In Conversation

In this edition of In Conversation, Dr. Michael Horswell engages with Professors Dr. Carol Bishop Mills & Dr. Kevin Wagner, Co-Directors of the PolCom Lab in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. The PolCom Lab investigates and analyzes public opinion and political trends nationwide, focusing on Florida.   

Dr. Carol Bishop Mills is a Professor and Director of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University, and the co-director of the FAU PolCom Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University and is known for her extensive research in relational communication, particularly in complex dynamics such as teasing, bullying, harassment, and frenemyships. Her recent work focuses on bullying within academic settings, providing critical insights into how these behaviors impact both individuals and institutions. Dr. Mills has published widely on these topics and previously co-chaired the National Communication Association’s Anti-Bullying Task Force and served as the editor for the newsletter for the Global Listening Centre.

Kevin Wagner is a Professor of Political Science, Co-Director of the PolCom Lab and Associate Dean of Research in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. He teaches courses on American politics, political organizations, public opinion, judicial politics, and media in politics. Wagner’s research has primarily centered around understanding political change in democratic systems including shifts caused by technological developments. His expertise has been featured in leading publications including the New York Times and American Review of Politics. Dr. Wagner earned a J.D. from the University of Florida and previously worked as a practicing attorney before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Florida.

In this edition of In Conversation, Dr. Michael Horswell engages with Professors Dr. Carol Bishop Mills & Dr. Kevin Wagner, Co-Directors of the PolCom Lab in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. The PolCom Lab investigates and analyzes public opinion and political trends nationwide, focusing on Florida.   

Dr. Carol Bishop Mills is a Professor and Director of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies at Florida Atlantic University, and the co-director of the FAU PolCom Lab. She earned her Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University and is known for her extensive research in relational communication, particularly in complex dynamics such as teasing, bullying, harassment, and frenemyships. Her recent work focuses on bullying within academic settings, providing critical insights into how these behaviors impact both individuals and institutions. Dr. Mills has published widely on these topics and previously co-chaired the National Communication Association’s Anti-Bullying Task Force and served as the editor for the newsletter for the Global Listening Centre.

Kevin Wagner is a Professor of Political Science, Co-Director of the PolCom Lab and Associate Dean of Research in the College of Arts & Letters at Florida Atlantic University. He teaches courses on American politics, political organizations, public opinion, judicial politics, and media in politics. Wagner’s research has primarily centered around understanding political change in democratic systems including shifts caused by technological developments. His expertise has been featured in leading publications including the New York Times and American Review of Politics. Dr. Wagner earned a J.D. from the University of Florida and previously worked as a practicing attorney before earning his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Florida.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Annette LaRocco,  an associate professor in FAU’s Department of Political Science. In this upcoming episode, Dr. LaRocco discusses several topics, including conservation politics, how studying abroad helped shape her career,  and her new book, The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana.

Why do states choose to set aside land for national parks and other protected areas? How do these decisions impact their citizens and structure their economies? How and why do states decide to make governing their environments a political priority? These are questions explored by Annette LaRocco in her book The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and years of extensive fieldwork in Botswana, LaRocco argues that the seemingly mundane processes of conserving landscapes and wildlife are, in fact, deeply political acts that are essential to state-building for many countries in the postcolonial Global South. Conservation itself is political and impacts human populations and societies, irrespective of its ecological or biological impacts. In her new book, she explores how conservation is a way that states exert their authority over people, places, and resources and how it structures economic relationships at local, national, and global levels. 

 Dr. LaRocco,  Ph.D.,  teaches classes in African politics, environmental politics, the politics of global development, and international relations at Florida Atlantic University's Department of Political Science. . Her research interests include the study of political implications of biodiversity conservation and other environmental policies, specifically in regions of the postcolonial Global South. She has conducted fieldwork in southern Africa for over a decade, most recently as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Botswana and Zimbabwe. 

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Annette LaRocco,  an associate professor in FAU’s Department of Political Science. In this upcoming episode, Dr. LaRocco discusses several topics, including conservation politics, how studying abroad helped shape her career,  and her new book, The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana.

Why do states choose to set aside land for national parks and other protected areas? How do these decisions impact their citizens and structure their economies? How and why do states decide to make governing their environments a political priority? These are questions explored by Annette LaRocco in her book The Nature of Politics: State Building and the Conservation Estate in Postcolonial Botswana. Drawing on hundreds of interviews and years of extensive fieldwork in Botswana, LaRocco argues that the seemingly mundane processes of conserving landscapes and wildlife are, in fact, deeply political acts that are essential to state-building for many countries in the postcolonial Global South. Conservation itself is political and impacts human populations and societies, irrespective of its ecological or biological impacts. In her new book, she explores how conservation is a way that states exert their authority over people, places, and resources and how it structures economic relationships at local, national, and global levels. 

