From the Office of Public Affairs | https://www.news.ku.edu

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Program will train high schoolers to write code and develop microelectronics for artificial intelligence

LAWRENCE — Public high school students in Kansas and two other states will receive training in the cutting-edge field of artificial intelligence, learning to create both code that underpins AI and the microelectronics to run it, as part of the United States’ push to keep the lead in microchip manufacturing and AI software development. A KU research team, funded by the National Science Foundation, will partner with Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park.

Large-format photographer gets below the surface in new KC group show

LAWRENCE – Three works referring both to the Midwest and the idea of liminality from a University of Kansas associate professor of photography are featured in a group show, “Strange and Familiar Places,” that runs now through July 20 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

KU students receive awards at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Regional Competition

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Department of Theatre & Dance students received several commendations and awards in January at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region V Festival in Des Moines, Iowa. Honorees include students from Maize, Overland Park, Shawnee, Topeka and Wichita.

New Kansas Geological Survey publication explores geology of eastern Kansas

LAWRENCE — A new publication from the Kansas Geological Survey integrates data drawn from scientific observations and detailed oil and gas industry well logs to modernize understanding of the geology of eastern Kansas and create a framework to support identification and management of the state’s vital natural resources. Understanding rock layers and their characteristics helps individuals and industry decide where to drill a water or oil well, where to find building stone and where to quarry the raw materials used to pave roads, among many other uses.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected]

Program will train high schoolers to write code and develop microelectronics for artificial intelligence

LAWRENCE — Public high school students in Kansas and two other states will receive training in the cutting-edge field of artificial intelligence, learning to create both code that underpins AI and the microelectronics to run it — as part of the United States’ push to keep the lead in microchip manufacturing and AI software development.

Researchers at the University of Kansas, along with the University of Florida and the University of North Texas, will partner with regional high schools to engage about 500 students and 25 teachers in real-world projects to build interest in the technology as a career path. The work is enabled by a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Of that, about $350,000 will come to KU.

The research at KU is headed by Tamzidul Hoque, assistant professor of electrical engineering & computer science. His team in Lawrence will partner with Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park, where computer science teacher Mark Lange will implement the curriculum.

A vital part of the training will allow students to run their code on Tiny Machine Learning (TinyML) devices — basic low-power machines that enable AI processing directly on hardware.

“This will be a small device performing AI tasks at the user end without connecting to the cloud,” Hoque said. “TinyML is one application that allows a large AI model to be converted into a smaller one that can run on a small device.”

These so-called “edge devices” process data with their own microelectronics rather than relying on a centralized cloud or data center.

“We want to demonstrate to students the wide range of edge AI applications available,” Hoque said. “By working with edge AI, they’ll not only learn about AI but also gain knowledge of microelectronics because it involves low-level hardware. Our curriculum addresses both of these important areas — microelectronics and AI.”

Hoque’s team at KU is developing the edge devices to be used by students in classes nationwide, work informed by his earlier NSF-funded research into training students in computing-hardware fundamentals though gamified learning.

The design of the edge devices will consider strapped budgets faced by many high schools, particularly in low-income communities, according to Hoque.

“We’re developing a hardware platform that includes microprocessors, various sensors and communication components,” he said. “We’ll collaborate with the University of Florida to develop the platform, with a key challenge being cost-effectiveness. While many existing platforms can be used for programming AI, they are not affordable. Our goal is to create a device costing less than $45, equipped with at least 10 different sensors, making it accessible even for high schools with limited resources.”

Part of the project involves measuring and honing effectiveness of the instruction. Hoque and his colleagues will focus the training on altruistic, community-centered projects so students understand how engineering helps people.

“When we try to motivate students about engineering, we often highlight high-paying salaries or the lucrative aspects of the jobs — but engineering is not only about those things, and many students may not feel motivated solely by them,” the KU researcher said. “Integrating the concept of altruism — how engineering can help their community — can be a stronger motivator. For example, developing an AI application for fire detection or supporting farmers through novel technologies gives students a sense of altruism and community support, inspiring them to pursue careers in those directions.”

