Exterior of Moody Music Building

UA Experts Available to Discuss Topics Around GOP Debate

Faculty at The University of Alabama are available to discuss aspects of the debate and political landscape. This list will be updated, so check back often for new sources.

To connect with any of these sources or for topics not highlighted, contact Alex House, assistant director of communications, at alex.house@ua.edu.

Political Communication

Televised Candidate Debates as Media Events

Josh C. Bramlett‘s research examines strategic political communication in contexts such as political campaign communication and digital political communication. He is available for media commentary on topics such as televised candidate debates, political advertising, presidential speeches, and politicians and social media.

Political Expression

Cynthia Peacock specializes in political communication and examines the ways in which people form, change, and express their political opinions. Her work focuses on news selection and political discussion and the roles of partisanship and disagreement in both. Her recent projects examined presidential primary candidate support, hyperpartisan news use, politically dissimilar romantic relationships, and the gender gap in political expression.

Democracy, Rhetoric and Violence

Jessy Ohl’s research specializes in the relationship between rhetoric, democracy, and violence.

Social Media’s Impact

Jessica Maddox is a social media researcher who studies Internet popular culture and social media platforms. Her research examines content creators and how platforms play a role in shaping Internet popular culture.

Public Policy and Political Behavior

Policy, Race and State Politics

Richard Fording’s primary teaching and research interests include public policy, race, ethnicity and politics, state politics, and social movements.

Political Representation

Regina Wagner researches American politics generally, including political representation, gender and politics, legislative politics, state and local politics, as well as political parties.

Supreme Court and Civil-Military Relations

Allen Linken’s research focuses on understanding the U.S. Supreme Court, the role of law in society, and the American Armed Forces and the civil-military gap.


The University of Alabama strives to remain neutral on public policy issues. Strategic Communications may facilitate interviews or share opinions expressed by faculty, staff, students, or other individuals regarding policy matters. However, those opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the University or its leadership, and do not constitute a statement on behalf of the University unless explicitly designated.