Michael Parkin

  • Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
  • Erwin N. Griswold Professor of Politics

Areas of Study

Offices

Education

  • BA (Hons), University of British Columbia, 1996
  • MA, University of Toronto, 1997
  • PhD, University of Minnesota, 2006

Biography

Michael Parkin is the Erwin N. Griswold Professor of Politics.

His research focuses on the relationship between political candidates, the media, and voters in the United States. He is particularly interested in how candidates use ‘‘new media’’ (e.g., the internet, entertainment television) and the effect this has on voters. 

Parkin’s research has appeared in American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, and Political Communication.  He teaches courses in American politics that deal with political psychology, media and mass political behavior, campaigns and elections, and quantitative research methods.

Through Oberlin’s partnership with Pioneer Academics, Parkin works with talented high school students from around the world on advanced research projects in American media and politics.

News

The Transition From Student Senate to Washington, D.C.

December 8, 2020

When he was growing up, Machmud Makhmudov ’15 noticed how communities from different parts of the world created lives that struggled, grew, and thrived alongside one another. That insight served him well as a policy advisor for the presidential campaign and stands to be an impression in his new role with the incoming Biden Administration.

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