Nonetheless, according to Hoque, the curriculum should provide access to high-paying jobs in AI and microelectronics for individual students. By developing this workforce, Kansas and other states in the project could succeed in drawing more high-tech companies as students qualify to specialize in the sector. To ensure this, the researchers have teamed with AI-industry partners to match workforce needs of those employers with the training.

“Our goal is to ensure the curriculum we develop is well aligned with the industry,” Hoque said. “We have an advisory board made up of industry members who provide feedback on whether the topics we have chosen are suitable for the field and whether learning these technical skills will help students secure jobs in the long run.”

Along these lines, the researchers will hold conferences where high school teachers in the project and industry partners will trade ideas on curriculum and teaching methods to ensure the training is industry focused.

The work at KU is enabled by the CHIPS and Science Act, passed by Congress in 2022, a law designed to support domestic production of semiconductors and strengthen national security.

“After COVID, we realized how dependent we are on external supply chains, prompting the government to provide significant incentives for developing domestic manufacturing facilities,” Hoque said. “This issue impacts not only consumers but also national security, as microelectronics used in mission-critical systems must be developed in secure facilities with no possibility of malicious alterations or security threats. For national security reasons, it’s essential to have domestic capabilities to design and fabricate our own microchips. But it’s not enough to develop these facilities — we also need people to work in them. Programs like this will motivate students to explore hardware and pursue careers in microelectronics.”

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Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected]

Large-format photographer gets below the surface in new KC group show

LAWRENCE — Elise Kirk learned a lot from her time as a documentary producer for clients like National Geographic. But now, the University of Kansas associate professor of photography finds herself drawn to an expanded documentary style of working.

Three of Kirk’s photos resulting from that kind of deep dive into a specific place are featured in a group photography show, “Strange and Familiar Places,” that runs now through July 20 at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The museum acquired the three photos in the show, plus one more, for its permanent collection.

“It’s a group of photographers exploring the notion of place from some sort of insider perspective, whether that’s having grown up there or having spent a lot of time there,” Kirk said. “In my case, I’m exploring the Midwest from the perspective of having grown up here, having left for close to 20 years and then returned.”

As can be seen at her website, Kirk likes to work in series, and the shots in the Nelson show come from a series she calls “Mid—” referring both to the Midwest and the idea of liminality.

“The work ‘Mid—’ is all about a kind of personal tension between restlessness and rootedness, wanting to grow roots or be free,” Kirk said. “I gravitate towards making photographs that express that kind of internal tension.”

She cites a shot of a mobile home camped on the bank of the Missouri River.

“I like the idea that the van is this thing that gives you freedom to travel and move,” Kirk said. “But they’ve also set up decorative holiday string lights. They have bicycles out. So they are still building home; they’re building place. But they also are kind of riding this line.”

The “Mid—” photos were made with a large-format film camera (the negative is 4 by 5 inches) that Kirk lugged through small-town streets, backyards and into people’s homes. The camera’s tripod, bellows and hood — not to mention the $5 cost of each negative — meant no spur-of-the-moment, anonymous shots.

“My early documentary influence was Frederick Wiseman, who gets labeled as this direct-cinema filmmaker, always trying to make himself as invisible as possible,” Kirk said. “And so, to my old-school, filmmaking brain, that’s what documentary means — an act of pure observation and little interjection outside of authorial choices made in framing and editing. And I think, through my photographic practice, I’m acknowledging my own presence and subjectivity more.”

Doing so, Kirk said, “opened up a lot of possibility for me, in terms of working with other people. … It really forces you to slow down and engage with the subject matter and your relationship to it.”

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Contact: Lisa Coble-Krings, Department of Theatre & Dance, 785-864-5685, [email protected], @KUTheatre

KU students receive awards at Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Regional Competition

LAWRENCE — University of Kansas Department of Theatre & Dance students received several commendations and awards in January at the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) Region V Festival in Des Moines, Iowa.

Outstanding work from the department was recognized through a national honorable mention, top regional costume design award and several regional commendations, most of which were tied to fully realized productions of KU’s University Theatre in 2024. Elliot Bowman, a senior in theatre and math from Topeka, earned a Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of America/KCACTF National Dramaturgy Honorable Mention for their outstanding work on “Indecent,” the 2024-25 KU Theatre & Dance season opener. Katie Cooley, MFA student in scenography, earned distinction as the Sharon Sobel Regional Costume Design Award recipient.

