This course will examine the role of race in shaping presidential actions and public policy from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama. A few of the major topics that the course will address are Eisenhower and school integration, Kennedy/Johnson and civil rights' voices, Nixon and the black business enterprise, Reagan and immigration, and Obama and descriptive representation in the executive. This course will offer a broad understanding of race by examining how various presidents have addressed concerns in the African-American community. Readings are drawn from the Federal Register, volumes of the Public Papers of the President Series, and from books and articles written by contemporary political scientists.

Daniel Q. Gillion completed his Ph.D. at the University of Rochester. His dissertation, which analyzes minorities' political protest behavior, includes research that earned him the 2009 Sammy Younge award from the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Professor Gillion's research interest focuses on racial and ethnic politics, political behavior, public opinion, and the American presidency. Within these subfields, he addresses questions of political participation, institutional influences on citizens' behavior, and governmental responsiveness to citizens' concerns. His overall research agenda attempts to draw connections between citizens' political behavior and outcomes seen by national government institutions while at the same time providing insight into a greater incorporation of marginalized groups in the political process. Professor Gillion's research has been published in the academic journal Electoral Studies and in the edited volumes of Oxford Handbook of Political Behavior. Before joining the University of Pennsylvania's faculty, he was the distinguished provost fellow in the political science department at the University of Rochester. During his time at Rochester, he also served as assistant editor for Perspectives on Politics. In addition to being a faculty member in the political science department at Penn, Professor Gillion is also an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Africana Studies and the Asian American Studies Program.