Pew Research Center’s Scott Keeter to Discuss “The Origins and Future of ‘Trumpism’ in American Politics” at UT Honors Symposium Oct. 24

On Monday, Oct. 24, The University of Tampa will welcome Scott Keeter, senior survey advisor at the Pew Research Center, who will speak on “The Origins and Future of ‘Trumpism’ in American Politics.” The event, which is part of the Honors Program symposia series, begins at 4 p.m. in the Trustees Board Room on the ninth floor of the Vaughn Center and is free and open to the public.

During the talk, Keeter will discuss the forces that set the stage for Donald Trump’s remarkable run for the presidency, including growing partisan polarization, tensions over race and ethnicity, mistrust of government and business elites, and economic distress among Americans buffeted by the recession and globalization.

Keeter will argue that, as an independently wealthy celebrity skilled in the use of social media, Trump was well-positioned to survive as an anti-establishment candidate within the Republican Party, and that the divisions in the party and the trends in society that provided energy for his candidacy will still be present after this election, regardless of whether he wins or loses.

An expert on American public opinion and political behavior, Keeter has been an election night analyst of exit polls for NBC News since 1980. In his role at the Pew Research Center, he provides methodological guidance to all of the center’s research areas. Prior to joining Pew Research Center, Keeter taught at George Mason University, Rutgers University and Virginia Commonwealth University, where he also directed a survey research center. In 2016, he won the American Association for Public Opinion Research’s highest honor, the AAPOR Award for Lifetime Achievement for “outstanding contribution to the field of public opinion research.”

For more information, contact the Honors Program at (813) 257-3545 or honors@ut.edu.