 Dr. LaRocco,  Ph.D.,  teaches classes in African politics, environmental politics, the politics of global development, and international relations at Florida Atlantic University's Department of Political Science. . Her research interests include the study of political implications of biodiversity conservation and other environmental policies, specifically in regions of the postcolonial Global South. She has conducted fieldwork in southern Africa for over a decade, most recently as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar in Botswana and Zimbabwe. 

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Kyle Prescott, a Professor of Music and a Conductor at Florida Atlantic University.   In this upcoming episode, Dr. Prescott talks about his recent experience conducting the iconic Rhapsody in Blue, a 100-Year Tribute to Gershwin's American classic at the Festival of Arts Boca.

Dr. Kyle Prescott  holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.  He's presented his research internationally at peer-reviewed conferences, including once for the National Security Agency, regarding research into US Navy Band Musicians in the world of cryptology in the mid- 20th Century.

In demand as a teacher of conducting, Dr Prescott has worked with over 450 professional conductors in the refinement of their craft. He is President-elect of the Florida Collegiate Music Education Association, a past Florida Chair of the College Band Directors National Association, Past President of The Symphonia Orchestra, is Conductor and Music Director of the professional Florida Wind Symphony and FWS Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Boca Festival of the Arts Jazz Orchestra, whose inaugural performance included the original 1924 version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue discussed in this ‘In Conversation’ podcast with Dean Horswell.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Kyle Prescott, a Professor of Music and a Conductor at Florida Atlantic University.   In this upcoming episode, Dr. Prescott talks about his recent experience conducting the iconic Rhapsody in Blue, a 100-Year Tribute to Gershwin's American classic at the Festival of Arts Boca.

Dr. Kyle Prescott  holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Conducting from The University of Texas at Austin.  He's presented his research internationally at peer-reviewed conferences, including once for the National Security Agency, regarding research into US Navy Band Musicians in the world of cryptology in the mid- 20th Century.

In demand as a teacher of conducting, Dr Prescott has worked with over 450 professional conductors in the refinement of their craft. He is President-elect of the Florida Collegiate Music Education Association, a past Florida Chair of the College Band Directors National Association, Past President of The Symphonia Orchestra, is Conductor and Music Director of the professional Florida Wind Symphony and FWS Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Boca Festival of the Arts Jazz Orchestra, whose inaugural performance included the original 1924 version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue discussed in this ‘In Conversation’ podcast with Dean Horswell.

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Stephen Engle, an award-winning history professor with over 32 years of experience in teaching and writing about nineteenth-century America.

This episode of In Conversation delves into Dr. Engle's new book, In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew.  Stephen and Dr. Horswell discuss John Albion's one profoundly radical idea: that all men truly are created equal. He championed lost causes, loathed America’s racial prejudices, and sought justice for the lowly, even when the fight was wholly unpopular. His story (from the 1830s through the 1860s) places slavery and abolition at the center of America’s history and affirms that a life driven by justice and conviction can be timeless.

Like Lincoln, his career was a reminder of the national tragedy that ensued from standing up for such beliefs, as opposing factions shaped divergent paths toward their vision of the “more perfect Union” that the founding fathers had charted in the Constitution. Throughout his life Andrew watched as the expanding republic struggled to endure half slave and half free. He recognized that slavery was incompatible with the Christian notion of inalienable human rights (as well as free-market capitalism), yet he lived in a strident era when sectionalism was shaping questions of territorial development and challenging Americans to decide whether God or man had relegated African Americans to human chattel. Slavery’s expansion heightened the young idealist’s political awareness.

When the Civil War erupted just four months into his first term, Andrew considered the conflict not only a contest to restore the Union but also to advance the progress of the human condition in America. He advocated for emancipation during the war and persuaded the Lincoln administration to allow him to raise all-black regiments to fight for the Union and thereby demonstrate African American fitness for citizenship.

Andrew spent his life following Theodore Parker’s axiom. “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one,” said Parker, “my eye reaches but little ways, I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight: I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”  Andrew saw the war as the opportunity to redefine the republic by embracing racial progress by ending slavery and bending the arm of the moral universe. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would repeat Parker’ words more than 100 years later in seeking racial justice.

Dr. Stephen Engle  has received numerous awards throughout his career including being named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians, a Fulbright Scholar for a year, a Gilder Lehrman Fellow, and a Huntington Library Fellow. He has lectured extensively in the United States and Germany, has appeared in c-span's Lectures in American History, and most recently lectures for the Smithsonian Institution as a part of the Smithsonian Associates Program. He is widely published in the genre of 19th Century American, having authored numerous books, essays, articles, and reviews including the prizing-winningGathering to Save a Nation (2016) and In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew (2023). 

