Experts Available for Special Commentary and Analysis of Hot-Button Political Issues This Election Season

WORCESTER, Mass. – Faculty experts in a wide range of political and related disciplines from the College of the Holy Cross are available to offer distinctive perspectives on some of the hot-button political issues expected during the Republican National Convention and throughout the election season. Among them:

Donald Brand, associate professor/chair, political science 508-793-3402 (preferred) dbrand@holycross.edu Brand specializes in the study of the presidency and American politics. He has provided expert commentary to the media on a number of politically controversial issues, including civil liberties and the Patriot Act. Brand is the author of Corporatism and the Rule of Law: A Study of the National Recovery Administration (Cornell University Press, 1988), and numerous articles in journals such as Political Science Quarterly and Political Science Reviewer. He serves as the faculty advisor to the Holy Cross College Republicans.

Caren Dubnoff, associate professor, political science 508-793-2593 (office), 617-965-0395 (home/preferred) cdubnoff@holycross.edu Dubnoff specializes in American government, the presidency, constitutional law, and politics. She has written extensively on a variety of politically-charged legal subjects including free speech, and therefore can address issues related to the expected protests at the Republican National Convention. During the closely contested 2000 presidential election, Dubnoff provided commentary for the Associated Press on increased student interest in the role of the courts in elections.

Ericka Fisher, assistant professor, education 508-793-3732 (office) efisher@holycross.edu Fisher, whose areas of expertise include racial and economic inequality in American education, can provide special commentary on the role these issues will play in the upcoming election.

Thomas Gottschang, associate professor, economics 508-793-2678 (office) tgottsch@holycross.edu Gottschang is an expert in the economies and politics of China and Vietnam. He is co-author, with Diana Lary, of Swallows and Settlers: The Great Migration from North China to Manchuria (University of Michigan, 2000). In addition, he is a Vietnam veteran and can comment on issues related to the focus on John Kerry’s actions during and after the Vietnam War.

Jerry Lembcke, associate professor, sociology 508-793-3050 (office) jlembcke@holycross.edu A nationally recognized expert on the Vietnam War and Vietnam veterans, Lembcke’s recent research and writing focus on the controversies surrounding John Kerry’s war record. The author of several books including The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam (NYU Press, 1998) and CNN’s Tailwind Tale: Inside Vietnam’s Last Great Myth (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2003), Lembcke has wide-ranging media experience. He has been interviewed by USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and many other newspapers, radio and television stations.

Thomas Martin, professor/chair, Classics 508-793-2550 (office) tmartin@holycross.edu (preferred) Martin specializes in the ancient history of democracy, its roots in Athens, and how it compares with modern American democracy. Author of Ancient Greece from Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times (Yale University Press, 2002), he has served as an expert commentator in several publications and as a consultant to numerous television programs. Most recently, he appeared on the August 16, 2004 edition of The Today Show, where he provided background on the ancient Olympic games.

Victor Matheson, assistant professor, economics 508-793-2649 (office) vmatheso@holycross.edu Matheson is an expert on the economic impact of “mega-events” on host cities, so can discuss the financial gains and losses New York can expect to see post-convention. He can also address the economic impact of the Democratic National Convention on Boston. Recently, he has provided economic analyses of major sporting events, such as the Super Bowl and the baseball All-Star Game, to newspapers including the Houston Chronicle and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

David O’Brien, Loyola Professor of Roman Catholic Studies, history 508-793-2775 (office), 508-829-9759 (home) dobrien@holycross.edu O’Brien specializes in Catholic social and political thought, the history of American Catholicism, and religion and politics. O’Brien frequently provides expert commentary for the media; he has been quoted in numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Catholic Reporter, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and the Associated Press, and has appeared on NPR and WCVB-TV (The Boston Channel). Most recently, his op-ed on declining Christian support for the Democrats, was published in The Boston Globe on June 14.

Edward O’Donnell, associate professor, history 508-793-3730 (office), 508-826-1572 (evening) eodonnel@holycross.edu O’Donnell has expertise in the history of presidential elections and campaigns, and has published articles on John F. Kennedy’s campaign, and the 1884 and 1928 presidential elections. He can also provide insight on New York City’s political history; his forthcoming book Talisman of a Lost Hope: Henry George and Gilded Age America (Columbia University Press, 2005) details the most famous election in New York City history — the 1886 mayoral election. O’Donnell has extensive media experience and is a former Morning Edition commentator for NPR member station WNYC.

David Schaefer, professor, political science 508-793-2252 (office), 508-755-6750 (home) dschaefe@holycross.edu Schaefer, whose scholarly research and analysis focuses on American political thought, can provide expert commentary on a multitude of issues related to the current presidential campaign. He has published essays on judicial activism, church-state issues, public employee unions (with reference to the police picketing in Boston), government spending, and campaign finance reform in journals including The American Enterprise and National Review Online. During the Democratic National Convention, National Public Radio’s Seattle affiliate, KUOW, called upon Schaefer for expert commentary on media biases in covering politics.