Commendations

For the production of “Indecent” by Paula Vogel:

Elliot Bowman for dramaturgy
Rana Esfandiary, assistant professor of design & technology in the department and freelance designer, for scenic design
Josh Gilpin, MFA student in scenography, for lighting design
Olly G. Mitchell, senior theatre student from Maize, for choreography
Kennedy Tolar, a senior theatre student from Tulsa, Oklahoma, for stage management

For the production of “Hookman” by Lauren Yee:

Bella Black, junior in math student from Overland Park; Sean Ingram, sophomore in theatre design student from Shawnee; and Olivia Laycock, student in theatre design from Wichita, received the Don Childs Design Technology & Management Cross-Discipline Collaboration Award.
Sean Ingram for lighting design

For the production of “SWEAT” by Lynn Nottage:

Ensemble for Ensemble Work
Elliot Bowman, a Heart of the Art recognition for lighting design

For academic project work on “Blood Wedding” by Federico Garcia Lorca:

Katie Cooley for representation, equity and diversity principles in design

For the University Dance Company Fall Concert:

Elliot Bowman, a Heart of the Art recognition for lighting design.

“The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival provides critical support and recognition for the talents of emerging theatre artists nationwide,” said Henry Bial, department chair. “The annual regional festival is a highlight for our production program, and we are pleased to have had so many of our students honored.”

“I’m glad to be able to spend the time with my students as they build confidence and skills during this conference and appreciate the opportunity to reconnect with some of our alumni who lead theatre programs in our region,” said Kelly Vogel, head of scenography and associate teaching professor in the department.

The KCACTF-Region V annual conference and awards took place in Des Moines, Iowa. Region V includes Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. At various times during 2024, representatives of KCACTF came to Lawrence to judge the submitted plays and provide responses. KCACTF is a national theatre program created through the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which celebrates excellence in university and college theatre programs.

The University Theatre is a production wing of KU’s Department of Theatre & Dance, offering public productions throughout the academic year. Productions are funded in part by KU Student Senate fees with additional support from Truity Credit Union.

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Contact: Stephan Oborny, Kansas Geological Survey, 785-864-1376, [email protected]

New Kansas Geological Survey publication explores geology of eastern Kansas

LAWRENCE — A new publication from the Kansas Geological Survey integrates data drawn from scientific observations and detailed oil and gas industry well logs to modernize understanding of the geology of eastern Kansas and create a framework to support identification and management of the state’s vital natural resources.

“The long history of stratigraphic studies in Kansas has produced a vast body of literature, resulting in complexity and confusion in nomenclature and correlation,” said Stephan Oborny, lead author of KGS Bulletin 265 and KGS assistant scientist. “This is particularly evident in the Middle Pennsylvanian (Upper Carboniferous) strata of eastern Kansas, where the definition, usage and stratigraphic positioning of many units have changed over time.”

Understanding rock layers and their characteristics helps individuals and industry decide where to drill a water or oil well, where to find building stone and where to quarry the raw materials used to pave roads, among many other uses.

“Improved stratigraphic frameworks support the exploration and management of valuable natural resources, such as critical minerals, aggregates, coal, oil, gas, salt and groundwater,” Oborny said. “Additionally, enhancing regional rock unit correlations allows stratigraphers to more accurately reconstruct Earth’s geological history, including ancient sea-level fluctuations, past environmental conditions, tectonic activity and mass extinction events.”

Among the challenges today’s geologists face are the loss of key rock outcrops that scientists of the past used in interpreting the geology of the state and past studies that prioritized outcrop observations over subsurface data or vice versa, leading to incomplete or imprecise interpretations.

The new publication seeks to reconcile these historical and recent discrepancies by integrating new observations both above and below ground. Researchers revisited key outcrops where Pennsylvanian rock units were originally defined in eastern Kansas and examined oil and gas industry well log data to better understand rock layers in the subsurface. Based on what they learned from these activities, they constructed nine stratigraphic cross sections that trace rock units through the subsurface in 28 counties in eastern Kansas, two in western Missouri and one in northern Oklahoma.

“Whether applied in industry, environmental conservation or academic research, stratigraphy remains a fundamental discipline in earth sciences, providing essential insights into the past while helping to anticipate future geological changes,” Oborny said.

