Political Science Department to Host Public Lecture in Honor of Constitution Day

For more than a decade, the University of Arkansas Department of Political Science, together with thousands of other educational institutions across the country, has commemorated Constitution Day. This year professor Janine Parry will examine "Sex and the Constitution: Equality for Whom, When, and Why," in a public presentation from 4-5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in Giffels Auditorium, Old Main. Light refreshments will be provided.

Parry opens her presentation with a look at equality's opposite: discrimination. She considers the many forms of discrimination in the U.S. and why they are (or were) considered acceptable as a matter of public policy. She then turns to sex discrimination specifically, walking through five periods of development and touching on several pivotal legal cases, including several recent court rulings. Overall, Parry asks attendees to consider the causes and consequences of America's codification of gender prescriptions, many of which remain in place today.

Parry is professor of political Science at the University of Arkansas and has directed the annual Arkansas Poll since its inception in 1999. Employing a multimedia approach, she teaches a variety of courses, including introductory and graduate classes. She has earned numerous teaching honors, most recently the Arkansas Alumni Association's Baum Award for Excellence in Teaching. From 2008-2011, she co-directed the Teaching and Faculty Support Center at the University of Arkansas, and from 2012-2014 she served as the elected chair of the Campus Faculty/Faculty Senate. The author of two books and dozens of other scholarly works on subjects relating to state politics, public opinion, and gender and politics, she frequently provides analysis to media outlets, including NPR, CNN, BBC, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and more.