Carah Ong Whaley, Ph.D.

whaleycl@jmu.edu


Associate Director, James Madison Center for Civic Engagement, Faculty, Political Science

James Madison University

Year of PhD: 2015

Country: United States (Virginia)

About Me:

Carah Ong Whaley is Associate Director of the JMU Civic at James Madison University where she works in partnership with students, faculty, staff and community partners to embed civic learning and democratic engagement across campus through curricular and co-curricular programming. Carah currently serves on the advisory board of Students Learn Students Vote and is Vice Chair of the Civic Engagement section of the American Political Science Association. Carah has developed innovative pedagogy melding scholarship and experiential learning to teach courses on civic engagement, campaigns and elections, and state and local politics. At the heart of her research interests is a desire to understand and illuminate how the interactions of political actors and institutions structure public access and participation in policy- and decision-making processes. Her dissertation explored the politics of cleaning up the environmental contamination that resulted from the testing, development and production of nuclear weapons, with a focus on the role of community-based groups in developing expertise and engaging the public in policy- and decision-making processes. Carah has previously worked at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and in the Governing America in a Global Era (GAGE) program at the Miller Center for Public Affairs. From 1999-2012, she worked as a research and program director for non-governmental organizations on nuclear and security issues, and traveled around the world to engage with communities on these issues. Carah holds a PhD in American Government, and an MA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. Recent research and publications include American Government: Roots and Reform (co-authored chapters with Dr. Larry Sabato on Political Parties, Campaigns, Elections and Voting, and The Media). With Dr. Walter Heinecke, she is co-editing a new book series on “Research in Global Civic Engagement” (Forthcoming, Information Age Press).

Research Interests

Environmental Policy

Nuclear Weapons

NGOs

Political Participation

Networks And Politics

State and Local Politics