Bulletin 265 is available online. Printed copies are available in Lawrence through KGS Publications Sales, [email protected], 785-864-3965, 1930 Constant Ave., Lawrence, KS 66047-3724. In Wichita, copies are available from Kansas Geologic Sample Repository, [email protected], 316-943-2343, 4150 W. Monroe St, Wichita, KS 67209-2640. Supplemental files are available online only.

The KGS is a nonregulatory research and service division of the University of Kansas. KGS researchers study and provide information about the state’s geologic resources and hazards, including groundwater, oil and natural gas, critical materials and earthquakes.

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KU News Service

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Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

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Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]

Groundbreaking contributions to effects of chaos and bifurcation in economics chronicled in new book

LAWRENCE — Chaos. The word suggests disorder, confusion, malevolence.

“Yet nature is chaotic. Human brain waves are chaotic. Chaos is actually good,” said William Barnett, the Oswald Distinguished Professor of Macroeconomics at the University of Kansas.

The professor has published a new book titled “Economic Bifurcation and Chaos.” It provides a unified presentation of Barnett’s (with co-authors’) contributions to the literature on chaos, economic bifurcation and nonlinear dynamics. It’s published by World Scientific.

With assistance in production by Ruoning Han of Whitman College, who received a doctorate in economics from KU, the span of the book’s research begins in 1988 with Barnett’s initial finding of chaos in economic data. It continues with subsequent findings of bifurcation, but not necessarily chaos, in all dynamical macroeconomic models tested by the professor and his co-authors.

Barnett said that chaos theory should not be confused with catastrophe theory.

“In mathematics, catastrophe theory is about a discontinuous break in the solution path. Then the solution can be moving along, and suddenly it jumps down. There’s a discontinuous break in the solution. That’s bad,” he said.

“Chaos just means the solution jiggles around so fast that it looks stochastic without discontinuities. But the stochasticity then has a deterministic explanation, so it doesn’t come from shocks outside the universe or white noise. It’s coming from the system itself.”

He cites how the weather is chaotic, as is the nature of meteorology and climatology.

“The temperature variations never stop. They just keep fluctuating in a stochastic way. That’s actually a plus because stochasticity that has deterministic origins from chaos is informative. It tells you something about the underlying system that’s causing this phenomenon,” he said.

While mathematicians have long known of this theory and its applications, many economists lack expertise in it. As James Heckman, a Nobel laureate in economics, wrote in the book’s front matter, Barnett’s work “analyzes how systems with many interacting parts behave as a whole. … It is a guide to understanding the deep structural features of modern economics and how to account for them in policy analysis.”

The research covered in “Economic Bifurcation and Chaos” extends over three decades to Barnett’s recent findings of Shilnikov chaos (named for Russian mathematician Leonid Shilnikov) in New Keynesian models of the U.S. and U.K. economies. This research discovered what could have caused interest rates to drift downward inadvertently for three decades, eventually entering the zero lower bound, even when not intended by the Federal Reserve.

The initial impetus for some of this research came 50 years ago when Barnett was working as a rocket scientist during the U.S. space race. He recalls testing rocket engines at Edwards Air Force Base.

“Odd things would happen in the engine’s thrust chamber, and we weren’t quite sure why,” he said.

“We weren’t sure what to think about it. We would just keep running tests trying to figure out how to stop the puzzling behavior. But we did have a small number of brilliant mathematicians who basically consulted for us. These were not engineers. I would go talk to them sometimes, and they would explain to me that such occurrences don’t mean there’s necessarily something wrong with the rocket engine. It’s just a normal part of dynamics. But we needed to know how to control it to avoid bad outcomes.”

A half-century later, does Barnett feel like he’s grasped these seemingly impenetrable concepts better?

“Oh yes. I understand them much more now, especially since meeting Belgian physicist Viscount Ilya Prigogine at the University of Texas many years ago,” he said of the Noble laureate and author of 1984’s “Order Out of Chaos.”

A native of Boston, Barnett was originally employed as a scientist at Rocketdyne, a Los Angeles company that created the F-1 and J-2 rocket engines for the Apollo program. He then spent eight years on the staff of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.

