

High School Civic Education

Rick Battistoni
Professor of Political Science, Director, Project 540 Providence
College Providence, RI
401-865-2787
rickbatt@providence.edu

Diana Hess,
Associate Professor
Curriculum & Instruction
University of Wisconsin
Teacher Education Rm: 256D
225 N. Mills Street
Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Phone: (608) 263-4571
Email: dhess@education.wisc.edu

Meira Levinson,
Assistant Professor of Education
Harvard Graduate School of Education
meira_levinson@gse.harvard.edu
617-496-1562

Lauren Young
Consultant
LJYoung Consulting
laurenjonesyoung@gmail.com

See also: Terry Pickeral

Service Learning


Shelley H. Billig
Vice President
RMC Research Corporation
Denver, CO
303-825-3636

billig@rmcdenver.com

Joseph Kahne
Professor, Education
John and Martha Davidson Chair
Dean of the School of Education
Research Director of
Civic Engagement Research Group
Mills College
Oakland, CA
510-430-3275
jkahne@mills.edu

See also: Rick Battistoni,  Thomas Ehrlich, Elizabeth Hollander, Terry Pickeral

Higher Education


Thomas Ehrlich
Senior Scholar
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Menlo Park, CA
650-566-5137
ehrlich@carnegiefoundation.org

Elizabeth Hollander
Tisch College Senior Fellow
Tufts University
617-627-4178
elizabeth.hollander@tufts.edu

See also: Rick Battistoni, Harry C. Boyte, Joseph Kane, Ruth B. Mandel

Non-college 18-25’s

Biko Baker,
Executive Director,
The League of Young Voters
310 Atlantic Avenue, 2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY  11201
213.925.1545
robbikobaker@gmail.com

Barry Checkoway
Professor of Social Work and Urban Planning
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
734-763-5960
barrych@umich.edu

Dorothy Stoneman,
Founder and President,
YouthBuild USA
58 Day Street
Somerville, MA 02144
phone 617-741-1212
jjohnson@youthbuild.org

See also: Jaime Ernesto Uzeta

Group Memberships and Social Networks


Carmen Sirianni
Morris Hillquit Professor of Labor and Social Thought,
Department of Sociology
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA
781-736-2652
sirianni@brandeis.edu

See also: Ivan Frishberg, Frederick C. Harris, Kay L. Schlozman, John Transue

Concepts of Citizenship


Benjamin R. Barber
CivWorld @ Demos
220 Fifth Avenue
Fifth Floor
New York, NY 10001
(212) 389-1416

Harry C. Boyte
Senior Fellow, Co-Director
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Co-Director, Center for Democracy and Citizenship
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN
612-625-5509
boyte001@umn.edu

Terry Pickeral
President
Cascade Educational Consultants
t.pickeral@comcast.net
360-303-7480

See also: Lance Bennett, Shelley H. Billig

Race, Gender and Immigrant Status


Lisa Garcia Bedolla
Associate Professor, Political Science
School of Social Sciences
Associate Professor, Chicano/Latino Studies
School of Social Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
(949) 824-9298
lgarciab@uci.edu

See also: Frederick C. Harris, Ruth B. Mandel, and Connie Flanagan

Featured Research

Young People and the 2012 Election

Research Highlights

Using the CPS turnout data and National Election Pools exit poll statistics, CIRCLE exclusively estimates that approximately 14.8 million voters under 30 cast their votes for Barack Obama in 2008. Only about 12.3 million young voters chose Obama in 2012. Voter turnout in 2012 was 45% for people between the ages of 18-29, down from 51% in 2008.

Latest Research

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