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. Stephen Engle, an award-winning history professor with over 32 years of experience in teaching and writing about nineteenth-century America.

This episode of In Conversation delves into Dr. Engle's new book, In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew.  Stephen and Dr. Horswell discuss John Albion's one profoundly radical idea: that all men truly are created equal. He championed lost causes, loathed America’s racial prejudices, and sought justice for the lowly, even when the fight was wholly unpopular. His story (from the 1830s through the 1860s) places slavery and abolition at the center of America’s history and affirms that a life driven by justice and conviction can be timeless.

Like Lincoln, his career was a reminder of the national tragedy that ensued from standing up for such beliefs, as opposing factions shaped divergent paths toward their vision of the “more perfect Union” that the founding fathers had charted in the Constitution. Throughout his life Andrew watched as the expanding republic struggled to endure half slave and half free. He recognized that slavery was incompatible with the Christian notion of inalienable human rights (as well as free-market capitalism), yet he lived in a strident era when sectionalism was shaping questions of territorial development and challenging Americans to decide whether God or man had relegated African Americans to human chattel. Slavery’s expansion heightened the young idealist’s political awareness.

When the Civil War erupted just four months into his first term, Andrew considered the conflict not only a contest to restore the Union but also to advance the progress of the human condition in America. He advocated for emancipation during the war and persuaded the Lincoln administration to allow him to raise all-black regiments to fight for the Union and thereby demonstrate African American fitness for citizenship.

Andrew spent his life following Theodore Parker’s axiom. “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe, the arc is a long one,” said Parker, “my eye reaches but little ways, I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight: I can divine it by conscience. But from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”  Andrew saw the war as the opportunity to redefine the republic by embracing racial progress by ending slavery and bending the arm of the moral universe. Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. would repeat Parker’ words more than 100 years later in seeking racial justice. 

Dr. Stephen Engle  has received numerous awards throughout his career including being named a Distinguished Lecturer by the Organization of American Historians, a Fulbright Scholar for a year, a Gilder Lehrman Fellow, and a Huntington Library Fellow. He has lectured extensively in the United States and Germany, has appeared in c-span's Lectures in American History, and most recently lectures for the Smithsonian Institution as a part of the Smithsonian Associates Program. He is widely published in the genre of 19th Century American, having authored numerous books, essays, articles, and reviews including the prizing-winningGathering to Save a Nation (2016) and In Pursuit of Justice: The Life of John Albion Andrew (2023). 

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. María Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles, an associate professor of Spanish at Florida Atlantic University. 

In this episode of In Conversation, Alejandra and Dean Horswell discuss her book,  Between Bronze and Oblivion: Heroism and African descent in Colombia, Brazil and Cuba.  They explore the unsung heroes of Black History Month (February 1st- March 1st). 

María Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles has a doctorate in Latin American Literature and Gender Studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. Her research, with an interdisciplinary approach, explores discourses of racial and gender differentiation, as well as politics of contestation in Latin American cultural production. She has published academic articles on poetry, narrative, and theater from Brazil, Colombia, and the Hispanic Caribbean in Latin American Research Review, Latin American Literary Review, and Afro-Hispanic Review. She participated in the edition by María Mercedes Jaramillo and Betty Osorio titled Cantos y Poems: Critical Anthology of Afro-descendant Authors from Latin America, published by the National Library of Colombia in 2020. Her article “Heroism and racial consciousness in the work of the poet Afro-Cuban Cristina Ayala” has been awarded the Harold Eugene Davis Prize awarded by the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies (MACLAS) and the Ibero-American Prize for 19th Century Academic Articles (LASA).

Dr. Michael Horswell engages in conversation with Dr. María Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles, an associate professor of Spanish at Florida Atlantic University. 

In this episode of In Conversation, Alejandra and Dean Horswell discuss her book,  Between Bronze and Oblivion: Heroism and African descent in Colombia, Brazil and Cuba.  They explore the unsung heroes of Black History Month (February 1st- March 1st). 

María Alejandra Aguilar Dornelles has a doctorate in Latin American Literature and Gender Studies from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. Her research, with an interdisciplinary approach, explores discourses of racial and gender differentiation, as well as politics of contestation in Latin American cultural production. She has published academic articles on poetry, narrative, and theater from Brazil, Colombia, and the Hispanic Caribbean in Latin American Research Review, Latin American Literary Review, and Afro-Hispanic Review. She participated in the edition by María Mercedes Jaramillo and Betty Osorio titled Cantos y Poems: Critical Anthology of Afro-descendant Authors from Latin America, published by the National Library of Colombia in 2020. Her article “Heroism and racial consciousness in the work of the poet Afro-Cuban Cristina Ayala” has been awarded the Harold Eugene Davis Prize awarded by the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies (MACLAS) and the Ibero-American Prize for 19th Century Academic Articles (LASA).