Barnett has worked at KU for the past 23 years as an expert in econometrics and macroeconomics. He is founder and editor of the Cambridge University Press journal “Macroeconomic Dynamics” and the Emerald Press monograph series “International Symposia in Economic Theory and Econometrics.” Barnett also founded the Society for Economic Measurement and served as its first president. Additionally, he is director at the Center for Financial Stability in New York City.

Now at the age of 83, Barnett said he admits he has no intention of stepping away from writing books at KU, editing journals or learning even more about his chosen field.

Of course, that is unless something chaotic happens.

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

https://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | https://www.news.ku.edu

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KU Debate qualifies third team for National Debate Tournament

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of Ethan Harris and Jacob Wilkus, both graduates of Free State High School in Lawrence, have qualified for the National Debate Tournament set for April 4-7 in Spokane, Washington. The duo joins the KU teams of John Marshall, Lawrence, with Graham Revare, Prairie Village, and Rose Larson, Milwaukee, with Luna Schultz, Houston, who had already qualified. This is the 10th straight year that KU has qualified three teams for the NDT.

KU Wind Ensemble to tour central and western Kansas

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Music will take part in an outreach tour March 31 and April 1 in central and western Kansas, featuring the KU Wind Ensemble under the direction of Matt Smith. The band will perform in Clay Center, Dodge City, Garden City, Hays and Junction City.

Third pharmacy dean candidate to present March 6, schedule updated

LAWRENCE – Chrissa Kioussi, a professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences at Oregon State University, will be the third candidate for the School of Pharmacy dean position to present her vision for the school. Her public presentation is set for 4-5 p.m. March 6 in Room 1020 of the School of Pharmacy building and will be livestreamed. The fourth and final candidate’s presentation also has been rescheduled to 4-5 p.m. March 13.

Embrace of authoritarianism in US fueled by culture wars more than economy, study finds

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas sociologists have contributed a chapter titled “Authoritarianism From Below: Why and How Donald Trump Follows His Followers” to a new publication in the “Current Perspectives in Social Theory” series from Emerald Publishing Limited. “What we’re witnessing, and what we have witnessed for quite some time, is an active wish for domineering leaders who will fight the culture war on behalf of their supporters,” said co-author David Norman Smith.

Full stories below.

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Contact: Scott Harris, KU Debate, 785-864-9878, [email protected], @KansasDebate

KU Debate qualifies third team for National Debate Tournament

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas debate team of Ethan Harris and Jacob Wilkus, both alumni of Free State High School in Lawrence, have qualified for the National Debate Tournament set for April 4-7 in Spokane, Washington.

Harris and Wilkus were selected as at-large qualifiers for the National Debate Tournament by the NDT Selection Committee based on their record over the course of the season. They are the third KU pair to qualify for the national tournament this year. The duo joins the KU teams of John Marshall, Lawrence, with Graham Revare, Prairie Village, and Rose Larson, Milwaukee, with Luna Schultz, Houston, who had already qualified for the NDT.

To qualify as a third team, a pair must be one of the six best third teams in the country over the season.

“Qualifying for the NDT as a third team is very difficult, and Ethan and Jacob earned it with an excellent season,” said Brett Bricker, KU associate director of debate.

The five other schools who qualified three teams to the NDT are Emory University, the University of Kentucky, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Northwestern University.

This is the 10th straight year that KU has qualified three teams for the NDT and the 58th consecutive year of qualifying one or more teams to compete at the NDT. KU has won the National Debate Tournament six times and reached the final four 21 times, including a second-place finish in 2024.

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Contact: Fally Afani, School of Music, [email protected]

KU Wind Ensemble to tour central and western Kansas

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Music will take part in an outreach tour featuring the KU Wind Ensemble under the direction of Matt Smith. The band will embark on a two-day tour across central and western Kansas, performing five concerts for students and the public.

The tour will take place March 31 and April 1, with performances at high schools in Clay Center, Junction City, Hays, Garden City and Dodge City. These concerts will provide students and community members with an opportunity to foster a connection with the university and experience one of the nation’s premier collegiate wind ensembles.

