A new Indiana University academic program will focus on the work of French political thinker and author Alexis de Tocqueville, who died 150 years ago but whose insights into American democracy remain as fresh and vital as when they were written. The Tocqueville Program, directed by Associate Professor of political science Aurelian Craiutu, will launch with a lecture on Nov. 6 by Matthew Mancini of Saint Louis University.

The Center on American and Global Security and the India Studies Program at Indiana University have invited a distinguished panel of experts to present a symposium on "The Future of Nuclear Weapons." The symposium will take place on Oct. 29 at the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington and is free and open to the public.

Indiana University professor Elinor Ostrom has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced today (Oct. 12). Ostrom is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and a professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. She is co-founder and senior research director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis at IU.

An IU scientist's primer on climate change, a study of melodrama in Latin American cinema and television, an exploration of the flowering of Jewish culture in the late Russian empire, a memoir of growing up in New Orleans and a respected former congressman's argument for strengthening Congress are featured in this issue of Indiana University Book Marks.

Indiana University's efforts in social studies teaching have been recognized by a $165,422 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to two Bloomington campus centers.

Jeffrey C. Isaac, James H. Rudy Professor of Political Science at Indiana University Bloomington and director of the Indiana Democracy Consortium, has been named editor-in-chief of Perspectives on Politics, one of the core journals of the American Political Science Association.

Dozens of Indiana University researchers participated in the American Sociological Association's annual meeting in San Francisco. In this media tip sheet, researchers discuss studies involving "coming out" in rural areas, public opinion about name change after marriage, the polarization of American politics, pet ownership, stigma and the medicalization of mental illness and bullies.

Indiana University Bloomington political scientist Abdulkader Sinno has been named a 2009 Carnegie Scholar, the Carnegie Corp. of New York announced this week. He is one of 21 well-established, promising young thinkers, analysts and writers selected to receive the prestigious award, which provides $100,000 over two years to support original research.

Four Indiana University Bloomington researchers are presenting at this year's annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. Descriptions of their talks as well as contact information are provided.

Scholars from across the U.S. and from Canada and Scotland will join together this week at Indiana University Bloomington to tackle a vexing question: What does it take to establish a lasting, successful democracy? The "Building Sustainable Democracies" conference will take place Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Indiana Memorial Union.

The effects of Amazon deforestation where agriculture production has been ramped up through increased mechanization will receive further study by an Indiana University anthropology professor thanks to a $2.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.

Cooperation between the Democratic Party and antiwar activists helped Democrats in the 2006 congressional elections, say researchers at Indiana University and the University of Florida, but the upcoming presidential election could see this support wane because of divisions among the antiwar activists and the instability of the "Party in the Street."

About 80 faculty members at Indiana University's Bloomington campus have research or professional interests in the Middle East. They can be found from the Kelley School of Business to the Jacobs School of Music and in many specialized areas as well, such as designing national health care plans and government administration. The new director of IU's Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program hopes to involve as many of them as possible in the program's future activities.

In this edition of Lecture Notes, celebrate the study of Alzheimer's, explore the artwork of Kalidou Sy and find out if you are fit to breed.

The Center on Congress at Indiana University has been awarded a $100,000 grant from the AT&T Foundation to support development of a pioneering, online educational resource called "Virtual Congress." The AT&T Foundation is the philanthropic arm of AT&T Inc.

Indiana University Bloomington professors Erik Bucy and Russell Hanson are available to discuss the State of the Union address on Tuesday (Jan. 23). Their contact information is listed below along with their perspectives on the president's annual message to Congress and what viewers might look and listen for.

This edition of "Lecture Notes" features information about lectures and speakers on the Indiana University Bloomington campus from Nov. 6-20, including "Lunch with a Curator," a former chief of the CIA European Division and interesting discoveries from the Stone Age Institute.

Indiana University Bloomington professors are available to discuss several of the key issues expected to shape the 2006 midterm elections and the battle for control of Congress.

Indiana University Bloomington professors discuss some of the enduring effects of the September 11th terrorism attacks with respect to aviation safety, military intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security and research on bioterrorism.

Mexican voters will go to the polls this Sunday (July 2) to elect a new president from a pool of five candidates. In a country once dominated by a one-party government that determined electoral outcomes well in advance, no one knows who will win the presidency for the upcoming six-year term, 2006-2012. Armando Razo, assistant professor from the Department of Political Science and the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, gives his expert analysis of the upcoming election's impact.

Despite regular confrontations with the courts throughout American history, Congress has rarely used its powers to control the federal judiciary. But that tradition may be changing, according to an Indiana University Bloomington law professor.

The first major public exhibition of the papers of former U.S. Congressman Lee Hamilton, who represented the 9th District of Indiana for more than 30 years, is now open for viewing at the Lilly Library, Indiana University's library for rare books and manuscripts.

The first conference to explore the relationship between Western nations and their growing Muslim minority populations will be held Sept. 22-24 at Indiana University Bloomington. A group of 14 scholars from both sides of the Atlantic will participate in the "Muslims in Western Politics" conference. Their challenge: to produce policy recommendations to improve the civil rights and treatment of Muslims while addressing salient security concerns.

On Tuesday (Sept. 6) the Senate is expected to begin confirmation hearings on the nomination of John Roberts to the U.S. Supreme Court. Indiana University Bloomington law professor Charles Geyh can offer a legal, historical and political perspective on Roberts' nomination and how it might impact the future of the American judicial system.

Although 57 percent of Americans disapprove of the way Congress is doing its job, younger and better-educated people are more positive about the institution than older and less-educated people, and most Americans see Congress as highly relevant, regarding its work as affecting their lives "most of the time" or "just about always." These are key findings of the first Survey on Congress, sponsored by the Center on Congress at Indiana University.