Vanderbilt University Law School
Carol M. Swain
Professor of Political Science Professor of Law
Voice: (615) 322-1001
Fax: (615) 322-6631
Email: carol.swain@vanderbilt.edu
Office: Room 270
View curriculum vitae (.pdf)
Personal Website
Links
Education
Ph.D., University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
M.S.L. Yale University
M.A. Virginia Polytechnic Institute
B.A. Roanoke College
Biography
Carol M. Swain's work on representation and race relations has earned her national and international accolades. Her most recent book, Debating Immigration, is a collection of 18 essays by Swain and other scholars that explore the nuances of contemporary immigration and citizenship in the U.S. and Europe. Her highly acclaimed book, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress, was named one of the seven outstanding academic books of 1994 by Library Choice Journal, received the 1994 Woodrow Wilson prize for the best book published in the U.S. on government, politics or international affairs, the Hardeman Prize for best scholarly work on Congress during 1994-1995, and was the co-winner of the Key Award for the best book published on southern politics. Black Faces was cited by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy in Johnson v. DeGrandy (1994) and by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in Georgia V. Ashcroft (2003). She has also written and co-authored books on white nationalism. A widely recognized expert on race relations, immigration, black leadership and evangelical politics, Professor Swain is a member of the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission and serves on the advisory board of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Her opinion pieces have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times and USA Today. She is a regular contributor to CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, and she has appeared on BBC Radio, NPR, CNN's Andersen Cooper, Fox News Live, the News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, The Washington Journal and ABC's Headline News, among other media. Before joining Vanderbilt in 1999, Professor Swain was a tenured associate professor of politics and public policy at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. She is a foundation member of the Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
Representative Publications
Books
Debating Immigration (Cambridge University Press, 2007) (editor)
Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress (Harvard University Press, 1993, 1995) (Reprinted by University Press of America, 2006)
- Contemporary Voices of White Nationalism in America (Cambridge U. Press, 2003) (with R. Nieli)
- The New White Nationalism in America: Its Challenge to Integration (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Articles
"Affirmative Action, Legislative History, Judicial Interpretations, Public Consensus," in America Becoming: Racial Trends and Their Consequences (N. Smelser, W. Wilson & F. Mitchell, eds., National Research Council, 2001)
- "Understanding Racial Polarization on Affirmative Action Issues: The View From Focus Groups," in Color Lines: Affirmative Action, Immigration, and Civil Rights Options for America (J. Skrentny, ed., University of Chicago Press, 2001) (with K. Greene & C. Wotipka)
"Life after Bakke - White's and Blacks Agree: Public Support for Fairness in Educational Opportunities," 16 Harvard Black Letter Law Journal 147 (2000) (with Rogers and Silverman)
"Representation and the Electoral Interests of Women and African Americans: A Convergence at Last?," in Has Liberalism Failed Women? Parity, Quotas, and Political Representation (University of Chicago Press, 2000) (J. Klausen & C. Maier, editors)
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