“We are thrilled to share the joy of live music with students and audiences across Kansas,” said Smith, co-conductor of the KU Wind Ensemble. “Music has the power to inspire, educate and connect us, and we look forward to engaging with these communities and nurturing a love for the arts.”

The tour schedule is as follows:

March 31

9:45 a.m. – Clay Center Community High School
1:15 p.m. – Junction City High School
7:30 p.m. – Hays High School

April 1

10 a.m. – Garden City High School
2 p.m. – Dodge City High School.

The “School of Music Across Kansas” initiative is part of the School of Music’s ongoing commitment to expanding access to high-quality musical experiences and fostering connections between KU musicians and students across the state.

For more information, please contact the KU Band Office at [email protected].

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Contact: Savannah Rattanavong, Office of the Provost, 785-864-6402, [email protected]

Third pharmacy dean candidate to present March 6, schedule updated

LAWRENCE – Chrissa Kioussi, a professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences at Oregon State University, will be the third candidate for the School of Pharmacy dean position to present her vision for the school.

The presentation is set for 4-5 p.m. March 6 in Room 1020 of the School of Pharmacy building. The event will be livestreamed, and the passcode is 932064.

The fourth and final candidate’s presentation also has been rescheduled to 4-5 p.m. March 13 in Room 1020 in the School of Pharmacy building. They will be announced approximately two business days before the visit.

Members of the KU community are encouraged to attend the presentations and provide feedback to the search committee. Presentation recordings and the online feedback form will remain available on the search page through March 18.

Additional search information, including Kioussi’s CV, is also available on the search page.

As chair of OSU’s pharmaceutical sciences department, Kioussi leads a team of faculty, students, trainees and staff, promoting the research portfolio of the College of Pharmacy and advocating for teaching and research needs.

Her research is related to developmental biology and molecular genetics, focusing on how genes and cells work cooperatively and systematically to generate and regenerate organs, with funding provided by numerous entities, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Heart Association and March of Dimes.

Kioussi has previously served as an American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Academic Leadership Fellow and Provost Fellow, the chair of the College of Pharmacy Promotion and Tenure Committee and the Research Office’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and a member of the Center for Quantitative Life Sciences Scientific Advisory Board and Faculty Senate Graduate Council.

She is an editor and reviewer of multiple scientific journals and book series as well as a reviewer in NIH study sections, U.S. research foundations and European research agencies.

Kioussi earned her doctorate in molecular and cellular biology from the Hellenic Pasteur Institute and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, both in Athens, Greece. She previously trained at Pasteur Institute, University College London, the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, the Scripps Research Institute and the University of California San Diego School of Medicine.

The School of Pharmacy Dean search committee includes representatives from faculty, staff, students and alumni and is being led by Michelle Carney, dean of the School of Social Welfare, and Candan Tamerler, associate vice chancellor for research and professor of mechanical engineering.

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Don’t miss new episodes of “When Experts Attack!,”

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Contact: Jon Niccum, KU News Service, 785-864-7633, [email protected]

Embrace of authoritarianism in US fueled by culture wars more than economy, study finds

LAWRENCE — Donald Trump famously announced his intention in 2023 to be a dictator “on day one” of his second term in office. Despite the statement’s seeming affront to democracy, a majority of voters were not repelled by it. Many instead embraced it.

“Words like dictatorship and democracy are formal. They’re not beside the point, but they don’t necessarily get to the crux of what’s happening,” said David Norman Smith, professor of sociology at the University of Kansas.

“It isn’t that people are saying, ‘Oh, we don’t need democracy.’ They’re saying, ‘We do need to fight the culture war.’ If fighting the culture war in a domineering way tramples some of the established traditions, that’s a consequence. But that’s not generally the object.”

Smith and Eric Hanley, KU associate professor of sociology, have contributed a chapter titled “Authoritarianism From Below: Why and How Donald Trump Follows His Followers.” They scrutinize Trump’s assertion that many individuals “like” his talk of dictatorship. And if true, what does it mean empirically? The chapter appears in “The Future of Agency: Between Autonomy and Heteronomy,” which is Vol. 41 of the “Current Perspectives in Social Theory” series published by Emerald Publishing Limited.

