Author of award-winning book about polling to speak at Graham Center

September 29, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In an election year, Americans are bombarded daily with opinion polls. But what do these surveys say about us and why are they so important? A noted historian is coming to Gainesville to explain how polling became a crucial part of American political and civic life.

Sarah Igo, associate professor of history at Vanderbilt University, will open the Graham Center Forum on Voting and Identity at 7 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Pugh Hall Ocora with a talk titled “The Averaged American.” The series is sponsored by the Bob Graham Center for Public Service and is free and open to the public. No tickets are required for the event.

Igo’s book “The Averaged American: Surveys, Citizens, and the Making of a Mass Public” was published in 2007 by Harvard University Press. It was the winner of the President’s Book Award of the Social Science History Association and the Cheiron Book Prize as well as a finalist for the C. Wright Mills Award of the American Sociological Association.

“Dr. Igo’s work is a fascinating look at the ways in which Americans came to see themselves through the lens of polling,” said Mike Bowen, associate director of the Graham Center. “Her book is solidly researched and she really weaves together an engaging story of how opinion data helped define the electorate.”

The Graham Center Forum on Voting and Identity will continue Oct. 13 with Richard Johnston speaking on “The Long Horserace: A View from the National Annenberg Election Survey.” Johnston is the research director of the National Annenberg Election Survey and Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. That event will be at 7 p.m. in the Pugh Hall Ocora.

The Graham Center for Public Service provides students with opportunities to train for future leadership positions, meet policymakers and take courses in critical thinking, language learning and studies of world cultures.