Contact information
Name:
John Meier
Phone:
x5927
Email:
meierj@lafayette.edu
Link for More Information:
Categories:
When:
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - 4:10pm - 5:00pm
Where:
Colton Chapel
Presenter:
Samuel Wang, Princeton University
Price:
Free
Description In a flaw of American democracy, legislators are in charge of drawing district boundaries, which means they can choose their voters rather than the other way around. This leads to gerrymandering, in which one faction or party can lock in an electoral advantage, no matter what voters prefer. Courts and reformers can stop gerrymandering – with a little help from math. Sam Wang will show how basic statistics that are taught in college can diagnose partisan gerrymandering and help repair our democracy.
Sam Wang is professor of neuroscience and faculty associate in law and public affairs at public at Princeton University. His award-winning research on the mature and developing brain has been published in international journals including Nature and Neuron. In statistical politics, his work has won awards from the Washington Post and Common Cause, and has been covered by the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, MSNBC, Fox News, BBC, and National Public Radio.
Sponsored by:
Office of the Provost, the Department of Government and Law, and the Department of Mathematics