19 Purdue students will study presidential inauguration

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A group of Purdue University students will get a once-every-four-years opportunity to study a presidential inauguration from the front row of history.

Nineteen students will make the trip to Washington, D.C., for the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump. The students are studying American political participation during the inauguration. The Department of Political Science and Brian Lamb School of Communication, along with the political science honor society Pi Sigma Alpha, have joined efforts for the unique research experience.

Political science professors Nadia Brown and Natasha Duncan will train students to use research methods, namely in-depth interviews and participant observation, by engaging with public officials and the public at various inaugural activities. The group will depart Thursday (Jan. 19) for D.C. and then tour C-SPAN with founder and 1963 Purdue alumnus Brian Lamb. The Boilermakers will visit with Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly that afternoon and with newly elected Sen. Todd Young on Friday.

The group will work in small research teams and attend the inauguration and parade on Friday, then attend The Anti-Inauguration forum at Lincoln Theatre. On Saturday (Jan. 20) students will again work in groups and attend the Women’s March on Washington. Students will attend a critical race theory and election workshop Sunday (Jan. 21) at Georgetown University Law School. 

Provide support to the D.C. research project by visiting https://crowdfunding.purdue.edu/project/4188​.

Writer: Howard Hewitt, 765-494-9541, hhewitt@purdue.edu

Sources: Natasha Duncan, 765-586-7982, ntduncan@purdue.edu

Nadia Brown, 908-720-4554, Brown957@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Interviews can be arranged through the faculty members making the trip.