Professor Sargent is a social psychologist by training, with interests in political psychology. Most of his research focus is on the ways that people’s collective identities relate to how they think about politics, especially their opinions toward policies. He’s especially interested in racial and ethnic identity as predictors of, and drivers of, policy stances. Professor Sargent’s courses at Bates include Political Psychology, Social Cognition, and Searching for the Good Life (a first-year seminar).

John Baughman is Professor of Politics at Bates College and a Great Falls Forum favorite. He is a much-loved teacher who offers courses on political participation in the U.S., political institutions and processes, and U.S. parties and elections, among others (including a recent First Year Seminar, “Football, Fútbol, Soccer: The Local Politics of a Global Game”). His research focuses on the development of the U.S. Congress, with particular attention to the way members of the House reshaped the institution in order to respond to constituent demand. The author of Common Ground: Committee Politics in the U.S. House of Representatives (Stanford University Press, 2006), professor Baughman is currently working on two other book projects: one that is tentatively titled The People’s House: Representation and Responsiveness in the Antebellum House of Representatives, and another that will show how and why members of the House during the Antebellum period gradually developed a complex internal organization, including a system of standing committees, in order to legislate more effectively.

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