“I think it’s better to try to actually understand what’s going on beneath the surface of traditional terms like ‘dictatorship.’ What we’re witnessing, and what we have witnessed for quite some time, is an active wish for domineering leaders who will fight the culture war on behalf of their supporters,” Smith said.

Many of these political tendencies emerged prior to Trump’s presidency. Some are found in the results of the 2012 and 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES), which included survey questions Smith and Hanley proposed that were drawn from the Right-wing Authoritarianism Scale. They learned from this survey that most of Trump’s voters supported him not because they were hurting economically, but because they shared his prejudices and enemies.

“If you scroll through countless Trump speeches over a decade, you will find very few comments that directly address economic issues,” Smith said. “It’s rarely a talking point for him. It’s the culture war. That’s what has really resonated.”

It used to be routinely said that people vote their pocketbook. Democratic Party leadership often echoed such sentiments. Bill Clinton staffers James Carville and George Stephanopoulos became household names in 1992 for introducing the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

“The recurring misunderstanding, which was most recently shown by all the discussion about inflation in the latter stages of the last election, is this idea that the economy is number one,” Smith said.

“That was largely the result of a single poll. And polls are fine, but one small poll amid everything else that was happening at that moment gave people who were so disposed an opportunity to cling to an economy narrative. What we found way back in 2012 was that the economy matters greatly, but it matters to everyone. So if you’re trying to distinguish yourself (as a candidate) by voting for or against something, pocketbook issues don’t get you very far.”

What most Trump voters have wanted, Smith said, is Donald Trump and what he represents culturally. That was clear in the 2016 data, and it has been clear in subsequent surveys by the Monmouth University Polling Institute and Morning Consult.

Smith’s interest in this topic goes back a long way. He said he recalled reading a poll concerning Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Voters were asked, “Do you think Ronald Reagan cares about people like you?” Under 10% of the public said yes. They were then asked, “Do you like Ronald Reagan and what he’s doing?” Around 70% of those same people answered yes, and mainly because they saw him as a strong leader.

“The striking fact that Reagan could be 70% popular in a moment when most people did not really feel he cared about them raised a big question for me,” he said.

A professor at KU since 1990, Smith specializes in the political intersections of sociology, psychology and economy. His work often explores the question, “Why do people differ in their attitudes toward democracy and equality?”

While he is quick to discuss the reasons behind Trump’s support, he is not currently predicting how the man’s presidency and legacy will play out.

Smith said, “I’m reminded of something I heard Trump tell TV journalist Megyn Kelly in an interview back in early 2016. She asked him, ‘If there’s one thing we should know about you, what would you say it is?’ He said, ‘I go hard.’ I think we know by now that he is charging ahead, and he’s waiting to see what the consequences will be. He’s always had a gambler’s mentality.”

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

https://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs

From the Office of Public Affairs | http://www.news.ku.edu

Media advisory

Contact: Rick Hellman, KU News Service, 785-864-8852, [email protected]

Expert can comment on President Trump’s address to Congress

LAWRENCE – If past is prologue, President Donald Trump will double down on the nationalist populist themes that animate his MAGA movement in his first post-reelection remarks to Congress Tuesday evening.

Robert Rowland, a University of Kansas professor of communication studies and expert on presidential rhetoric, is available to journalists to comment upon the address, which substitutes for a State of the Union address in election years, either before or immediately after the speech.

Rowland is the author of the 2021 book “The Rhetoric of Donald Trump: Nationalist Populism and American Democracy” (University of Kansas Press).

“President Trump’s political brand of nationalist populism, which he often supports with grandiose claims about his personal leadership and accomplishments, contrasts sharply with the norm for presidential addresses,” Rowland said.

“On Tuesday, Trump will be forced to choose between restating basic American values, a focus of most State of the Union addresses, and using his rhetoric to express grievances toward perceived enemies and to score points with — and often at the expense of — the press.

“Given his previous track record, it seems likely that President Trump will attempt to bend the form of presidential addresses to Congress to fit the themes that dominate his rally and other rhetoric. He will transform the speech to Congress into something approximating the message and style of a MAGA rally.”

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KU News Service

1450 Jayhawk Blvd.

Lawrence KS 66045

[email protected]

http://www.news.ku.edu

Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director of news and media relations, [email protected]

Today’s News is a free service from the Office of Public Affairs